Category: Turkey

Izmir Air Station is 200 miles from Istanbul and located on the western side of Turkey and houses the United States military forces simultaneously when the allied Land Forces Southeast Europe was activated and the arrival of the Sixth Allied Tac AF on October 1953. The presence of the United States Air Forces in Europe is responsible for all the NATO and United States units that are present in Izmir. This has been under the different control of the French, Greek, Americans, Canadian and Turkish military commanders that had served since they started the operation. The Izmir Air Station also supports the Cigli Air Base which is near the Turkish Air Force Base.

On 1970, the Turkish Air Force gained control of Cigli AB. This started the Izmir Air Base the full responsibility in their support for the USAF and US wherein Cigli was delegated as the standby base.  There are two minor and two major military units owned by the Americans that are assigned at the base.  The two major units are 425^th Squadron Air Base, Transportation Battalion of 840^th US Army and the United States Army Element. Squadron base gives its full support in terms of personnel in the Izmir as well as it provides support to the support facilities in the entire base.

Izmir Air Base employs 1,300 personnel despite that it has no formal area that they can call their own base. The facilities that a base should have like the offices, schools, commissaries and other basic facilities are found within the city. It has also a Base Exchange and a chapel located in the city.  The military employees together with their families lived among the civilians who are living within the city boundary.

On 2002, the school who educated the children of the US military servicemen for about fifty years closed down because the base was transported in a solitary tour.

Incirlik Air Base which houses the United States Air Force, Turkish Air Force and the British Air Force is situated in Incirlik which is on the eastern side of Adana, Turkey and 35 miles away from the Mediterranean Sea. The base employs 5,000 airmen which includes Turkish and British Airmen. The 39^th Air Base Wing is the main military unit that is based in the Incirlik Air Base whose primary mission is to train and support the C-17 airlift services to the units assigned in Afghanistan. The base has two runways with 3048 meter long runway and 2740 meter long runways respectively both of which are situated among the 57 toughed shelters for aircraft.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers started the construction of the air base on 1951 and on February 21, 1955, the air base was named Adana Air Base and was later renamed as the Incirlik Air Base on 1958. This was constructed to serve as the emergency place for the bombers that are in operation within the region and has played a major role in the first Gulf War, Lebanon Crisis, as a transit ground for the military troops that were stationed in Iraq and served in the humanitarian missions in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

The air base served in the relief operations during the 2005 South Asia earthquake where they help in the airlifting of supplies such as the 10,000 tents from the UN headquarter in Turkey to Islamabad. The airbase also served as the comfort zone for the Americans who were evacuated from Lebanon to Turkey. It also served as the magazine storage for the 200 B61nuclear bombs owned by the Americans.

Aside from the conventional amenities that a base should have, a college education is provided, veterinary clinic and a golf course is added to the base. Its accessibility and safety measures are the attractions that are frequented by tourists that show support to the US armed forces.