Operator Iraqi Air Force Elevation 130 m Owner Ministry of Defence | In use 1973-present Year built 1973 | |
 | ||
14/32 3,120 metres (10,236 ft) Asphalt | ||
Return to speicher
Camp Speicher, officially known as the Tikrit Air Academy and formerly as FOB Speicher, COB Speicher, and Al Sahra Airfield (under Saddam Hussein) is an air installation near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The installation is approximately 170 kilometers north of Baghdad and 11 kilometers west of the Tigris River. The United States Army captured the base from the Iraqi Army during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and used it during the Iraq War as the headquarters of the United States Division–North (USD-N, formerly Multinational Division, North, (MND-N)). The airfield is served by two main runways measuring 9,600 feet (2,900 m) long with a shorter runway measuring 7,200-foot (2,200 m). The Americans named the airfield after Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a United States Navy pilot who was killed in action in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Prior to the 2003 invasion, Al Sahra Airfield was the main base of the Iraqi Air Force Air Academy.
Contents
- Return to speicher
- Construction
- Capture by United States forces
- Overview
- Aviation
- Ground units
- Back to Iraqi Control
- Current use
- References
Construction
The base was one of several Iraqi Air Force airfields in the mid-1970s which were re-built under project "Super-Base" in response to the experiences from Arab-Israeli wars in 1967 and 1973.
Capture by United States forces
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the main runway and some taxiways were cut by bomb hits, and the large main hangar structure was blown up. The remains of the other large hangar next to it burned down in a large fire in July 2003.
The original unit to take control of the base was 1-10th Cavalry of the 4th Infantry Division. The base was then handed over to the 4th Aviation Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division in the second week of the war.
The Americans originally christened the base Forward Logistics Base (FLB) Sycamore, but the name was later changed to Forward Operating Base Speicher and then Contingency Operating Base Speicher. The name was changed in honor of Scott Speicher, an American pilot who was shot down in the 1991 Gulf War.
Overview
American soldiers, civilians, and contractors had access to a variety of amenities over the course of the United States' occupation of the base. The base had a large Post Exchange (PX), as well as several American fast food restaurants, including Subway, Burger King, and Pizza Hut.
Aviation
Ground units
Units that have been based at COB Speicher include:
Unknown
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009 · 422 Civil Affairs BN
25th Infantry Division
2010
2011
Back to Iraqi Control
The US Army left COB Speicher in October 2011 as part of the general withdrawal of US Forces. Camp Speicher is currently used by the Iraqi Army and Air Force.
Current use
By mid June 2014, Tikrit was overrun by the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Iraqi Air Force cadets reported that many of the camp's officers fled as ISIS approached, and, as a result, several thousand Shia cadets and other personnel abandoned their uniforms and began to walk toward Baghdad. Several miles from the camp, they were confronted and taken prisoners by approximately fifty ISIS militants in armored vehicles. Following their capture, about 1700 were killed in mass shooting executions. A video released by ISIS in July showed the executions done in several locations including shooting the cadets in trenches and then throwing the bodies in the River Tigris. In early September, corpses were seen floating on the surface. Very few managed to escape unharmed and survive.
Camp Speicher was contested throughout the summer of 2014. The Daily Telegraph reported in June that Speicher was at one point under the control of ISIS, but according to later accounts, ISIS never captured the airfield.
On 17 July, following the Iraqi Army's defeat in the First Battle of Tikrit, insurgents launched an assault on the camp, where an estimated 700 government soldiers and 150 Iranian or Iraqi Shia militiamen were besieged. The assault included snipers and suicide bombers and the militants quickly managed to reach the runway, at which point Iraqi special forces joined the battle. The base was bombarded and mortared all night. By the next morning, according to various sources, the final pocket of government troops had collapsed. At least 25–35 insurgents were also killed. Iraqi forces attempted to save the base's aircraft by flying them out, but according to ISIL 8–9 helicopters were destroyed on the ground or shot down, with several armored vehicles destroyed as well. The Iraqi Army denied the alleged capture of the base with soldiers from the front line reporting that Speicher was still under their control, with only three soldiers being killed, one helicopter destroyed and two damaged. A Tikrit resident also reported continued fighting around the base. Two days later, the military reported that Iraqi special forces had re-secured the base.