Al-Taqaddum Air Base
Al Taqaddum Air Base Habbaniyah Plateau FOB Ridgeway | |||||||||||||||
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Coordinates | 33°20′22″N 043°35′24″E / 33.33944°N 43.59000°E | ||||||||||||||
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No ILS |
According to the
There are three "sides" to Al Taqaddum, "Lake Side", "Main Side", and "Spring Lake". These sides denote particular areas. Each area has its own chow hall and phone center. The PX and main military support services are located on "Main Side". "Lake Side" hosts the air terminal and the primary supply depot. "Spring Lake" hosts other logistics units.
TQ is adjacent to Lake Habbaniyah. This lake varies in colors, blue some days, to a greenish tint on others. The base is built on a desolate plateau overlooking the Euphrates River to the north and Lake Habbaniyah to the south. A drainage canal from Lake Habbaniyah flows between it and the base at Habbaniyah.
In late 2009 Al Taqaddum was turned back over to the Iraqi Military.
Greene Field
On August 22, 2004, a group of Marines dedicated the airfield at Al Taqaddum to Lt. Col. David S. Greene, a reserve Marine AH-1W Super Cobra pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, who was killed in action July 28, 2004. Greene was flying a mission in support of I Marine Expeditionary Force when he was killed by small arms fire.[9]
List of Marine Corps units since 2004
- Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) Special Unit - (To install Armor on all HMMWV (Humvee))[10]
2004-2006 2nd TSB transportation support battalion (known now as 2nd MSG Marine logistics Group)
- 8th Communications Battalion (February 2005 to February 2006, USMC- Camp Lejeune, NC) https://www.iimef.marines.mil/Units/8th-Communication-Battalion/
- 8th Engineer Support Battalion between 2005 and 2006 (USMC - Camp Lejeune)[11]
- Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM-263) July 2004 - Feb 2005
- Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM-364) Feb 2005 - Sept 2005
- HMM-268 during 2006.[12]
- HMM-161 from February to September 2007.[13]
- HMM-161 from September 2008 to April 2009.[13]
- HMM-262 (RYF) from February 2007 to October 2007
- Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775 (HMLA-775) April to October 2004 and April to October 2005[9]
- HMLA-369 from 2005 until April 2006.
- HMLA-169 from March 2006 until October 2006.[14]
- HMLA-367 from October 2006 to May 2007[14]
- HMLA-369 from April 2007 to November 2007[15]
- HMLA-169 from November 2007 to October 2008.
- HMLA-369 from October 2008 to May 2009[15]
- Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 (VMU-2) during 2007.[16]
- Marine Wing Support Squadron 372 (MWSS 372) November 2005.[17]
- Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 (MWSS 373) August 2004, September 2006 to March 2007 and September 2008 to April 2009.[18]
- MWSS 374 2004,[citation needed] March 2006[19] and 2008.[citation needed]
- MWSS 371 between February 2005 and September 2005.[20]
- MWSS-274 between 2007 and 2008.
- MWSS-272 between 2007 and 2008.
- VMU-1between 2005 and 2009.
- Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 (MALS-16), Detachment A from March 2006.[12]
- MALS-29, Detachment A during 2007.[21]
- Marine Air Control Squadron 2 (MACS-2), Detachment A from July 2006 until August 2007.[22]
Current use
The base is home to the
On April 5, 2020, the US-led
See also
- Al Asad Airbase
- Camp Speicher
- RAF Habbaniya
- Smoke the Donkey
- List of United States Military installations in Iraq
- United States Forces – Iraq
References
- ^ Second Death of IrAF
- ^ a b Ribeiro, Marcelo (2020-12-14). "Gulf War: The Corsair's Last Hurrah". HistoryNet. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ^ a b Pokrant, Marvin (1999). Desert Storm at Sea: What the Navy Really Did. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- ^ a b c Cooper, Tom; C. Dildy, Douglas (2016). F-15C Eagle Vs MiG-23/25: Iraq 1991. Osprey Publishing.
- ^ "Gulf War Chronology: Day 1". 2006-09-25. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ^ Morgan, Rick (2017). A-6 Intruder Units 1977-1996. Osprey Publishing.
- ^ "Gulf War Chronology: Day 7". 2006-09-25. Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 2021-12-12.
- ^ A 1991 Dossier on the Role of the Iraqi Air Force in the Gulf War (The Role of the Air Force and Air Defense in the Mother of all Battles) (PDF). Iraqi Air Force. November 5, 1991.
- ^ a b "Marines dedicate Al Taqaddum airfield to fallen aviator". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC)". Archived from the original on 2012-06-22. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
- ^ "'SeaBees' repair runway at logistics 'hub'". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ a b "Det-A Marines bring aviation logistics support to Al Taqaddum". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ a b "Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161". USMC. March 3, 2019.
- ^ a b "HMLA-367 returns to Al Taqaddum mission ready". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ a b "Commanding Officer". USMC. March 3, 2019.
- ^ "VMU-2 mechs maintain unmanned aircraft". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "MWSS-372 History". USMC. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
- ^ "Marine Wing Support Squadron 373". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "MWSS-374 Marines awarded Purple Heart in Iraq". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "Sand Shark mechanics keep Al Taqaddum's engines running". USMC. March 3, 2019.
- ^ "MALS-29 Det A provides supply, support squadrons of Al Taqaddum". USMC. March 3, 2019.
- ^ "MACS-2 Marines return from Iraq". USMC. March 3, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ^ "Task Force Al Taqaddum". USMC. March 3, 2019.
- ^ "US hands over another air base to Iraqi forces". MilitaryTimes. April 5, 2020.
- ^ "Marines, Coalition Forces Pull out of Iraq's Taqaddum Air Base | Military.com". Military.com. April 5, 2020.
External links
- Al Taqaddum Airbase from Globalsecurity.org
- "Exhumating the Dead Iraqi Air Force" – article on uncovering 30 to 40 Iraqi Air Force aircraft buried at Al-Taqaddum Air Base.