Camp Vance

Camp Vance, Afghanistan is 1.4 km from the airfield at Bagram Air Base and was established in December 2002 in Bagram, Afghanistan by the United States Department of Defense to headquarter the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF).

The camp is named for Gene Arden Vance Jr., a member of the US Special Forces (Airborne) and a cryptologic linguist who, despite being critically wounded, help save the lives of two fellow Americans and 18 Afghani soldiers during the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in the War in Afghanistan (2001–14).

Camp Vance is headquartered by US Special Forces troops whose core tasks include advising the Afghan National Army’s special operations forces and local police, training forces associated with the Village Stability Operations (VSO) and counterinsurgency (COIN) - a strategy that establishes expanding security and stability in rural villages. The camp also controls highly specialized battalion-level task forces built around Army Special Forces, infantry, a Marine special operations battalion and a Navy SEAL team.

The mission of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force at Camp Vance and Bagram Air Base includes denying terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan that threaten western interests.