History

Depending on their size or utility, the installations were called: camp, forward operating bases (FOBs), contingency operating bases (COBs), contingency operating sites (COSs), combat outposts (COPs), patrol base (PBs), logistic based (log bases), fire bases (FBs), convoy support centers (CSCs), logistic support areas (LSAs), and joint security stations (JSSs). Near the end of Occupation of Iraq (2003–2011), the last several camps and forward operating bases were changed to contingency operating bases and sites.

At the height of the occupation, the US had 170,000 personnel in uniform stationed in 505 bases throughout all provinces of Iraq. Another 135,000 private military contractors were also working in Iraq.¹²

Due to International military intervention against ISIL, personnel returned to old bases and new bases were created. Control of many U.S.-operated bases was transferred to the Iraqi government during the 2020–2021 U.S. troop withdrawal.

At the request of the Iraqi government in January 2024,³ and amid rising regional tensions following the 2023 Israeli invasion of Gaza, the US and Iraq were set in January 2024 to begin negotiations to end US military presence in Iraq.⁴

Airfields

Camps

Combat outposts (COPs)

Contingency operating base (COBs)

Contingency operating sites (COSs)

Firebases (FBs)

Forward operating bases (FOBs)

Joint Base (JB)

Joint security stations (JSSs)

Patrol bases (PBs)

Other nomenclatures

• Victory Base Complex (VBC), a cluster of installations surrounding the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). Successively headquarters for Multi-National Force - Iraq and United States Forces - Iraq.⁸¹: 1 
  • al-Faw Palace, part of the Victory Base Complex, headquarters of the United States Forces - Iraq in Baghdad

• Bernstein, J (2005). AH-64 Apache Units Of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-848-0.

External links

• Map of Army Installations in Iraq

References

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