Operation Provide Comfort

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Operation Provide Comfort was a military operation by the United States and some of its Gulf War allies, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, and deliver humanitarian aid to them.

Lt. Col. John Abizaid (L) speaking with some Kurds in Northern Iraq during Operation Provide Comfort, 1991

Commemorative medallion issued to some participating US soldiers

A No-Fly Zone was established by the U.S., the U.K. and France north of the 36th parallel. This was enforced by American, British and French aircraft. Included in this effort was the delivery of humanitarian relief and military protection of the Kurds by a small Allied (US/UK/Fr/Tu) ground force based in Turkey. Also participating was the 3/325 Airborne Battalion Combat Team, based in Vicenza, Italy, and commanded by then-Lt. Col. John Abizaid.

While Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm were run by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), Operation Provide Comfort came under the authority of the US European Command (EUCOM), headquartered in Vaihingen, Germany. On-ground humanitarian aid was provided by the 353rd Civil Affairs Command, Bronx, New York, and by subordinate units 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion, Green Bay, Wisconsin and 431st Civil Affairs BN, Little Rock, Arkansas. These units were relocated to Turkey and Northern Iraq after completing missions in Kuwait. The base camps that were established for Kurdish refugees were nicknamed Camp Jayhawk and Camp Badger after college mascots. Other camps were established in Silopi, Turkey for multi national troops sent to assist with the operation. One such camp was built in Silopi, Turkey by members of the 564th Civil Engineering Squadron from Einsiedlerhof Air Station, Germany and other members of Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Smaller "detachment" camps were also built in and around Zhako, Iraq by these same members and were led by Capt. Randy Eide and SMSgt Douglas Deeter both of the U.S. Air Force. They led a team of 50 civil engineers that is now known as the first Air Force civil engineering unit to ever enter Iraq, Also deployed to Zhako from their main body deployment site in Rota,Spain, was Naval Mobile Construction Batallion 133 homeported in Gulfport,MS provided humanitarian aide, water wells,and repaired Sirsink air field from bomb damage received during Operation Desert Storm, and like its Air Force counterparts,were the first NMCB to enter Iraq prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom

Overall command of the operation was Lt. General John Shalikashvili, later to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

At the tip of the spear was the United States Marine Corps' 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit led by General James L. Jones, later to become Commandant of the Marine Corps. The MEU was under the command of Commodore Turner, commander, Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 1-91, aboard his flagship USS Guadalcanal.

On 14 April 1994, two United States Air Force F-15 Eagle fighters on a Provide Comfort patrol mistakenly downed two United States Army Blackhawk helicopters carrying twenty-six Allied personnel, killing all aboard.

For more details on this topic, see Black Hawk Incident (April 1994).

Some US allies contributed to the operation, including the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Australia. Britain deployed 40 and 45 Commando Royal Marines and air transport assets to help protect refugees as well as deliver humanitarian aid (the British used the name Operation Haven [1]. [2] France deployed transport aircraft and special forces, the Netherlands deployed troops from the Netherlands Marine Corps and Australia contributed transport aircraft and medical, dental and preventive health teams (under the Australian name, Operation Habitat). [3]

The operation ended officially on 31 December 1996 at the request of the Government of Turkey who wanted to improve relations with Iran and Iraq.