Built in the early 1980s, it was originally named Al-Bakr Air Base. In 2003 the base was captured by the United States Armed Forces at the start of the Iraq War and was called both Balad Air Base and AnacondaLogistical 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.[1]
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.[2] Today it is home to the Iraqi Air Force's contingent of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons.
History
Ba'athist 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 hardened aircraft shelters (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 30 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).[3] 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".[4]
The U.S. Army310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and the U.S. Air Force332d 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.[5]
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.[7][8][9][10] By mid-2006, this rate had dropped by about 40%.[11] Due to these attacks, the soldiers and airmen refer to the base as "Mortaritaville", though this name is shared with other bases in Iraq.[12]
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.[13][14] 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.[15][16] Despite this, the VA allows service members to file claims for symptoms they believe to be related to burn pit exposure.[17][18]
Black Jail
A black jail, a U.S. militarydetention camp to interrogate high-value detainees, was established at Balad in summer of 2004, named the Temporary Screening Facility (TSF).[19][20][21] 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.[22]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.[23]
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
170th EFS F-16, from Springfield, Illinois, taking off from Joint Base Balad777th 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
54th Medavac Dust-off April 2003- April 2004 / Nov 2004 -Nov 2005
855th Military Police Company (Desert Warriors), AZ ARNG, April–July 2003
123rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, AZ ARNG, October 2008 – September 2009
1st Battalion 8th Infantry 3rd BCT 4th ID – 2003-2004 and 2005–2006 based out of Fort Carson, CO
32D MEDLOG BN (Medical Logistics Battalion) OIF 04-06 (Oct 2004 - Nov 2005) as 32D MMB (Multifunction Medical Battalion) OIF 06-08 (Sept 2006 - Dec 2007) based out of Fort Bragg, NC
152nd MP Det.(L&O) June 2003 - April 2004
40th Corps Support Group (Formerly 40th DISCOM) California National Guard (Long Beach, CA), Sept 2005-Sept 2006.
505th Engineers Battalion (Combat Heavy) NC National Guard, October 2005 - March 2006, (Move to Camp Speicher )
253rd Trans Company (Light/Medium) NJ Army National Guard, Apr 2003 - June 2004
196th Trans Company (PLS) Orlando, Fl Mar 2003- April 2004
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.[26] 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.[27][28] 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.[29]
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.[32]
On January 4, 2020, the base came under a rocket attack, and no claims of responsibility have been made yet.[33] The attack wounded four people.[33] On 20 February 2021, four rockets targeted the base, in which one Iraqi contractor was wounded.[34]
Rockets fell in Iraq’s Balad air base on March 17, 2022 leaving no damage, 2 security forces wounded.[35]
^Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health. "Burn Pits - Public Health". www.publichealth.va.gov. Retrieved 2017-07-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"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.
