Jalibah Southeast Air Base
Encyclopedia
Jalibah Southeast Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force
base in the Thi Qar Governorate of Iraq
. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
, and about 65 kilometers south of Nasiriyah
. It is an unoccupied airbase is served by a main runway measuring 9,800 feet and an alternate runway/taxiway measuring 8,500 feet. Jalibah occupies a 21 square kilometer site and is protected by a 19 kilometers security perimeter. According to the "Gulf War Air Power Survey", there were 24 hardened aircraft shelters at Jalibah Southeast as of 1991. At the each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters known as "trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were build by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985.
The base was heavily attacked by Coalition air power during Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, and seized by U.S. Army ground forces (2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division ) on February 27, 1991 in the Battle for Jalibah Airfield
. It was abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force
after the cease fire in late February. General Chuck Horner
tasked USAF Red Horse Civil Engineers to deny the air base in southeastern Iraq to prevent future use by returning Iraqi forces, and the work had to be completed before the signing of a cease fire agreement. Working with EOD personnel, two teams completed the job within four days.
set up Camp Viper as a Logistics Support Area at the former Iraqi air base. After an exhausting night moving its entire fleet from Camp Coyote in Kuwait
, the Army Reserve
Unit spent its first day on Iraqi soil March 23 at Camp Viper, a base in American-controlled territory deep in southern Iraq. Sailors from the Naval Hospital Beaufort set up and staffed a hospital well inside the war zone. Theirs was the first hospital set up in a combat zone during the fight. A perimeter of well-trained Marines encircled the camp, called Camp Viper, at all hours. The hospital treated them all, Iraqis and injured Americans alike. Fleet Hospital Three is a 9-acre, 116-bed facility, which is manned by more than 300 medical service support and Construction Battalion personnel from around the nation. The Pensacola, Florida
-based command is an Echelon Three facility. Considering that FH-3 went to Iraq with 166 trucking containers filled with more than $12 million in medical equipment and supplies, ensuring the availability of that equipment at the end of the supply chain was vital.
HMN161 was stationed at Jalibah Air Base, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Charlie Surgical Support Company, Health Services Bn (HSB), 1st Marine Logistics Group
was deployed to Logistics Support Area Viper. Health Services Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group established a triage at Jalibah Airbase. Combat Service Support Battalion (CSSB) 18 put sandbags on a bunker outside of the Combat Service Support Operations Center (CSSOC) for CSSB 18, 1st MLG, Logistics Support Area (LSA) Viper, Iraq. CSSB-18 sent daily vehicle recovery convoys to pick up numerous vehicles broken and stranded along the roads. The fast pace of the operation and the sand and dust were a contributing factor to maintenance problems.
Marines with 6th Engineer Support Battalion
kept vehicles rolling during Operation Iraqi Freedom. At the battalion's main camp - Logistical Supply Area Camp Viper in the southern Iraqi desert - mechanics managed to keep an 85 percent vehicle readiness under difficult supply conditions. 6th ESB's northern shop at Logistical Supply Area Camp Chesty maintained a 92 percent vehicle readiness. Designated as 1st Force Service Support Group's bulk-liquids battalion, 6th ESB was charged with fueling coalition forces as they raced northward through Iraq. They also supplied purified water to the Corps' desert and urban encampments. In fact, the battalion established a dozen fuel and water points across southern Iraq, including sites in or near Baghdad, Nasariyah, Kut
, and Diwaniyah. The British forces from 2/1 Battery, 16th Air Assault Brigade, were co-located at Camp Viper. They are working between Basra and Camp Viper, providing Force Protection for Intel gathering.
Current aerial imagery shows that the operational structures around the airfield appear to have been demolished and removed. Today the concrete runway and series of taxiways remain exposed and deteriorating to the elements, being reclaimed by the desert.
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
base in the Thi Qar Governorate of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Iraqi Air Force base
Jalibah Southeast Airbase is located in southern Iraq approximately 370 kilometers south of BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, and about 65 kilometers south of Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar...
. It is an unoccupied airbase is served by a main runway measuring 9,800 feet and an alternate runway/taxiway measuring 8,500 feet. Jalibah occupies a 21 square kilometer site and is protected by a 19 kilometers security perimeter. According to the "Gulf War Air Power Survey", there were 24 hardened aircraft shelters at Jalibah Southeast as of 1991. At the each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters known as "trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were build by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985.
