Located close to many of the world's potential hot spots — Iraq, Armenia, and Iran — the Incirlik military base in Turkey is an important NATO outpost in the southern region. It serves as a regional center for storing stocks in case of war, supplies and equipment used in military operations.
Location
Incirlik is a military base (photo is placed further in the article), located 12 km east of Adana, the fourth largest city in Turkey with a population of more than 1 million people and the center of a rich agricultural region. About an hour and a half drive west are the beautiful Mediterranean beaches with good hotels. The surroundings of Adana are rich in historical places where excursions are often held.
1975 conflict
The United States began construction of the air base in the spring of 1951. On February 21, 1955, it received the official name Adana. In mid-1975, Ankara announced that all United States military facilities in the country would be closed and transferred to the Turkish army. This was in response to the arms embargo imposed by the US Congress on Turkey for using American weapons in an invasion of Cyprus. Only the Incirlik military base and Izmir aviation station remained open due to their participation in NATO, but all other activities not related to the Alliance were discontinued. In September 1978, Congress lifted the embargo and reinstated Turkey’s military assistance. Normal work was resumed after Washington and Ankara signed an agreement on defense and economic cooperation on March 29, 1980.
Incirlik is a military base under the command of the US Air Force in Europe. The task of the 39th air wing located here is to protect the interests of the United States and NATO in the southern region, and to provide a comprehensive, advanced air force base.
Block during a coup attempt
The coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 led to unexpected national security problems for the United States. Allegedly, a spontaneous uprising called into question the reliability of storage of American hydrogen bombs, currently located at the Turkish air base. Located in the south-east of the country, the Incirlik military base has NATO's largest nuclear storage facility.
Hans M. Christensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists, claims there are about 50 B-61 hydrogen bombs, more than a quarter of NATO’s total nuclear stockpile. B-61 is distinguished from other types of weapons by its ability to regulate thermonuclear output. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, for example, had a capacity of 15 kilotons of TNT. The power of bombs in the Incirlik can range from 0.3 to 170 kilotons, making them a more versatile weapon.
Highest level of threat
The US Embassy in Ankara issued an “emergency message for United States citizens,” warning that Turkey’s Incirlik military base was blocked in Turkey and its power supply was cut off. The aircraft stationed on it were forbidden to take off, and the staff could only rely on standby generators. The threat has reached the level of “delta”, the highest alarm, which is usually announced after a terrorist attack or if an attack is considered imminent.
Base commander General Bekir Erkan Wang, along with nine other Turkish officers, was detained in Incirlik on charges of supporting the coup. The flights resumed, but the power supply was not restored.
Ankara opened Incirlik to attack ISIS, while simultaneously launching its own air campaign against the Islamic State, as well as the Kurdish PKK group. On August 9, 2015, the U.S. military said it deployed F-16 fighters at a Turkish airport , as the coalition’s air strikes against ISIS continued in Iraq and Syria.
The Turkish military base "Incirlik" has a main runway of 3 km long and a reserve length of 2.7 km with 57 highly protected shelters for aircraft. It serves as a regional center for storing backup material support for military operations.
Staff
Until September 11, 2001, the base had about 1,400 US Air Force personnel, more than 670 US and Turkish civil servants, more than 2,000 family members, about 900 local service personnel, and about 1,700 deployed to support the Northern Watch operation (ONW).
As of the end of 2002, it turned out that there were about 4,000 employees, less than half of whom were engaged in ONW. Reports show that 1161 American, 215 English and 41 Turkish employees worked at the base.
Infrastructure
Incirlik is a military base whose infrastructure is well developed. There is a department store and a grocery store, a catering point, a furniture store, a hospital, a dental clinic and a chapel. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union provides a full range of services, except for cash transactions. The military finance department provides check cashing and currency exchange. Teachers must have a current account in the USA.
Civilians who arrived before the fall of 1999 were allowed to keep the apartments outside the base. All employees are encouraged to live on the territory of Incirlik, and many agreed to this. Most school workers live in relatively new skyscrapers.
The local climate is clearly divided into four seasons: the winter months are cool and rainy; spring is sunny and wet; summers are hot and humid; and autumn is moderately hot and humid.
In 1991, “Tornado Town” appeared here, which became the home of the personnel of the united tactical group “Proven Force”. Renamed the Khoja Village, tents accommodated members of the Northern Watch patrol group.
Refugee assistance
Immediately after the war, the Incirlik military base was indispensable for Operation Comfort, when it served as a humanitarian aid center for Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq. Thousands of tons of cargo passed through it to its goal.
Since October 1, 1993, the 39th tactical air group as a result of the reorganization became the 39th wing. The change reflected an increase in the tasks of supporting ammunition depots and other activities of the US Air Force.
Overhaul and replacement of the runway and taxiways were completed in January 1995.
Northern Watch
In January 1997, Operation Comfort was replaced by Operation Northern Watch to more accurately reflect the current task of ensuring a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.
In early 2004, the Incirlik military base became a temporary “terminal” for US soldiers returning home after a year of service in Iraq. More than 300 soldiers arriving on January 6, 2004 were the first of thousands to pass through it during a massive replacement of troops. In order to prepare for the reception of military personnel, in just over a week, the air base employees turned an empty hangar into a reception center. There was a small shop there, a counter with Turkish sandwiches, a summer kitchen with cooked dinners, a souvenir shop, a mini library, a chaplain office and a morale center with telephones and Internet access.
Enduring Freedom
A new mission started in mid-2005 with the arrival and departure of the C-17 Globemaster III, carrying goods to Iraq to support the country's liberation operation. The new mission, which worked on the principle of a fan structure, received cargo from the Charleston Air Base and sent them to several places in Iraq. The freight hub was moved to Incirlik from the Rhine-Main in Germany in order to save time and fuel. This made it possible to carry more cargo with fewer planes.
Charleston-based C-17s arrived and departed every two weeks. Although it was originally intended to support the liberation of Iraq, it could be expanded to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The flight to Afghanistan takes only about 8 hours, but includes refueling over the Black Sea by Turkish or American tankers based on the Incirlika. Basically, these were general cargoes - lubricating oils, spare parts and means of additional protection.
Cargo delivery required an increase in the support system for personnel deployed here, as well as an increase in the number of crews and the provision of support for the new operation. The flight crew stayed at Incirlik for about two weeks, and maintenance specialists from 30 to 120 days. More people meant an increase in the number of attendants.
Several programs have been expanded to cope with the extra workload. Most of the employees are located in the residential sector of the main base, and some in the Turkish part. When all seats are full, the rest of the staff is accommodated in Tin City. This is a prefabricated area in which, if necessary, a large number of people can be settled.
History of creation
In 1955, the US Air Force began operating what was soon called the Incirlik Air Base, and the era of Turkish-American relations began.
In fact, the history of the base began four years before, when in the spring of 1951 the US Engineering Group began construction of the runway. The Air Force command originally wanted to use it to concentrate and rebuild medium and heavy bombers, the agreement on the use of which was signed in 1954 by the Turkish General Staff and the US Air Force.
On February 21, 1955, the 7216th squadron was based here, which changed the point of view of other countries on the presence of the US Air Force in Europe and Asia. The object attracted the attention of other countries, including the Soviet Union.
Incirlik is a military base that has played an important role in responding to crises in the Middle East. The 119L project to launch meteorological balloons conducted special operations here in 1955. After that, U-2 reconnaissance flights began from here as part of Operation Non-Stop Flight.
In 1958, the base was renamed “Incirlik” (“orchard”). In the same year, a crisis occurred in Lebanon, which forced the United States to deploy here the tactical aviation command of the combined strike group B.