Balad Air Base
Balad Air Base is an Iraqi Air Force base located near Balad in the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad, Iraq.
Built in the early 1980s it was originally named Al-Bakr Air Base. In 2003 the base was occupied by the United States Armed Forces as part of the Iraq War and called both Balad Air Base by the United States Air Force and Anaconda Logistical Support Area by the United States Army before being renamed Joint Base Balad on 15 June 2008. The base was handed back to the Iraqi Air Force on 8 November 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 and today is home to the Iraqi Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon.
History
Iraqi use
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 hardened aircraft shelters 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 30 individual aircraft shelters.Coalition use
The base was captured in early April 2003 during the Invasion of Iraq. The area was nicknamed "Mortaritaville", because of a high frequency of incoming mortars, at times every day, from Iraqi insurgents.The US Army's 310th Sustainment Command and the US Air Force's 332d Air Expeditionary Wing were headquartered at JBB. It was decided that the facility share one name, even though for many reasons and for its many occupants, it had differing names. Until mid-2008 the US Army had been in charge of Balad but, when it was re-designated as a joint base, the US Air Force assumed overall control. Balad was the central logistical hub for forces in Iraq. Camp Anaconda has also been more colloquially-termed "Life Support Area Anaconda" or the "Big Snake".
It housed 28,000 military personnel and 8,000 civilian contractors. Like most large bases in Iraq, LSA Anaconda offered amenities, circa 2006 and later, including a base movie theater, two Base/Post Exchanges, fast food courts including Subway, Popeyes, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, 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, Vince Vaughn, Carrie Underwood,
Wayne Newton, Toby Keith, Gary Sinise, Chris Isaak, Neal McCoy, Oliver North, and WWE.
Units
- 129th CSSB
- 372nd Transportation Company
- 172nd Corps Support Group
- 1-142 Aviation Maintenance Battalion
- M/158 Aviation Regiment
- 213th Area Support Group
- 13th CSSB
- 142ND ECB & 957 MRBC April 2003 - Feb 2004
Ground forces
- 32nd Signal Battalion, 22nd Signal Brigade 2003-March 2004
- 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry Regiment, Jan 2005-Jan 2006
- 50th Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade, Nov 2004 - Nov 2005
- 557 Maintenance Co. Oct 2007 - Dec 2008
- 602nd Maintenance Co. Apr 2008 - Jun 2009
- A/51st Signal Battalion took control in mid April 2003 from the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment until V corps arrived around 1 May 2003
- 532nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron
- 411th Engineer Brigade between 2006 and 2007
- NMCB 28 and NMCB 4 - 2007
- Headquarters and Support Company, 463d Engineer Combat Battalion between 2004 and 2005
- 63rd Ordnance Company between 2004 and 2005
- 1st Sustainment Command between 2006 and 2007
- 316th Sustainment Command between 2007 and 2008
- 1st Sustainment Command between 2008 and 2009
- 194th Engineer Brigade, Jackson, TN; Corps Engineer Brigade, August 2009 - April 2010
- 103rd Sustainment Command between 2009 and 2011
- 100th Infantry Battalion
- Task Force 34
- 864th Engineer Battalion
- 912th AG CO 1st and 2nd PLT June 2003 - June 2004
- 29th Brigade Combat Team January 2005 - February 2006
- 323rd Military Police Company April 2003 - July 2003
- Bravo Company 279th Signal Battalion, Alabama National Guard, 2004-2005.
- 81st HBCT, Washington National Guard, April 2004 – 2005.
- 30th Engineer Brigade North Carolina Army National Guard January 2005-December 2005.
Aviation forces
- 332d Air Expeditionary Wing
- * 332d Expeditionary Operations Group
- ** 22d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron – F-16CM Block 50 Fighting Falcons.
- ** 34th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from May to October 2008
- ** 332d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron – F-16 Block 30 Fighting Falcons
- *** 107th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 111th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 119th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 120th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 121st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 124th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 125th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 170th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 176th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 179th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 186th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- *** 188th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
- 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron – C-130 Hercules
- 64th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron – HH-60 Pave Hawk
- 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron – MQ-1B Predator
- 332d Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron – airfield management
- 362d Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron – MC-12W Liberty
- 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron – tactical command and control agency
- 1st Battalion, 131st Aviation Regiment from September 2006.
- Task Force 11th Aviation Regiment from April 2003 until February 2004
- 528 Quartermasters Ft. Lewis Washington 2003-2004
Conditions
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.
Hospital
Joint base Balad was also home to the Air Force Theater Hospital, a Level I trauma center which boasted a 98% survival rate for wounded Americans and Iraqis alike.Black jail site
A black jail, a U.S. military detention camp to interrogate high-value detainees, was established at Balad in summer 2004, named the Temporary Screening Facility. A British Secret Intelligence Service 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.Return to Iraqi control
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.Sallyport Global
In 2014, Sallyport Global, subsidiary of Caliburn International, was awarded contracts to work on Balad Air Base in support of the Iraq 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.
Current use
The base is home to the Iraqi Air Force's General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of 9th Fighter Squadron.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. No claims of responsibility have been made yet. The attack wounded four people.