Airlift takes toll on Bashur Airfield

  • Published
  • By Louis Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM --  The landing of many heavy cargo aircraft at Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq, has forced the closure of 2,000 feet of runway that cracked under the constant strain.

That still leaves a 5,000-foot runway, more than enough for C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules aircraft to continue the airlift into this base 255 miles north of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Mike Marra, commander of the 86th Air Mobility Squadron from Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

"That's plenty of runway," said Marra, of Fort Walton Beach. "We can still bring in fully loaded C-17s, and C-130s can operate here as long as they want (us) to. This won't slow us down."

Airfield management troops repainted the end-of-runway line April 14. Fixing the runway, with the future of its operation not yet decided, is not worth the effort or money, he said.

Transports have been landing at the base day and night since March 27. Some of the C-17s that brought in the huge M-1A Abrams tanks weighed up to 300,000 pounds. Through April 14, the 86th Expeditionary Contingency Response Group, which operates the airfield, unloaded more than 13 million pounds of cargo from more than 220 cargo planes.

All the weight has put tremendous stress on the 7,000-foot runway, Marra said.

"We expected the field might crack, but it has lasted a lot longer than we thought," he said. "This partial closure won't slow us down."

The night of April 13, Marine Corps helicopters also started landing here. About a dozen landed during the night and dropped off Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Marines will move in to take up positions in northern Iraq.

Air Force airlift will bring in most of the Marines or their equipment, Marra said. But he does not know the total number of Marines that will land at Bashur. At the same time, the Air Force airlift continues to pour a lot of combat power into northern Iraq.

Fewer aircraft landed April 13, but it was because fewer took off. Bad weather in Germany and Romania, where the airlift originates and passes through, caused a backup.

"We haven't held up any flights from coming in, day or night," Marra said. "The weather here has been really good."

Staff Sgt. Jon Harrison, an independent medical technician with the group's security forces squadron, was helping move the medical aid station to a spot on the flightline ramp. The rest of the airmen at the camp continued their migration to a new living area from their noisy neighborhood next to the flightline.

"We need to keep this airfield open and the airplanes landing as long as we can to get the rest of our troops in and any humanitarian supplies that may be needed," said Harrison, of Niceville, Fla. "And if anything happens to any of our troops, we're here to take care of them."

More Marine helicopters, C-17s and C-130s began to land at Bashur on April 14. The coalition's mission -- the war -- is not over yet, Marra said.

Some Marines will arrive in Iraq through other bases, some in the southern part of the country, but military planners changed the airlift plans and lowered the number of the unit's troops and equipment to send into Iraq.

"Big packages are being pared down a bit because the Iraqi resistance has faltered," Marra said. "We're going to do this smartly and not bring everything as planned -- but enough to maintain order and give this country a second chance."