Camp Speicher

Tikrit Air Academy Al Sahra Airfield
Near Tikrit, Saladin Province in Iraq
Tikrit Air Academy Shown within Iraq
Coordinates	34°40′39″N 043°33′02″E / 34.67750°N 43.55056°E / 34.67750; 43.55056Coordinates: 34°40′39″N 043°33′02″E / 34.67750°N 43.55056°E / 34.67750; 43.55056
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Iraqi Air Force
Site history
Built	1973 (1973)
In use	1973-present
Airfield information
Elevation	130 metres (427 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 14/32 3,120 metres (10,236 ft) Asphalt

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.

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.

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.

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Wikipedia