Camp Doha
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| Also known as | Doha (Kuwait) Army installation — not to be confused with Doha, Qatar |
|---|---|
| Location | Kuwait, small peninsula on Kuwait Bay west of Kuwait City |
| Type | Army headquarters and prepositioning base (converted industrial warehouse complex) |
| Category | Theater staging and support |
| Opened | 1991 (in U.S. use after the Gulf War) |
| Closed or transferred | Closure announced April 2005; formally closed in 2006, with functions moved to Camp Arifjan and Camp Buehring |
| Coordinates | 29.36778, 47.80389 (29°22′04.0″N 47°48′14.0″E) |
Overview
Camp Doha was the main U.S. Army base in Kuwait from the 1991 Gulf War until the mid-2000s. It sat on a small peninsula on Kuwait Bay, west of Kuwait City, and began as a large industrial warehouse complex leased by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense. GlobalSecurity notes that a full brigade set of prepositioned equipment was stored there, much of it outdoors.
The camp housed Army Forces Central Command-Kuwait (ARCENT-Kuwait) and Coalition/Joint Task Force-Kuwait (Forward). The permanent Coalition/Joint Task Force that Gen. Anthony C. Zinni set up as U.S. Central Command commander also had its headquarters there, which made Doha a nerve center for U.S. operations in the region. At its peak more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel were stationed at the camp, with several thousand more in transit at any given time.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the months after it, Camp Doha held the headquarters of the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC), which directed the ground campaign. The CFLCC commander, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, briefed his principal staff at Camp Doha in May 2003. Support units, including Army Reserve postal companies, moved there as the theater matured.
From 2003 to 2005 the camp also served as a processing point for troops leaving the theater. Navy reserve customs units inspected the baggage of personnel heading home from Iraq and Kuwait and had searched 100,000 service members by May 2005.
Because of the terrorist threat after the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, the Army had long planned to replace Doha with the purpose-built Camp Arifjan. In April 2005 it announced the closure of Camp Doha, with personnel divided between Camp Buehring and Camp Arifjan, and the base formally closed in 2006.
Timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1991 | Camp Doha was established after the Gulf War; on July 11, 1991, an ammunition-vehicle fire set off explosions that injured 49 U.S. soldiers and destroyed or damaged 102 vehicles. |
| 1998 | The Army converted the warehouse complex to its later role during Operation Desert Thunder. |
| 2002 | Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Camp Doha. |
| 2003 | Camp Doha held the CFLCC headquarters that directed the coalition ground invasion of Iraq. |
| Aug 2003 | The headquarters and 1st Platoon of the 741st Adjutant General Company (Postal) moved to Camp Doha. |
| Apr 2005 | The Army announced it would close Camp Doha and shift its personnel to Camp Buehring and Camp Arifjan. |
| May 2005 | Navy customs agents of NAVELSF Forward Oscar, Bravo Company searched their 100,000th service member at Camp Doha. |
| 2006 | Camp Doha was formally closed. |
Units stationed at Camp Doha
Units documented in public sources as based at or operating from Camp Doha. 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.
| # | Unit | When | Role at the base | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Army Forces Central Command-Kuwait (ARCENT-Kuwait) | not specified in source (until closure) | Army component headquarters in Kuwait. | link |
| 2 | Coalition/Joint Task Force-Kuwait (Forward) | not specified in source | Permanent coalition joint task force established by Gen. Anthony C. Zinni as CENTCOM commander-in-chief, headquartered at Camp Doha. | link |
| 3 | Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) headquarters | 2003 | Coalition land component headquarters for the invasion of Iraq. | link |
| 4 | 741st Adjutant General Company (Postal), U.S. Army Reserve — headquarters and 1st Platoon | August 2003 | Postal company headquarters that moved to Camp Doha. | link |
| 5 | Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force Forward Oscar, Bravo Company (Navy customs) | 2005 | Inspected baggage of U.S. personnel leaving Iraq and Kuwait for the United States. | link |
Notable events and facts
- At its peak, Camp Doha held more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel, with several thousand more in transit.
- The July 1991 North Compound explosion and fire injured 49 U.S. soldiers. Three explosive ordnance disposal soldiers were killed during the cleanup on July 23, 1991.
- Troops nicknamed a pair of tall smokestacks near the camp the "Scud goal posts."
- A Navy customs company passed the milestone of 100,000 service members searched at Camp Doha in May 2005.
- The base's planned replacement, Camp Arifjan, was started in 1999, but the first move was canceled that August.
Photographs
Roll call: who served at Camp Doha
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Message board: Camp Doha
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Sources
- Camp Doha - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Doha
- United States Army Central - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Central
- Camp Arifjan - GlobalSecurity.org (includes Camp Doha background). https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-arifjan.htm
- U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2003: Basrah, Baghdad and Beyond (USMC History Division). https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Iraq,%202003_Basrah,%
- Planning in Operation Iraqi Freedom: Observations of an Australian Liaison Officer (Australian Army Journal). https://researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/australian-army-journal-aaj/volume-1-number-2/p
- 741st Adjutant General Company (Postal) history (U.S. Army Reserve). https://www.usar.army.mil/Portals/98/Documents/historycorner/741%20AG%20Hist%20Doc.pdf
- Wikimedia Commons: Defense.gov News Photo 050301-N-6027E-001. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defense.gov_News_Photo_050301-N-6027E-001.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: NAVELSF Fwd Oscar customs search, May 2005. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_050514-N-1825E-021_Storekeeper_2nd_Class_R