Manas Air Base

[Guest Debbie Boom]

Has anyone been to Manas? I'm trying to find out what the current conditions are there. I will be heading that way at the beginning of the year and would like to get some current information. Do they have cellphones you can buy there? Do they work well? What are the rooms like?

Thanks,

Debbie

[Stiffler]

It sucks. Actually its not too bad, the problem is that they gay it up like all the other bases, such as the Died.

The weather will be like you would have in the Northern US, and i dont think you can buy cell phones, but its not too difficult to call home. Overall, its not a bad place, but it could be TONS better. I mean, its Russia!

You also get your own room. Its small but nice

[Scooter14]

Wow, I was hoping this would be a useful thread. Stiffler, you are so full of hate now.

You were more fun when you were a tanker guy.

Hook up a fellow Reserve component (it's a guess, but not much Active Duty in Indy) sister and post some helpful OPSEC friendly info here, for Christ sake. Let's not turn this into a "Manas isn't a war zone and neither is the Deid" pissing match.

Things I've gathered from a friendly Boom here on this board who has been there a lot...

2 Beers a day, but they are 20 oz or something like that.

PT Gear (like everywhere else in the AOR)...deal with it. The Active Duty guys deal with it 180+ days a year. Sucks, but it ain't gonna change.

Weather like Nebraska

You'll be there with Reservists/Guardsmen and Active Duty. Play nice.

I'd like to know if there are AFN TV hookups like at the Died...maybe Midnight Hot on the Fashion Channel (it's amazing what you remember)...do they crawl up your ass with a microscope in Customs, will my ATT phone work there if I need it if I'm kidnapped and get my hair dyed blue, stuff like that.

Again, let's make this worthwhile for those of us who will be there soon like Debbie Boom and Scooter14.

[Butters]

It's not an inconvenience to me but I have a sick family member so I am going to get an international phone so that they can reach me if something happens. I found out that a global sim card will not work in Manas but was hoping it would in the Died. I appreciate all the information!!

Not sure why I keep saying the Died....it's the Deid and I must be dyslexic.

Does this family member live near a military base? If they do you can call the base operator and get a phone patch very easily. They regulate the morale call phones at the Deid not sure about Manas. However, you can usually always find a phone somewhere on the base to make a call. You can also just get a pre-paid ohone card and call any base them have them connect you the the toll free number on the phone card. I have done all of the above for many years all around the world.

[jrobe]

Lastly, any idea on the percentage chance of sneaking a case of vodka in under the guise of "MX PARTS" or stored elsewhere on the jet? Seems like a good idea to us, just wondering what level of ass raping would ensure if we were caught.

Don't do it I personally know 3 dudes that got caught (at Manas) --- article 15 for each --- This may have changed but, beer light gets tuned on there every once and awhile.

But to answer your first question---could you do it --- sure

Edited October 1, 2008 by jrobe

[Guest Boom]

It's not an inconvenience to me but I have a sick family member so I am going to get an international phone so that they can reach me if something happens. I found out that a global sim card will not work in Manas but was hoping it would in the Died. I appreciate all the information!!

Not sure why I keep saying the Died....it's the Deid and I must be dyslexic.

They sell $50 cell phones there with like 1,000 minutes. You only get charged if you phone someone, what most people do is call someone, tell them to call them back, hang up, and receive the call.

Manas > The Deid

OEF > OIF.

[broncoflyer05]

Any current information on Manas? I'll be going over in Oct-Nov timeframe. What is billeting like? Ops tempo? Internet/AFN available? Thanks.

[LT4Life]

Any current information on Manas? I'll be going over in Oct-Nov timeframe. What is billeting like? Ops tempo? Internet/AFN available? Thanks.

Current info: Now called Transit Center at Manas...huge change. It will be deathly cold. Bring warm stuff for the lovely preflights and be ready to use all of your cold weather procedures and deice several times before takeoff. Billeting hasn't changed from other posts. Ops tempo is slow in the winter...very slow. Wireless internet available in public locations. AFN is there and as good as ever. See you there.

[broncoflyer05]

LT4Life, I was told by a UPT bud of mine that you have to share a room at Manas. Is that correct? How slow is the tempo, one flight a week?

[JeepGuyC17]

I don't know about deployed folks, but transients share a room. It's nice to have a bathroom down the hall though and not have to walk to a caddy like at the deid.

[Bergman]

LT4Life, I was told by a UPT bud of mine that you have to share a room at Manas. Is that correct? How slow is the tempo, one flight a week?

Last time I was there, aircrew assigned to Manas had their own room.

We flew 6 days per week.

[Bergman]

Heh...just found this in my picture collection. Hilarious to anyone that's been there. Not so much to others.

[amcflyboy]

Heh...just found this in my picture collection. Hilarious to anyone that's been there. Not so much to others.

