BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Bagram Air Base is getting an upgrade.
When Lt. Gen. Dan K. McNeill takes command later this month, Bagram will be the new headquarters directing the ground war in Afghanistan, U.S. military officials said Monday.
McNeill's arrival "puts the man responsible for the war into the field" and will improve intelligence and communication, said Col. Roger King, spokesman for the 18th Airborne, which McNeill commands.
McNeill will report directly to Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. That's a step closer than Bagram's current commander, Maj. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, who has worked through a U.S. base in Kuwait.
Bagram's upgrade to headquarters status will free up Central Command to pay more attention to U.S. forces in the rest of its wide theater, from Central and South Asia to the Middle East — including Iraq — and the Horn of Africa.
The upgrade also means a bit more spit and polish for the air base 30 miles north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
For the soldiers at the U.S.-led coalition's biggest base in Afghanistan, it means the salute is back.
In combat zones, soldiers forgo salutes because they could single out the officers for enemy snipers. That's the way it's been for months at Bagram, which the troops still consider to be in a combat zone.
Since the Americans first arrived here in late November following the Taliban's collapse, Bagram has had the rough, informal feel of a front-line base.
But no more.
Stop signs are being set up on the main road through the base, which will soon have a speed limit, said King. Soldiers who share the road with the trucks, Humvees and other military vehicles are now told to stick to a footpath cleared only days ago.
The new orders took effect this weekend. That means soldiers must salute and, when moving in common areas, must wear full desert camouflage uniform — not just a T-shirt.
That rankles many of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, who have been here since February. Salutes make many soldiers feel they're stepping down from battle footing.
At Camp Viper, the tent city where the 101st bunks, there were almost no salutes to be seen Sunday.
Pfc. Matthew Wood, 20, finds himself gives the higher ranks a wide berth to avoid saluting. "I usually walk around them if I can," he said.
"New people coming in will be expecting to be in a combat base. But then with the salutes, it feels like a garrison or a peacekeeping situation," he said. "I'll do it when someone tells me to. So far none of the officers has gotten on our case about it."
Sgt. Charles Thompson, cleaning his pistol with a toothbrush outside his tent, said he's told enlisted men to salute, "since that's the order."
Just down the road at "Motel Six," the site where newly arrived members of the 18th Airborne are setting up the new headquarters. things are more formal.
A military policeman at the gate salutes as officers pass by. So do the soldiers — all in full desert camouflage — on the footpaths nearby.
The salute rule is "part of the maturing of Bagram as a base," said Sgt. Maj. Steve England. He said there will also be new safety rules and security around the base.
"It's time to get the base back to normal discipline standards," he said.
The U.S. force has grown from a few hundred Americans who first set up base at the airfield to around 5,000 troops, England said.