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Balad Air Base

Iraqi Air Force base in Balad, Wasit Governorate

Balad Air Base

Iraqi Air Force base in Balad, Wasit Governorate

FieldValue
nameBalad Air Base
Joint Base Balad
ensignFile:Flag of the Iraqi Ground Forces.svg
ensign_size90px
native_nameقاعدة النعمانية الجوية
partof
locationBalad, Wasit Governorate
countryIraq
image2
coordinates
pushpin_mapIraq
pushpin_map_captionShown within Iraq
pushpin_labelBalad Air Base
ownershipIraqi Armed Forces
operatorIraqi Air Force
controlledby
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
code
built
conditionDefunct
battlesIran–Iraq War
2003 invasion of Iraq
past_commanders
footnotes
IATAXQC
ICAOORBD
LIDOR9
elevation49 m
r1-number12/30
r1-length4100 m
r1-surfaceConcrete
r2-number14/32
r2-length4100 m
r2-surfaceConcrete
r3-length
h1-length
airfield_other_labelDispersal facilities
airfield_other25 high-speed approaches and 40 hardstands

Joint Base Balad 2003 invasion of Iraq | r1-number = 12/30 | r1-length = 4100 m | r1-surface = Concrete | r2-number = 14/32 | r2-length = 4100 m | r2-surface = Concrete | r3-number = | r3-length = | r3-surface = | h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = Balad Air Base () , is an Iraqi Air Force base located near Balad in the Sunni Triangle 40 mi north of Baghdad, Iraq.

Built in the early 1980s, it was originally named Al-Bakr Air Base. In 2003 the base was taken over by the 4th Infantry Division at the start of the Iraq War. It was called both Balad Air Base and Anaconda Logistical Support Area (LSA) by the United States Army before being renamed Joint Base Balad on June 15, 2008. The base was handed back to the Iraqi Air Force on November 8, 2011, during the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, after which it returned to being called Balad Air Base.

During the Iraq War it was the second largest U.S. base in Iraq. It was also one of the busiest airports in the world with 27,500 takeoffs and landings per month, second only to Heathrow Airport. Today it is home to the Iraqi Air Force's contingent of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons.

History

Ba'athist Iraq

In 1983, Balad Air Base was constructed to improve the deployment flexibility of the Iraqi Air Force (IQAF). It was also as part of a national drive to construct new airfields and renovate existing airfields. Two 3,400 meter long runways orientated NW/SE were constructed. Additional installation of facilities included 6 high-speed approaches on either ends of both runways, which totalled up to 19, two taxiways, three cross-over links, and three aprons. There were four dispersal facilities that totalled up to 19 hardstands/aircraft bunkers, with one at the end of each high-speed approaches. By June 1983, Balad Air Base was in the mid to late-stages of construction, with one runway already operational. At some point, additional high-speed approaches and hardened aircraft shelters (HAS) were added, totalling up to 25 high-speed approaches and 40 shelters, creating one of the most extensive dispersal facilities in Iraq.

Balad was formerly known as Al-Bakr Air Base, named in honor of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, the president of Iraq from 1968 to 1979. It was considered by many in the Iraqi military to be the most important airfield of the Iraqi Air Force. During most of the 1980s, it operated with at least a brigade level force, with two squadrons of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 fighters. Al-Bakr Air Base was especially well known for the large number of HAS built by Yugoslavian contractors during the Iran–Iraq War in the mid-1980s. It had four hardened areas—one each on either end of the main runways—with approximately 40 individual aircraft shelters.

U.S. military presence (2003–2011)

The Sustainer Theater at Joint Base Balad where US movies were played.
Living quarters for NCOs, SNCOs and officers in the H-6 housing compound on JBB, referred to as "pods", circa Jan 2009

The base was captured by U.S. forces in early April 2003, renaming it Camp Anaconda and later Joint Base Balad (JBB). The area was nicknamed "Mortaritaville" (in a play on Margaritaville), because of a high frequency of incoming mortars, at times every day, from Iraqi insurgents. Camp Anaconda has also been more colloquially-termed "Life Support Area Anaconda" or the "Big Snake".