The base was heavily attacked by Coalition air power during Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, and seized by U.S. Army ground forces (2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division ) on February 27, 1991 in the Battle for Jalibah Airfield
Battle for Jalibah Airfield
The Battle for Jalibah Airfield took place when the U.S. 2nd Brigade, 24th Infantry Division attacked the heavily defended Jalibah Southeast Air Base military airfield in Iraq on February 27, 1991, during the Gulf War.-Battle:...
. It was abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force or IQAF is the military branch in Iraq responsible for the policing of international borders, surveillance of national assets and aerial operations...
after the cease fire in late February. General Chuck Horner
Chuck Horner
Charles Albert Horner is a retired USAF general. He was born in Davenport, Iowa and attended the University of Iowa, as part of the Air Force ROTC program. On June 13, 1958, Horner was commissioned into the Air Force Reserve. During the Vietnam War, he flew in combat as a Wild Weasel pilot and...
tasked USAF Red Horse Civil Engineers to deny the air base in southeastern Iraq to prevent future use by returning Iraqi forces, and the work had to be completed before the signing of a cease fire agreement. Working with EOD personnel, two teams completed the job within four days.
Camp Viper
During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the United States Marine CorpsUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
set up Camp Viper as a Logistics Support Area at the former Iraqi air base. After an exhausting night moving its entire fleet from Camp Coyote in Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, the Army Reserve
Army Reserve
Army Reserve may refer to:*Military Reserve Force*Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve...
Unit spent its first day on Iraqi soil March 23 at Camp Viper, a base in American-controlled territory deep in southern Iraq. Sailors from the Naval Hospital Beaufort set up and staffed a hospital well inside the war zone. Theirs was the first hospital set up in a combat zone during the fight. A perimeter of well-trained Marines encircled the camp, called Camp Viper, at all hours. The hospital treated them all, Iraqis and injured Americans alike. Fleet Hospital Three is a 9-acre, 116-bed facility, which is manned by more than 300 medical service support and Construction Battalion personnel from around the nation. The Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
-based command is an Echelon Three facility. Considering that FH-3 went to Iraq with 166 trucking containers filled with more than $12 million in medical equipment and supplies, ensuring the availability of that equipment at the end of the supply chain was vital.
HMN161 was stationed at Jalibah Air Base, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Charlie Surgical Support Company, Health Services Bn (HSB), 1st Marine Logistics Group
1st Marine Logistics Group
The 1st Marine Logistics Group is a logistics unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, with detachments located at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center...
was deployed to Logistics Support Area Viper. Health Services Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group established a triage at Jalibah Airbase. Combat Service Support Battalion (CSSB) 18 put sandbags on a bunker outside of the Combat Service Support Operations Center (CSSOC) for CSSB 18, 1st MLG, Logistics Support Area (LSA) Viper, Iraq. CSSB-18 sent daily vehicle recovery convoys to pick up numerous vehicles broken and stranded along the roads. The fast pace of the operation and the sand and dust were a contributing factor to maintenance problems.
Marines with 6th Engineer Support Battalion
6th Engineer Support Battalion
The 6th Engineer Support Battalion , is an engineering battalion of the Marine Forces Reserve. Their headquarters are based in Portland, Oregon and they fall under the command of the 4th Marine Logistics Group.-Current Units:...
kept vehicles rolling during Operation Iraqi Freedom. At the battalion's main camp - Logistical Supply Area Camp Viper in the southern Iraqi desert - mechanics managed to keep an 85 percent vehicle readiness under difficult supply conditions. 6th ESB's northern shop at Logistical Supply Area Camp Chesty maintained a 92 percent vehicle readiness. Designated as 1st Force Service Support Group's bulk-liquids battalion, 6th ESB was charged with fueling coalition forces as they raced northward through Iraq. They also supplied purified water to the Corps' desert and urban encampments. In fact, the battalion established a dozen fuel and water points across southern Iraq, including sites in or near Baghdad, Nasariyah, Kut
Kut
Al-Kūt is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about 160 kilometres south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 374,000 people...
, and Diwaniyah. The British forces from 2/1 Battery, 16th Air Assault Brigade, were co-located at Camp Viper. They are working between Basra and Camp Viper, providing Force Protection for Intel gathering.
Current aerial imagery shows that the operational structures around the airfield appear to have been demolished and removed. Today the concrete runway and series of taxiways remain exposed and deteriorating to the elements, being reclaimed by the desert.