"A lot of history is being made here every single day. Much of the credit goes to all of you," Cheney said Thursday. "We know the work is hard, we know the conditions are tough, we know the deployments are hard on families."

Noting that Afghanistan is undergoing a reconstruction, the vice president said the Afghan government and people remain key U.S. allies in the war on terror.

"Having liberated this country," he said, "the United States and our coalition partners have no intention of allowing extremists to shoot their way back into power. We're going to get this job done right, so that another generation of Americans doesn't have to come back and do it all over again."

While on base, Cheney participated in an awards ceremony and administered the oath for six soldiers who re-enlisted.