The U.S. Army 310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and the U.S. Air Force 332d Air Expeditionary Wing were headquartered at JBB. It was decided that the facility share one name even though it had differing names through its different occupants. Until mid-2008 the U.S. Army had been in charge of Balad but overall control was handed to the U.S. Air Force when it was designated a joint base. Balad was the central logistical hub for coalition forces in Iraq. Joint Base Balad also hosted a Level I trauma center Air Force Theater Hospital which boasted a 98% survival rate for wounded Americans and Iraqis.

It housed 28,000 military personnel and 8,000 civilian contractors. Like most large bases in Iraq, LSA Anaconda offered amenities including a base movie theater (Sustainer Theater), two Base/Post Exchanges (BX/PX), fast food courts including Subway, Popeyes, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell (2007), Burger King, Green Beans Coffee, a Turkish cafe, an Iraqi bazaar, multiple gyms, dance lessons, an Olympic size swimming pool, and an indoor swimming pool.

The base was a common destination for celebrities and politicians visiting US troops serving in Iraq on USO Tours including the Charlie Daniels band (2005), Vince Vaughn (2005), Carrie Underwood (2006),Wayne Newton, Toby Keith, Gary Sinise, Chris Isaak, Neal McCoy, Oliver North, and WWE.

Mortaritaville

Starting in 2003, several mortar rounds and rockets were fired per day by insurgents, usually hitting the empty space between the runways, although there were isolated injuries and fatalities. By mid-2006, this rate had dropped by about 40%. Due to these attacks, the soldiers and airmen refer to the base as "Mortaritaville", though this name is shared with other bases in Iraq.

Burn Pit

Joint Base Balad had a burn pit operation as late as the summer of 2010. The pit, which was visible for miles, was in continuous use which resulted in 147 tons of waste burnt per day, some of which was considered toxic. Respiratory difficulties and headaches were attributed to smoke inhalation from the burnt waste; however, according to research conducted on behalf of the US Department of Veteran Affairs, there is insufficient evidence to connect those symptoms to burn pits. Despite this, the VA allows service members to file claims for symptoms they believe to be related to burn pit exposure.

Black Jail

A black jail, a U.S. military detention camp to interrogate high-value detainees, was established at Balad in summer of 2004, named the Temporary Screening Facility (TSF). A British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) lawyer who visited a black jail, believed to be at Balad, described it as holding prisoners in wooden crates, too small to stand in or lie down, who were subject to white noise. General Stanley McChrystal, commander of Joint Special Operations Command, regularly visited the site, reporting that the staff of interrogators and analysts was six times the number of detainees, enabling important detainees to be questioned through each shift.

2007 AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crash

Main article: 2007 AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crash

On 9 January 2007, an Antonov An-26 airliner operated by AerianTur-M on behalf of the U.S. Air Force crashed while attempting to land at the air base, killing 34 passengers and crew.

Units

54th Medavac Dust-off April 2003- April 2004 / Nov 2004 -Nov 2005

777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 Hercules at Balad AB Iraq getting a power wash of the engines to ensure that built-up dust does not get pulled into the intake during flight.
46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron MQ-1B Predator UAV
Ground forces
Aviation forces

;US Air Force

Current use

On 8 November 2011, as U.S. forces were in the process of withdrawing from Iraq, Joint Base Balad was handed back to the Iraqi Air Force, after which it returned to being called Balad Air Base. The base is home to the Iraqi Air Force's General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of 9th Fighter Squadron (34 aircraft operating in 2023).

Sallyport Global Human Rights Abuses and Corruption

In 2014, Sallyport Global, subsidiary of Caliburn International (now called Acuity International), was awarded contracts to work on Balad Air Base in support of the Iraqi F-16 program. Following reports alleging timesheet fraud, investigators found evidence of alcohol smuggling, human trafficking, security violations, and theft. The investigators were subsequently fired by the human resources personnel that they were originally sent to investigate, and removed from the base under armed guard. Employees have also raised concern about racism, particularly from white South African security guards who made open endorsements of Apartheid and refused to work alongside Iraqis and other people of color. Former employees say that they feared for their safety at the base due to security failures. In one such report, a militia member shot a bomb-sniffing dog that had flagged their vehicle. It is also said that animals were intentionally starved, and the company withheld passports from employees who wished to leave.

Sallyport is also being investigated by United States Department of Justice on allegations of bribing Iraqi officials for exclusive contracts.

