i will reiterate i had an opportunity to offer my professional advice to the president through the secretary and confident he weighed it carefully. that s all any commander can ask. once the president made his decision my headquarters and that under general miller the removal of our forces was top priority. every departure of every element was sin con iced across the coalition and with afghan partners. on no occasion were they caught unaware by our movements. every base was handed off to afghan forces according to a plan. this is particularly true of bagram airfield. many of you have have visited bagram at some point in the past 20 years and were probably struck by two defining features, it s sprawling size and its isolation. virtues for most of its life span they rendered it untenable under the circumstances. the guidance i received in