At one time, military lodges were a common phenomenon, but around WWI they fell out of favor among U.S. grand lodges. (See my post from 2010, "Where are our military lodges?") But in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, they have made a few comebacks, most commonly under Prince Hall charters (although, Canadian Grand Lodges have also chartered a handful, and the GL of Nebraska chartered Swisher Lodge in Afghanistan a few years ago). Masonry is looked upon with great suspicion by the population in Islamic-dominated countries, so these lodges must be discrete and are restricted only to military and contractor personnel.
Alpha Military Lodge No. 195 is located at Bagram Airfield in Northeast, Afghanistan. Their membership includes both military and civilian personnel. Alpha Military Lodge No. 195 is under the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oklahoma jurisdiction, District 15, where Ronnie L. Scott is the District Deputy Grand Master. They have also established several appendant bodies that work at the base.
From their history page:
It all started around February of 2005. Ronnie L. Scott had a vision of starting a Lodge on Bagram AFB. While there was already a Lodge existing from the brothers of 25th ID out of Hawaii it would of course only be temporary. The vision was to start a Lodge here that would be something more than temporary. When Military units come to Bagram they work well but usually spend most of their deployment trying to get brothers together to start something. By the time a Lodge is up and running it is usually time to head back home. If you have a Lodge that is a permanent staple then Masonry would not take a backseat to deployments. This is what Mr. Scott and a host of others had in mind. At first there were only small meetings in and around BAF. Comprised of only a few, this went on for several months. In May of 05 Mr. Scott went on leave and came back with a Dispensation to do Lodge work from the great state of Oklahoma. That was the just the beginning of something more to come. The Dispensation allowed the brothers here to continue with something they had a deep love for. While it was not a full Charter it did grant Alpha Military Lodge the same rights and benefits as any other established Lodge in the states. From that time on open houses were established to help anyone that may have had questions about Freemasonry, and to also see the positive things that we do for the community. Community response was tremendous. Alpha military Lodge was also working closely with another military lodge called M.L.K. Lodge #151 out of Germany. This was historical considering you had 2 different lodges from 2 different jurisdictions doing work together.
[snip]
In June of 2006 Alpha Military Lodge was granted a full Warrant and Charter to operate as a Lodge in Bagram from the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. Since the beginning of its conception Alpha Military Lodge and its members have strived to provide the community of Bagram with the same things that any lodge in the states or overseas would. We give unselfishly to those in the area that are without. We donate clothes and toys to the children and citizens in Afghanistan and help the medical units here with the burned and injured by visiting the hospitals. Alpha Military Lodge #195 is and will continue to be a solid foundation in the Bagram and Afghanistan Community.