Islamic State attacks

The base came under attack by ISIL militants in late June 2014, when the insurgents launched mortar attacks and reportedly surrounded the base on three sides.

On January 4, 2020, the base came under a rocket attack, and no claims of responsibility have been made yet. The attack wounded four people.

Rockets fell in Iraq’s Balad air base on March 17, 2022 leaving no damage, 2 security forces wounded.

References

References

  1. (November 9, 2011). "Huge U.S. air base returned to Iraqi control". Reuters.
  2. (9 November 2011). "Huge U.S. air base returned to Iraqi control".
  3. (1 June 1983). "Airfield Construction and Upgrading, Iraq (S)". Central Intelligence Agency.
  4. (9 November 2011). "Huge U.S. air base returned to Iraqi control". Reuters.
  5. Carter, Phillip. (October 18, 2006). "The Thin Green Line". Slate.
  6. Mason, Michael. (March 2007). "Dead Men Walking". Discover.
  7. "Archived copy".
  8. (2003-07-10). "Mortars, Grenades Fired at U.S. Troops in Several Attacks". Fox News.
  9. (October 27, 2004). "Letters to the editor for Wednesday, October". Stars and Stripes.
  10. "Mortar attacks part of daily life at Balad air base".
  11. Burns, John F.. (2004-01-04). "G.I. Killed and Two Wounded by Mortar Fire at Iraq Base". The New York Times.
  12. Powell, Anita. (July 22, 2006). "Attacks on the decrease at LSA Anaconda, aka 'Mortaritaville'". Stars and Stripes.
  13. "Base hit by daily attacks told no GIs available for patrols". tribunedigital-chicagotribune.
  14. (2013-03-29). "Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns — Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at base are making them sick, but officials deny risk".
  15. "The New Agent Orange".
  16. Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health. "Burn Pits - Public Health".
  17. Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health. "Studies on Possible Health Effects of Burn Pits - Public Health".
  18. Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health. "VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry - Public Health".
  19. [http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_burnpit_102708w/ "Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns]: Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at base are making them sick, but officials deny risk" article by Kelly Kennedy in ''[[Army Times]]'' Oct 29, 2008, accessed 2010-08-07.
  20. Schmitt, Eric. (22 August 2009). "U.S. Shifts, Giving Detainee Names to the Red Cross". New York Times.
  21. Allisa J. Rubin. (2009-11-28). "Afghans Detail a Secret Prison Still Operating on a U.S. Base". New York Times.
  22. Cobain, Ian. (1 April 2013). "Camp Nama: British personnel reveal horrors of secret US base in Baghdad". The Guardian.
  23. Ian Cobain, Jamie Doward. (30 June 2018). "M16 put questions to prisoner waterboarded 83 times by CIA". The Guardian.
  24. McChrystal, Stanley. (2013). "My Share of the Task: A Memoir". Penguin.
  25. (August 2014). "[[AirForces Monthly]]". [[Key Publishing.
  26. Delalande, Arnaud. (November 8, 2017). "AeroHisto - Aviation History: Iraqi 9th Fighter Squadron has now 21 F-16C/Ds in its fleet".
  27. (31 January 2019). "Sallyport wins $375m Iraq Contract".
  28. (3 May 2017). "AP: U.S. contractor ignored security violations at Iraq base".
  29. Hinnant, Desmond Butler and Lori. (3 May 2017). "U.S. company turned blind eye to wild behavior on Iraq base".
  30. McCullough, Zack Kopplin{{!}}Irvin. (2018-09-18). "U.S. Paid $1B to Contractor Accused of Bigotry at Iraq Air Base".
  31. McCullough, Zack Kopplin{{!}}Irvin. (2019-02-12). "DOJ Is Investigating Whether U.S. Payoffs to Iraqi Officials Opened the Door for ISIS".
  32. Iannelli, Jerry. (2019-02-15). "Miami Migrant-Camp Contractor Tied to Iraqi Government Bribery Investigation".
  33. Lake, Eli. (25 June 2014). "ISIS Tries to Grab Its Own Air Force". [[The Daily Beast]].
  34. Sisk, Richard. (January 4, 2020). "Rocket Attacks Hit Baghdad's Green Zone, Balad Air Base: Iraqi Military".
  35. (20 February 2021). "Rocket attack on Iraqi airbase where US defense company operates".
  36. "balad air base".
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