U.S. sets up camp in Central Asia

By CNN's Ryan Chilcote

MANAS AIRPORT, Kyrgyzstan (CNN) -- They can't pitch tents fast enough.

By mid-February, the U.S. military's newest air base -- located in the tiny Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan -- is scheduled to house 3,000 troops.

And it will become the preferred transportation hub for the coalition against terror's traffic in and out of Afghanistan.

It is a good place for a breather after a three-hour flight from Kandahar. The air here is nice and crisp, compared to the dust of Afghanistan.

The Soviets built Manas Airport in the 1970s as a possible launching pad for attacks on China, just 250 miles away.

COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Kyrgyzstan Provided by CountryWatch.com

For the last century, this part of the world has been completely closed to Western influence.

Until, at Kyrgyzstan's invitation, the U.S. started building what it says will be a temporary base, several kilometers from Manas Airport.

The U.S. military build up here in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere in Central Asia is raising fears in Russia that the U.S. might just stick around in this region even after the war in Afghanistan is over.

Russian sceptics say that wars come and go but military bases tend to take on a life of their own.

The U.S. government, however, insists it has no intention of maintaining a long-term presence in the post-Soviet landscape of Central Asia.

Meanwhile, the troops are scouting out their new beat. They use the Soviet maps of their predecessors to patrol a five kilometer security zone around the base, and are busy building relationships with their new neighbors.

Tech. Sgt. Doug Austin, U.S. Air Force, said: "What we do usually is just come into the village, make sure it's quiet, if we talk to people we just want to know if any new people have arrived, any cousins, or something from another country."

Inside its tent city, there are already some 70 10-man shelters up, but they still have hundreds to go, and the plans don't stop there.

Security around the base is tight. Inside, the plan is to make the 30-acre compound a bit more comfortable than your standard campground.

Lt. Col. Kevin Rumsey, U.S. Air Force, said: "We're working towards what we call quality of life efforts and that includes a recreation area, basketball courts, or volleyball courts, base exchange or a Walmart-type store, theaters and then of course a larger dining facility."

But for now the airmen are racing to stake out their new turf.