Sather Air Base
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| Also known as | Camp Sather; Baghdad International Airport (BIAP), military side; Saddam International Airport (pre-2003 airport name); Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (from December 2011) |
|---|---|
| Location | West side of Baghdad International Airport, Baghdad |
| Type | U.S. Air Force expeditionary air base and aerial port |
| Category | U.S. installation in Iraq |
| Opened | April 2003 (named Sather Air Base on 8 April 2005) |
| Closed or transferred | 1 December 2011, taken over by the U.S. Department of State and renamed the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center |
| Coordinates | 33.26250, 44.23444 (33°15′45.0″N 44°14′04.0″E) |
Overview
Sather Air Base was a U.S. Air Force base on the west side of Baghdad International Airport, southwest of Camp Victory. It operated from 2003 to 2011 and served the Victory Base Complex as Iraq's busiest military passenger hub and its second-busiest cargo hub. Air Force public affairs stressed that the air base was a separate entity from the civilian airport.
Elements of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division captured the airport on 4 April 2003 after heavy fighting, and the 447th Air Expeditionary Group was activated there the same month. Coalition forces restored the airport's original name, Baghdad International Airport; its ICAO code changed from ORBS to ORBI. Civilian flights resumed in July 2003 for the first time since 1991.
The base was named on 8 April 2005 for Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather, an Air Force combat controller who was the first enlisted airman killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and who received the Bronze Star with Valor for his leadership in the opening weeks of the invasion.
Its core mission was to 'maintain and operate the airfield and aerial port.' In early 2008 the 447th Air Expeditionary Group had seven squadrons plus tenants such as explosive ordnance disposal and Coalition Air Force Training Team units. It moved about 6,200 passengers and more than 1,700 tons of cargo each week, and over one four-month period it handled 142,000 people and 39,000 tons of cargo. The group then reported to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad. The base also received many distinguished visitors bound for the palaces and the International Zone.
The base came under periodic rocket fire. When the State Department took control on 1 December 2011 it was renamed the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, with only a few hundred U.S. service members left, and it was expected to be the last base in Iraq under U.S. control after the withdrawal. By 2014 it housed 41 agencies and about 1,600 personnel.
Timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2003 | The 3rd Infantry Division captured the airport on 4 April; the 447th Air Expeditionary Group was activated there that month; civilian flights resumed in July. |
| 2003 | On 22 November a DHL Airbus A300 freighter was hit by an SA-14 missile after takeoff; the crew landed safely. |
| 2004 | Civilian control of the airport returned from the Coalition Provisional Authority to the Iraqi government. |
| 2005 | The air base was formally named Sather Air Base on 8 April. |
| 2006 | On 6 December a 107mm rocket landed about 27 meters from a parked C-5A, peppering it with shrapnel. |
| 2008 | Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad through Sather on 17 March; the base was moving about 6,200 passengers a week. |
| 2011 | The State Department took over on 1 December and renamed the base the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center; the 321st Air Expeditionary Wing prepared the last U.S. flights out. |
Units stationed at Sather Air Base
Units documented in public sources as based at or operating from Sather Air Base. 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 | 3rd Infantry Division | April 2003 | Elements captured Baghdad International Airport on 4 April 2003 | link |
| 2 | 447th Air Expeditionary Group | April 2003 - 2011 | Host unit that maintained and operated the airfield and aerial port | link |
| 3 | 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron | 2008 | Repaired runway spalls and maintained the base; also deployed EOD airmen to FOB Falcon in 2006 | link |
| 4 | 447th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron | 2008 | Managed the airfield and its traffic | link |
| 5 | 447th Expeditionary Operations Squadron | July 2007 | Transient alert team coordinated all traffic on the military airfield | link |
| 6 | 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron | 2008 | Moved about 1,700 tons of cargo a week and processed personnel through the Victory Base Complex | link |
| 7 | 447th Personnel Support for Contingency Operations (PERSCO) | 2008 | Accounted for more than 1,000 Air Force personnel plus Army and coalition personnel | link |
| 8 | Coalition Air Force Training Team units | 2008 | Tenant units on the base | link |
| 9 | 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing | 2008 | Parent wing of the 447th AEG, based at Balad Air Base | link |
| 10 | 447th Office of Special Investigations | December 2003 | Air Force investigators at Baghdad International Airport | link |
| 11 | Air Traffic Control Detachment, Task Unit 633.4.2 (Australia) | December 2003 | Australian air traffic controllers at Baghdad International Airport | link |
| 12 | 321st Air Expeditionary Wing | December 2011 | