Camp Bastion is a Ministry of Defense airbase located northwest of the city of
Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The base has barracks for
the Afghan National Army. Between 2005 and October 2014 it was the
logistics hub for International Security Assistance Force operations in Helmand
during the War in Afghanistan and Operation Herrick, it was capable of
accommodating over 32,000 people. The camp was built by the British Army
and was the largest British overseas military camp built since the Second
World War. The base was also home to troops from a number of nations
including the United States of America and Tonga.
Bastion contains Afghan National Army Camp Shorabak, and held Camp Leatherneck
until 2014. In November 2006, the then British Prime
Minister Tony Blair visited Camp Bastion, and, while addressing a
gathering of British troops, described it as an "extraordinary piece of desert
... where the fate of world security in the early 21st century is going to be
decided". History
Camp Bastion began life as a Tactical Landing Zone set up by two Air Traffic
Controllers from the Royal Air Force's Tactical Air Traffic Control Unit. This
provided a vital and strategic insertion point in Helmand Province and
unbeknownst to the two controllers, was to be the foundations for Camp Bastion.
The camp started out with just a few tents in 2005 however from early 2006
personnel from 39 Engineer Regiment Royal Engineers and various contracting
firms, all under the supervision of 62 Works Group Royal Engineers started to
build the base with more robust facilities, the camp is situated in a
remote desert area, far from population centres. Four miles long by two miles
wide, it has a busy airfield and a field hospital and originally had full
accommodation for the 2000 men and women.
The base was named by the Commanding Officer of 62 Works Group based upon the
units emblem of a lone Bastion; Hesco Bastion. The first camp to be built was
Camp 251 which housed the construction force and they were housed in tents.
The base is divided into a number of different sections. Bastion 1 and 2 were
the first sections with Bastion 2 containing Camp Barber and Camp Viking,
Bastion 0 was added in around 2010 and houses the contractors and Bastion 3 is
used for in-theatre training. Camp Bastion includes Bastion Airfield,
Bastion Garrison and the Camp Leatherneck.
As of September 2014 it was reported that both Bastion 2 & 3 have been
reverted to desert. Camp Bastion airfield and heliport
handled up to 600 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft movements every day in 2011,
operating combat, medical and logistics flights. Its air traffic controllers
were integral to the support of the UK's operations in southern Afghanistan and
the Air Traffic Control Squadron at Camp Bastion was the first to recruit and
train US Marines to UK air traffic control standards.
The first runway capable of landing C-17's direct from the United Kingdom
opened on 3 December 2007. In February 2014, snow fell in Camp
Bastion for the first time since the base was established, eight years
earlier. The camp was handed over to the control
of the Afghan security forces in October 2014.
On 27 November 2014, insurgents infiltrated Camp Bastion. As of Sunday
30 November, the Afghan National Army had not fully driven out the "Taliban"
fighters. At least five ANA soldiers were killed in the attack.
= United Kingdom= Aviation
The main user of the camp was the United Kingdom which based a number of rotary
and a few fixed-wing aircraft. During June 2011 a brand new air traffic
control tower was opened which was built by 170 Engineer Group.
The main aviation unit was No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing which operated
the Raytheon Sentinel R1 - Airborne Stand-Off Radar along with
AgustaWestland Apaches, Westland Sea Kings and Thales Watchkeepers.
This was supplemented by both No. 1310 Flight RAF which operated Boeing
Chinook's and No. 1419 Flight RAF with AgustaWestland Merlin's. Both helicopter
types performed troop and cargo moves but the Chinook also carried the Medical
Emergency Response Team and Incident Response Team's.
Ground based The UK had a large number of major units
based here: Crew Training School.
Joint Force Support. Joint Force Medical Group.
Military Working Dogs Squadron. Theatre Logistic Group.
A number of smaller units were also deployed here including:
Base Security OP H 19 - A Company - The Highlanders,
4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland
Joint ISTAR Group OP H 19 - 9th/12th Royal Lancers
The base was protected by the Bastion Force Protection Wing as part of the
multi-national Task Force Belleau Wood. During August 2013 the Headquarters of
Task Force Helmand moved from Lashkar Gah to Bastion.
In 2013, a training school for Afghan troops was opened.
By March 2014, the population of the camp had reduced to 4,000 UK service
personnel, as preparations were well-underway for UK military withdrawal
from Helmand in October 2014. During the dismantling of the base the
scrap metal was taken away by ProCon Building Materials Trading LLC.
= United States= The United States Military used part of
Bastion Airfield for their aircraft and they had their own camp within Camp
Bastion until 26 October 2014. The last unit was the 2nd Marine
Aircraft Wing which began operating from April 2014. It consisted of:
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467 which operated Bell AH-1W
SuperCobra's and Bell UH-1Y Venom's. Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 from 7
April 2014. = Other countries=
Camp Bastion has been used by various countries including Denmark, Estonia and
Tonga. Accidents and incidents
The base has been attacked several times including on 14 September 2012, when two
United States Marine Corps service personnel were killed and six USMC
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier IIs were destroyed and two were "significantly
damaged." Three refuelling stations were also destroyed, with six soft-skin
aircraft hangars damaged. Of the 15 Taliban attackers, 14 were killed and 1
captured. In May 2013 the BBC obtained documents
showing that up to 85 Afghan nationals were being detained at Camp Bastion.
Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, has confirmed that the UK is holding "80
or 90 Afghan detainees" at the base. The Ministry of Defence maintains the
detention of the Afghans is legal. Hospital
Camp Bastion's Hospital was built by 170 Engineer Group and was operated by
regular and reserve personnel of the British Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air
Force of the Joint Force Medical Group, as well as medical assets from the US
Army. Medical staff included Orthopaedic Surgeons, General Surgeons,
Anaesthetists, Nurses and Medics. The hospital was the location to which
wounded military personnel from the British, US and other ISAF forces in
Helmand Province were evacuated from the battlefield for treatment, supported by
US Army, Navy, and Air Force medics, or from which they were further evacuated
to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Birmingham. Afghan nationals were also treated at the hospital in many
circumstances including accidental injuries and road traffic collisions.
The hospital was closed down during September 2014.
Commanders Group Captain Tony Innes.
Deputy Commander John Lyle Jeff Portlock
Group Captain John Cunningham Colonel Angus Mathie
In media Camp Bastion has been featured in
several documentaries, often focusing on medical evacuations.
The Air Hospital - Aired 25 March 2010. Frontline Medicine - Aired 20 and 27
November 2011. Extraordinary Dogs.
Prince Harry: Frontline Afghanistan - Aired 28 January 2013.
Gary Barlow: Journey to Afghanistan - Aired 23 December 2013.
Top Gear - Aired 9 February 2014. The Billion Pound Base: Dismantling Camp
Bastion - Aired 7 December 2014. See also
September 2012 Camp Bastion raid List of Afghan Armed Forces
installations Operation Herrick
Operation Herrick order of battle References
= Citations= = Bibliography=
March, P. The Royal Air Force Yearbook 2008. Fairford, UK: The Royal Air Force
Charitable Trust Enterprises. External links
24 September 2012 BBC News, "Inside Camp Bastion"
Photos of Camp Bastion Guardian report on Camp Bastion 2011
The Daily Telegraph - I've been inside Camp Bastion - and it seemed like the
safest place on earth Photographs by a commercial photographer