Camp Speicher

Tikrit Air Academy
Al Sahra Airfield
Near Tikrit, Saladin Province in Iraq
Tikrit Air Academy
Shown within Iraq
Coordinates 34°40′39″N 043°33′02″E / 34.67750°N 43.55056°E / 34.67750; 43.55056Coordinates: 34°40′39″N 043°33′02″E / 34.67750°N 43.55056°E / 34.67750; 43.55056
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
Operator Iraqi Air Force
Site history
Built 1973 (1973)
In use 1973-present
Airfield information
Elevation 130 metres (427 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
14/32 3,120 metres (10,236 ft) Asphalt
Tikrit Air Academy, Iraq (2005).
Tikrit Air Academy, Iraq (2005).

Camp Speicher, officially known as the Tikrit Air Academy and formerly as FOB Speicher, COB Speicher, and Al Sahra Airfield (under Saddam Hussein) is an air installation near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The installation is approximately 170 kilometers north of Baghdad and 11 kilometers west of the Tigris River. The United States Army captured the base from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and used it during the Iraq War as the headquarters of the United States Division–North (USD-N, formerly Multinational Division, North, (MND-N)). The airfield is served by two main runways measuring 9,600 feet (2,900 m) long with a shorter runway measuring 7,200-foot (2,200 m). The Americans named the airfield after Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a United States Navy pilot who was killed in action in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Prior to the 2003 invasion, Al Sahra Airfield was the main base of the Iraqi Air Force Air Academy.[1]

Construction

The base was one of several Iraqi Air Force airfields in the mid-1970s which were re-built under project "Super-Base" in response to the experiences from Arab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.[2]

Capture by United States forces

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the main runway and some taxiways were cut by bomb hits, and the large main hangar structure was blown up. The remains of the other large hangar next to it burned down in a large fire in July 2003.

The original unit to take control of the base was 1-10th Cavalry of the 4th Infantry Division. The base was then handed over to the 4th Aviation Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division in the second week of the war.

The Americans originally christened the base Forward Logistics Base (FLB) Sycamore,[3] but the name was later changed to Forward Operating Base Speicher[4] and then Contingency Operating Base Speicher.[5] The name was changed in honor of Scott Speicher, an American pilot who was shot down in the 1991 Gulf War.[1]

Occupation by United States forces

Overview

American soldiers, civilians, and contractors had access to a variety of amenities over the course of the United States' occupation of the base. The base had a large Post Exchange (PX), as well as several American fast food restaurants, including Subway, Burger King, and Pizza Hut.[6]

Units

Aviation

Ground units

Units that have been based at COB Speicher include:

Unknown

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Back to Iraqi Control

The US Army left COB Speicher in October 2011 as part of the general withdrawal of US Forces. Camp Speicher is currently used by the Iraqi Army and Air Force.

Current use

By mid June 2014, Tikrit was overrun by the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Iraqi Air Force cadets reported that many of the camp's officers fled as ISIS approached, and, as a result, several thousand Shia cadets and other personnel abandoned their uniforms and began to walk toward Baghdad.[8] Several miles from the camp, they were confronted and taken prisoners by approximately fifty ISIS militants in armored vehicles.[8] Following their capture, about 1700 were killed in mass shooting executions. A video released by ISIS in July showed the executions done in several locations including shooting the cadets in trenches and then throwing the bodies in the River Tigris. In early September, corpses were seen floating on the surface. Very few managed to escape unharmed and survive.[9][10]

Camp Speicher was contested throughout the summer of 2014. The Daily Telegraph reported in June that Speicher was at one point under the control of ISIS,[11] but according to later accounts, ISIS never captured the airfield.[8]

On 17 July, following the Iraqi Army's defeat in the First Battle of Tikrit, insurgents launched an assault on the camp, where an estimated 700 government soldiers and 150 Iranian or Iraqi Shia militiamen were besieged.[12] The assault included snipers and suicide bombers and the militants quickly managed to reach the runway, at which point Iraqi special forces joined the battle.[13] The base was bombarded and mortared all night. By the next morning, according to various sources, the final pocket of government troops had collapsed.[12] At least 25–35 insurgents were also killed.[13][14] Iraqi forces attempted to save the base's aircraft by flying them out,[13] but according to ISIL 8–9 helicopters were destroyed on the ground or shot down, with several armored vehicles destroyed as well.[15] The Iraqi Army denied the alleged capture of the base with soldiers from the front line reporting that Speicher was still under their control,[14] with only three soldiers being killed,[13] one helicopter destroyed and two damaged.[15] A Tikrit resident also reported continued fighting around the base.[16] Two days later, the military reported that Iraqi special forces had re-secured the base.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Dina Rasor; Robert Bauman (1 May 2007). Betraying Our Troops: The Destructive Results of Privatizing War. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 131. ISBN 978-1-4039-8192-9.
  2. ↑ Tom Cooper; Farzad Bishop. "Second Death of the IrAF". acig.info. Retrieved 2015-07-27.
  3. ↑ Amy Yarsinske (1 July 2013). An American in the Basement: The Betrayal of Captain Scott Speicher and the Cover-up of His Death. Trine Day. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-937584-21-4.
  4. ↑ "$5.8M to improve FOB Speicher, Iraq". Defense Industry Daily. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Pat Proctor (28 December 2011). Task Force Patriot and the End of Combat Operations in Iraq. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-60590-778-9.
  6. ↑ "In Iraq, soldiers also fight battle of the bulge". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  7. ↑ John Pike. "118th Area Support Medical Battalion". globalsecurity.org.
  8. 1 2 3 Arango, Tim (2014-09-04). "Escaping Death in Northern Iraq". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  9. ↑ "Iraq: ISIS Execution Site Located". Human Rights Watch.
  10. ↑ Wochit Headline News. "Group: Islamic Militants Killed 770 Iraqi Troops - Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion.
  11. ↑ Richard Spencer (15 June 2014). "Iraq crisis: ISIS jihadists execute dozens of captives". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  12. 1 2 "Islamic State overwhelms Iraqi forces at Tikrit in major defeat". miamiherald. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "IS-led Militants Storm Iraqi Air Base near Tikrit". Naharnet. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  14. 1 2 "The Iraqi Army’s Alamo: Standoff in Tikrit". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Islamic State overruns Camp Speicher, routs Iraqi forces". Longwarjournal.org. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "Multiple bombings in Baghdad kill at least 27". America.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Iraqi military says it retakes control of key base in Tikrit". Longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
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