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Camp Claiborne

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Mosul Airport
Mosul Airport is located approximately 350 kilometers North of Baghdad, just south of the City of Mosul. The airbase is served by a 8,700 foot long runway. According to the "Gulf War Air Power Survey, there were 8 hardened aircraft shelters at Mosul as of 1991.

There is Ikonos imagery coverage of Mosul Airport from February 19, 2002 in Space Imaging's Carterra Archive.

Camp Diamondback
In mid-April 2003 Mosul airport was the temporary headquarters for several hundred US special forces and marines. Marines and Sailors of the 26th MEU (SOC) were ordered into the Mosul International Airport in Northern Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. About 50 helicopters shuttled up to 5,000 troops of the 101st Airborne Division from the outskirts of Baghdad to Mosul's airport, and trucks ferried them into Iraq's third largest city. The Marines and Sailors continued to build up this forward operating base to serve as a logistics hub in the near future for continued infrastructure assistance for the free people of Iraq.

Camp Diamondback, a 500-soldier base camp similar to what US forces occupy in the Balkans, is apparently located at Mosul Airport. The soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina at Camp Diamondback at Mosul were attacked with mortar fire regularly.

In June 2003 the 101st Airborne Division approved a contract for an internet service site for each battalion, and built an MWR center, established a PX (from which the brigades draw items to establish satellite PXs), and begun construction of more permanent base camp facilities at Mosul Airfield, one of the 101st Airborne Division's largest fixed bases.







Camp Claiborne
The Soldiers of the Iraq Civil Defense Corps [ICDC] underwent two phases of training by American soldiers. First they spent two weeks in a basic training camp at Camp Claiborne near Mosul Airfield. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) trained the Iraqis in marksmanship, Drill and Ceremony and other military disciplines. After a period of leave for the Iraqis, soldiers from 2nd Bn., 320th FA, took the soldiers to Obj. Jaguar, outside of the village of Al Hatra, for another week of training. The cadre members continued with marksmanship training and physical training and first aid. In addition, the Iraqis were given classes on running observation posts, gate guarding, detaining people and searching vehicles.

The US Army's famed 101st Airborne Division was activated on 16 August 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. Camp Claiborne was a WWII tent camp named for William C. C. Claiborne, the Governor of the Territory of Orleans and first Governor of the State of Louisiana. It was located in Rapides Parish on the west side of U.S. Highway. 165 about seventeen miles southwest of Alexandria in the Evangeline Division of the Kisatchie National Forest north of Forest Hill.

Camp Marez [FOB Glory / Fire Base Glory]
Fire Base Glory is near the Mosul Airfield, home to the 101st Airborne Division rear command post and various other units. A quick response by Iraqi firefighters on Fire Base Glory helped ensure the safety of soldiers as well as save government equipment after an Army front-end loader struck an unseen land mine on post. Spc. Curtis Lee Cashion, 877th Engineer Battalion, from Hamilton, Ala., was driving the loader at the time of the explosion. The ball of fire engulfed the front scoop and hydraulic system, and Cashion immediately jumped out of the vehicle and moved to safety. 1st.Lt. Jason Sayre, mayor staff officer-in-charge of Fire Base Glory, saw the explosion through his office window and immediately called the fire team into action. Within three minutes, the three-man Iraqi team had sprung into action and extinguished the fire. The men, David Salim Mahmoud, Ausama Amed Ali and Mahmoud Younis Mahiob, were recommended for the Commanding General's "Hero Program," and were commended by 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Commander Maj.Gen. David H. Petraeus in a ceremony on 23 October 2003.

The provenance of the nomenclature "Fire Base Glory" is unclear, since no associated units use this nickname, and there does not appear to have been a "Fire Base Glory" in any previous deployment. The fact of the existence of this location is poorly attested, by a single Army news story. The possiblity cannot be excluded that this report reflected a misunderstanding of "Firebase Gloria" -- which was the subject of the 1989 movie The Siege of Firebase Gloria starring R. Lee Ermey, Wings Hauser, and Albert Popwell. Based on the true story, this film follows the struggle of a group of Marines as they attempt to defend Firebase Gloria during the Tet Offensive, even though they are greatly outnumbered.

In early 2004 FOB Glory / Fire Base Glory was renamed Camp Marez.

Morale, Welfare and Recreation Facility

The new Morale, Welfare and Recreation facility at the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) airfield in Mosul, which officially opened its doors in June 2003, is located where the 101st Assault Command Post operated shortly after the division moved into the city in mid-April 2003. Col. Jerry Dolinish, commander, 101st Corp Support Group, was "tagged" with the responsibility of organizing the MWR facility by Brig. Gen. Edward Sinclair, assistant division commander (support), 101 st Airborne Division (Air Assault). The facility was also once an officer's club for the Iraqi Republican Guard before the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It now houses a weight room, movie theatre, beach volleyball court, card game room and a permanent stage that will host future morale boosting performances.

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