HOLY SHIT...that very thing happened to me!!!

Dushanbe: "Torque XX, Dushanbe"

Me: "Go ahead Dushanbe"

Dushanbe: "I told you to contact me over PINAX!!! Why you no call me!!??"

Me: "Uh yeah, sorry about that...we checked PINAX at 21:45"

Edited September 14, 2009 by amcflyboy

[Guest C-17 Flyer]

The wifi at Shooters is relatively fast, compared to the Deid wifi. Skype works on my laptop and my iPhone. However, it can get pretty loud when the Army an Marine dudes are playing shooter games. It's still two beers a day, they track it to the minute, 20 hours between your second beer and your next. The weather is nice, but getting colder, definitely bring long PT gear.

[sputnik]

I heard a rumor I know is untrue--PTs not required at Manas? I'd find such an act of overt morale improvement mind blowing, someone please reassure my faith in the Air Force.

How cold is there right now?

[Guest Mack2004]

I heard a rumor I know is untrue--PTs not required at Manas? I'd find such an act of overt morale improvement mind blowing, someone please reassure my faith in the Air Force.

How cold is there right now?

Oh, rest assured, PTs are definitely required at Manas.

If I recall correctly it was below freezing at night but not too bad during the day when I was there last week.

[Bergman]

Oh, rest assured, PTs are definitely required at Manas.

If I recall correctly it was below freezing at night but not too bad during the day when I was there last week.

Yes, definitely still required unless it's changed since Nov 15th. However, the "no hands in pockets" Nazis are gone, as is almost all other extraneous BS.

On the up side, the new wing leadership there is fucking awesome. I had a chance to have beers with the wing king, vice, and command chief on a few occasions and they all definitely 'get it' (sts). The commander specifically is just unreal. The first O-6 I have met in a loooonnnnggggg time where I left a 2 hour BS session thinking "I HOPE this guy gets promoted" instead of "How did that dipshit get promoted?". A small example...he is actively promoting the wearing of Friday morale patches, including one he helped design - "Manas...we're running with scissors!" and featuring the acronym "YCMTSU" - You Can't Make This Shit Up - in reference to the sheer stupidity of the previous regime. You really can't make up some of the stuff they did.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Bergman

[Guest cheap]

By the way, they have internet in the rooms now. You can wear whatever you want in your building (including the common room that has a TV and computer) and I never had my bags searched or my stuff rifled through, not even to make sure I deployed with all the required winter gear. I was there over the winter and the coldest it got was about -10c, but I did leave before New Years. They do have television hookups in the rooms and power converters, but you only get two 110v outlets from it and all the others are 220v.

The biggest complaint I heard on a regular basis was that the food sucked compared to the 'Deid. It was kinda sketchy, especially when you had to grab food to-go for a flight - the kitchen only serves hot food during certain hrs and the selection of non-hot food that was portable was slim. I got pretty damn sick of turkey sandwiches and dry cereal, let me tell ya.

[Guest falkhag]

Hello,

One of my friends is deploying to Manas as a surgeon, and we were just talking about what would be avaiable there to purchase (or not available), so that he can prepare in advance. Mind you, we're both coming from a point of view of trying to compare deployment to camping. Me, I'm thinking of the last time I went camping, and there was no toilet paper since I just didn't.... bring any. Anyways. Any help regarding this matter would be very helpful, thanks!!!

-skype - availabe or not? I see on this forum and the Manas site that it's banned, but not banned, which is it?

-can you bring your own laptop, can you skype from it, are there specific websites that are not accessible?

-i guess he;ll probably have a room, which has two 110v plugs, right?

--what is availabe for purchase at Manas? My friend is pretty cold-intolerant, and since he's a surgeon, I don't see him doing some Rocky 4-like training in the snow, but I think it would be better to purchase winter clothing here than there.

--leatherman? Again, I don't see him doing some Rambo-living-off-his-utility-bowie-knife action, but I think he just wanted to get one anyways and this would be a good excuse.

--collapsible knife

-batteries -- i'm assuming that regular AA alkalines and such are available, but probably not vendor-specific proprietary laptop/camera/cell phone batteries, right?

-I was looking at the Manas site https://www.manas.afcent.af.mil/ and was looking for maybe pics or something of the store or what is available to no avail. Anyone have any pics?

--Also at the Manas site, it said that "NOTE -- Social media Web sites/services may not be accessible on .mil networks." such as twitter, facebook, and such, is this indeed the case? Does this affect skype? I said this already I know, but thought I'd emphasize by asking again.

Are there things that can be used as semi-legal tender that would be just good to have, or put someone in others' good graces? I was thinking of a good bottle of alcohol or something, but I guess they have a specific 2 beers/week or something limit? And that it gets confiscated under article 15 or something? How about candy?

