Camp Cropper

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Overview

Camp Cropper was a U.S. Army holding facility for security detainees near Baghdad International Airport, inside the Victory Base Complex. The Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 115th Military Police Battalion established it in April 2003. It was named for Staff Sgt. Kenneth Cropper of the Maryland Army National Guard, who died in March 2002 while supporting security operations at the Pentagon.

The site began as a High Value Detainee holding area and soon also became a Corps Holding Area. It was meant to serve as 'central booking' for U.S. forces in Baghdad and central Iraq, with detainees moved on to other prisons. That proved unworkable because most Baghdad prisons had been badly damaged by looting. Capacity was eventually expanded from 163 to 2,000 detainees.

Former President Saddam Hussein was held at a location near, but outside, the main Cropper compound before his execution, kept apart from other former Ba'ath Party detainees. In August 2006 a combat support hospital opened at Cropper to treat both coalition soldiers and detainees, staffed first by the 21st Combat Support Hospital after the Abu Ghraib facility closed and later by the 31st Combat Support Hospital.

The facility drew criticism. In June 2004 the Pentagon confirmed that a prisoner had been held there secretly since the previous November at the CIA's request. The Red Cross documented harsh conditions in 2003, several detainees died in custody in 2006 and 2007, and a former camp commander was court-martialed in 2007.

In July 2010 U.S. forces handed Camp Cropper and its detainees to Iraqi authorities, presenting a symbolic key to Iraq's justice minister. About 200 detainees, including eight senior figures of the former regime, stayed under U.S. supervision. The facility became Al-Karkh Central Prison, and military police units kept using part of the site until December 2011.

Timeline

Units stationed at Camp Cropper

Units documented in public sources as based at or operating from Camp Cropper. This list is not complete; units rotated frequently and many smaller elements were never reported. Veterans can add their unit on the message board below.

Notable events and facts

• Saddam Hussein was held near Camp Cropper, apart from the main compound, before his execution in December 2006.
• The camp was named for Staff Sgt. Kenneth Cropper of the Maryland Army National Guard, who died in 2002 while supporting security operations at the Pentagon.
• In June 2004 the Pentagon confirmed that an Iraqi prisoner had been held secretly at Cropper at the CIA's request.
• The handover in July 2010 was described by U.S. officials as 'the beginning of a new era,' and a symbolic key was presented to Iraq's justice minister.
• After the handover, as Al-Karkh Central Prison, the facility held many of about 5,700 ISIS detainees transferred from Syria in early 2026.

Photographs

Message board: Camp Cropper

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Sources

1. Camp Cropper - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Cropper
2. Victory Base Complex - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Base_Complex
3. Wikimedia Commons: Transfer of Authority Camp Cropper DVIDS238563. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transfer_of_Authority_Camp_Cropper_DVIDS238563.jpg
4. Wikimedia Commons: The 105th Military Police Battalion Patch Ceremony DVIDS292490. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_105th_Military_Police_Battalion_Patch_Ceremony
5. Wikimedia Commons: Lt. Gen. Cone visits Camp Cropper DVIDS328605. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lt._Gen._Cone_visits_Camp_Cropper_DVIDS328605.jpg
6. Wikimedia Commons: Flickr - The U.S. Army - OC Training. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_OC_Training.jpg
7. Wikimedia Commons: Transfer of Authority Camp Cropper (DVIDS238570). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transfer_of_Authority_Camp_Cropper_DVIDS238570.jpg
8. Wikimedia Commons: 220th Military Police Company Returns From OIF (DVIDS137772). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:220th_Military_Police_Company_Returns_From_Operati
9. Wikimedia Commons: Alpha Company 72nd BSTB Body Armor Turn In (DVIDS303942). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alpha_Company_72nd_Brigade_Special_Troops_Battalio
10. Wikimedia Commons: The 705th MP BN Plays Historic Role in USF-I Detention Operations (DVIDS300574). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_705th_MP_BN_Plays_Historic_Role_in_USF-I_Deten