At the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, a caped crusader known as Bagram Batman is making sure soldiers stay safe in a combat zone. WSJ's Nathan Hodge reports from Bagram Air Field.

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan—In fictional Gotham City, Batman protects citizens from crime. Here, at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, another Dark Knight is on a different kind of crusade: making sure soldiers carry their rifles and don't get run over at night.

"Bagram Batman" is the star of a recent series of public-service announcements broadcast to troops deployed in and around Afghanistan. The camouflaged superhero—and his catchphrase, "SWEAR TO ME!"— have become an unlikely hit, winning a cult following among soldiers, and going viral on the Internet.

"He acts just as well as Adam West did," marvels Maj. Crispin Burke, an Army officer and military blogger, referring to the star of the original Batman movie and TV series in the 1960s.

While his do-it-yourself costume—rubber Batman mask, black cape and reflective belt over combat fatigues—may look like a joke, Bagram Batman has a very real mission: reminding the troops about the do's and don'ts of life on a forward operating base like Bagram, a small American town planted in the middle of a war zone.

A series of campy ads star 'Bagram Batman,' who implores troops in Afghanistan to remember their gear—and not to shoplift at the exchange. Nathan Hodge/The Wall Street Journal

Well, mostly the don'ts. Don't forget your weapon; don't wear headphones while jogging; and don't shoplift at the base exchange. Bagram Batman also enforces the most important rule of all: Don't forget your reflective belt, lest you be hit by the hulking Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles that roar in darkness through the base's main drag.

Bagram Batman debuted in early March with a 30-second TV ad on smoking safety. In the American Forces Network spot, the caped crusader catches a soldier sneaking a cigarette near a fuel tank and wrestles the offender to the ground.

"I swear, Batman, I'll never do it again!" the soldier protests. "SWEAR TO ME!" barks Bagram Batman.

DC Entertainment, the Warner Bros. Entertainment company that owns the Batman character, had no official statement regarding the videos.

The man behind the masked military version is an Army broadcast journalist, a military specialty known under its code 46 Romeo. Bagram Batman recently agreed to let a reporter accompany him on his rounds as he prowled the base for soldiers committing uniform violations.

"I'm glad to see you've got your eye-pro on," he growled at one group of soldiers, noting their ballistic eyewear.

A sprawling base in a high plain north of Kabul, Bagram is the ideal Gotham for a rules-enforcing Caped Crusader. Built by the Soviets, the base was severely battered during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s. Rebuilt by the U.S. military after the fall of the Taliban, Bagram now resembles a highly fortified strip mall—a brightly lighted, well-paved outpost of America, complete with posted speed limits and mandatory seat-belt regulations.

It is also a hat-and-salute zone. An amused-looking soldier saluted Bagram Batman as he walked past, as he would a superior officer.

"What's your rank?" a reporter asked.

Bagram Batman pegs his rank at "O-6 and half," giving himself a fictional rank between full colonel (O-6) and brigadier general. "There's lieutenant colonel, then full-bird colonel, then me."

Bagram Batman also pokes gentle fun at one of the military's biggest obsessions—the dreaded reflective belt. For many service members, the reflective belt is the symbol of the military's overzealous enforcement of safety rules. A missing glow-belt is the surest way to invite a reprimand from a command sergeant major.


The Bagram Batcave is hidden inside the nondescript Building 415, where Bagram Batman and his sidekicks in uniform plot their public-safety campaigns. That is where the crime-fighter agreed to unmask. By day, Bagram Batman is Staff Sgt. Jesse Dyer, a 36-year-old Army broadcast journalist from Robbins, N.C.

Sgt. Dyer oversees a small team that shoots television spots that air on the Freedom Channel, an Afghanistan-specific American Forces Network channel, and helps run an FM radio station. A self-confessed Batman fanatic, Sgt. Dyer owns a full Dark Knight costume that he bought from UD Replicas, a company that makes licensed studio-quality costumes. At his home station in Vicenza, Italy, he dresses in the costume to volunteer at a children's hospital.

The idea for Bagram Batman emerged from a brainstorming session in the bullpen, the small office where military broadcast journalists think up ideas for public-service announcements.

"We were joking about how you should get your Batman suit out here," said Petty Officer First Class Xander Gamble, 28, a Navy mass communication specialist.

The Bagram Batman spots are a lively contrast to the typical fare that airs on military television. Military public-service announcements are legendary for hit-or-miss production values and scripts that often seem lifted from classroom scare films. Classic PSAs include exhortations to stay healthy while deployed ("Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before going into the dining facility"), steer clear of Christmas-tree conflagrations ("Make sure to get a freshly cut tree") and avoid hypothermia while swimming ("¡El agua fría mata!")

So, after the U.S. Army posted a link to the weapons-carrying video—featuring Bagram Batman yelling "WHERE'S YOUR WEAPON?" at a clueless soldier—on an official Twitter account, @USArmy, Bagram Batman went viral.

When a Twitter parody, called @BagramBatman, surfaced, Sgt. Dyer responded by creating his own Twitter handle, @IamBagramBatman. The name is an homage to the campy television series. His profile has a thumbnail portrait of Bagram Batman knocking out a rule-breaking trooper with a "POW!"

Bagram Batman also started to attract a crowd here on base. Senior Airman Stephanie Palmisano, 24, an Air Force broadcaster who works with Sgt. Dyer, said public service announcement shoots usually drew a crowd of 20 or 25 people standing around watching and taking cellphone videos.

"That's why it's so important for him to stay in character the whole time," she said.

Despite the lighthearted approach, the risks of living and working in a combat zone are real. One of Bagram Batman's public safety spots features a soldier cranking up Taylor Swift tunes on his headphones before going out for a run. In doing so, he fails to hear the message over the base public address system warning of incoming fire. Batman pounces. "Never wear your headphones while you're running!" he exhorts. "I'm sorry Batman, I swear I'll never do it again!" the soldier says. Bagram Batman's response: "SWEAR TO ME!"

When shooting that segment, Sgt. Dyer said it finally hit home that Bagram Batman had achieved celebrity status.

"There were some guys who were about 100 meters away or so, and they were like, 'SWEAR TO ME!'"

"That's my line!" Bagram Batman replied.

Write to Nathan Hodge at