- Camp Bastion
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Camp Bastion Helmand Province, Afghanistan Type Main Base (with airfield) Built 2006 In use 2006–present Controlled by United Kingdom Garrison 11,000–12,000 troops Battles/wars War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Camp Bastion IATA: OAZ – ICAO: OAZI Summary Airport type Military: HM Armed Forces Operator HM Armed Forces Location Lashkar Gah Built 2006 In use 2006–present Commander RAF Group Captain Colin Da'Silva, Commander Bastion and Commanding Officer 903 Expeditionary Air Wing Occupants - HM Armed Forces
- U.S. Military
- Estonian Military
- Danish Defence
- Afghan National Army [1]
Elevation AMSL 2,917ft ft / 855 m Coordinates 31°51′25″N 64°13′16″E / 31.85694°N 64.22111°E Website Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 01/19 11,482 3,500 Concrete/Asphalt Camp Bastion is the main British military base in Afghanistan. Accommodating 21,000 people it is situated northwest of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, and exists to be the logistics hub for operations in Helmand.[2]
It is the largest British overseas military camp built since World War II.[3]
Built in early 2006, the camp is situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres. Four miles long by two miles wide, it has an airstrip and a field hospital and originally had full accommodation for the 2000 men and women.[4] The base is divided into 2 main parts, Bastion 1 and Bastion 2. Bastion 2 includes two tenant camps, Camp Barber (US) and Camp Viking (DK). Bastion also adjoins Camp Leatherneck (US) and the Afghan National Army (ANA) Camp Shorabak. Apache and Chinook helicopters are forward-deployed at the Heliport.
In November 2006, Tony Blair visited Camp Bastion, and, while addressing a gathering of British troops, described it as "an extraordinary piece of desert" "where the fate of world security in the early 21st century is going to be decided."[5]
Contents
Camp Bastion Airfield
Camp Bastion airfield handles around 600 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft movements every day, operating combat, medical and logistics flights.[6] It was set up in April 2006 to handle no more than three aircraft movements per week. In late 2007, a 2,350 metre long and 28 metre wide concrete runway became operational enabling the number of movements to rise to 5,000 per month by the end of 2008. It has now grown to become the fifth-busiest UK-operated airport. In February of 2011 construction of Bastion's new 3,500m (11482ft) runway was completed and the base can now handle almost all commercial and military aircraft. The old shorter runway is now only used as a parallel taxiway. Its air traffic controllers are integral to the support of the UK's operations in southern Afghanistan and the Air Traffic Control Squadron at Camp Bastion is the first to recruit and train US Marines to UK air traffic control standards.[7]
Field Hospital
Camp Bastion's Hospital, manned by regular and reserve personnel of the British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force of the Joint Force Medical Group as well as highly valuable medical assets from the US Navy to include Orthopaedic Surgeons, General Surgeons, Anesthetists, Nurses and Corpsman, and is the location to where wounded military personnel from the British, US and other ISAF forces in Helmand Province are evacuated to from the battlefield and treated, supported by US Navy, Army and Air Force medics, or from where they are evacuated to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Afghan nationals are also treated at the hospital in many circumstances including accidental injuries and road traffic collisions. Currently they are the busiest Role 3 NATO hospital in Afghanistan.
In late 2009 the Hospital came under Danish command for a 3 month period, as the Danish Field Hospital Squadron was deployed in order to relieve the British Joint Medical Group.
References
- ^ http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CommanderBastionTakesChargeOfUksMainHelmandBaseAndItsAirfield.htm
- ^ http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EstateAndEnvironment/CampBastionDoublesInSize.htm
- ^ "Building Camp Bastion". Channel 4. 2006-02-24. http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/building%20camp%20bastion/162105#fold. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Whitaker, Raymond (2006-12-03). "Camp Bastion: Welcome to Helmand". The Independent. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2030798.ece. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Wintour, Patrick (2006-11-21). "Bleak Camp Bastion – and a vision of roses and saffron". The Guardian. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,1953084,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EstateAndEnvironment/CampBastionDoublesInSize.htm
- ^ "New runway takes shape at Camp Bastion". Ministry of Defence. 2007-07-27. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.mod.uk:80/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EstateAndEnvironment/InPicturesNewRunwayTakesShapeAtCampBastion.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
External links
Categories:- War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
- British Army bases
- Military installations of Afghanistan
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