And if there is absolutely anything, anything whatsoever that you yourselves thought, "hmmm, I wish I brought this" when you were/are at Manas, that would be very very helpful.

thank you,

falkhag

Edited August 18, 2010 by M2
Don't need your email address

[BigFreddie]

One of my friends is deploying to Manas as a surgeon, and we were just talking about what would be avaiable there to purchase (or not available), so that he can prepare in advance. Mind you, we're both coming from a point of view of trying to compare deployment to camping. Me, I'm thinking of the last time I went camping, and there was no toilet paper since I just didn't.... bring any. Anyways. Any help regarding this matter would be very helpful, thanks!!!

When I was transient through there a couple months ago Skype was available in several places on wi-fi. The connection wasn't great but it got the job done. When they say over .mil it means the official work network and computers.

You can bring your own laptop - no issues there. I can't remember any issues with power but I always have an adapter with me. Most laptop power connections can convert electricity from one to another.

Never used the BX there so I have no idea on that...

BF

[Guest falkhag]

When I was transient through there a couple months ago Skype was available in several places on wi-fi. The connection wasn't great but it got the job done. When they say over .mil it means the official work network and computers.

You can bring your own laptop - no issues there. I can't remember any issues with power but I always have an adapter with me. Most laptop power connections can convert electricity from one to another.

Never used the BX there so I have no idea on that...

BF

Thank you!

All in all, he has a weight limit on how much extra stuff he could bring, so this might be all moot point...

Hello,

I posted the long list of questions on top, any more suggestions would be very welcome!

thank you,

[Bergman]

Thank you!

All in all, he has a weight limit on how much extra stuff he could bring, so this might be all moot point...

Hello,

I posted the long list of questions on top, any more suggestions would be very welcome!

thank you,

As of my last trip there in April, here are your answers:

- Bring your own laptop. Most/all of the rooms have WiFi access in them, so if you load Skype on your computer it is no problem. I called my wife/mistress/friends/family almost daily using Skype. You can also access Facebook, Twitter, etc. thru the WiFi. Not sure about the government computers, as they hadn't changed the policy yet.

- The rooms have 220V plugs, but each room should also have a converter that will give you 110v - although God Forbid you forget to put it on a 12" tile for fire proection. Fire marshall bill will have a fit! As a side note, most laptops, razors, cell phones, etc will actually accept 220-240v inputs. Read the back of the charger to be sure.

- You can purchase Leatherman tools, knives, batteries, shampoo, soap, PT gear, towels, tobacco products, magazines, etc. at the BX. For "general" items, they have everything you'll need. It's not a gigantic BX or anything (a trailer, in fact) but they have all of the daily-use items you could want IMHO.

- Unless you go off base, you are required to be in an official uniform. So make sure he has all of his required cold weather items, or has someone mail them to him before it gets cold. If he is planning on going off base in civilian clothes, I would plan accordingly on the packing list. Their selection of civvies is nil, IIRC.

- Lastly...as I mentioned, they have a post office there! If he's over the weight limit, someone back home can always mail him anything that gets left behind. Unless of course it's vodka, rum, or any of that. Those he'll just have to sneak in himself.

Bottom line...being at Manas is very similar to living in the dorms in college. He'll likely have his own 8x10 room with a bed, desk, and wall locker. The bathrooms/showers/laundry are down the hall. There is a day room with DSN phone, TV/DVD, and some couches to hang out. The chow hall is a 5 minute walk away from all the dorms, as is the gym, BX, and bar. Honestly...it's not that bad!

[Duck]

Any updated info on manas? Are things still better than the deid for deployers? Thanks for the info guys!

[baileynme]

Any updated info on manas? Are things still better than the deid for deployers? Thanks for the info guys!

Most stuff is the same as above. Food in Ops Town still sucks but they seem to be taking critiques. Wing/OG leadership recently changed over but the Wing King approved a kiddie pool outside one of the dorms while flying with a crew, even offered to help find a hose or get the fire department to fill it. That kind of personality seems pretty promising. On the 135 side the SQ commander is also good, the times IFEs and such have gone down he's done a great job of backing up the crews. Bar on TCA side has got a great selection of beers and the wireless coverage is constantly growing, lost our bar and wireless in Ops Town but then they put up a router in the Ops Town chow hall. Highly suggest tupperware, otherwise you will get sick of sandwiches every flight. BX isn't huge but has most stuff you need. Feel free to post or PM any questions as I have very recent experience with Manas.

Edit: Forgot to add, a Kabob shop, BK, and Pizza Hut just opened, you have to pay for them but it's a good break every couple weeks. Also, bring at least one set of conservative civvies for OBRs.

Edited August 3, 2011 by baileynme

[GovernmentMan]

Wow. Sounds like a world of difference since the last time I was there. Are the transient "dorms" still a bunch of leaky tents, or have they put up something better?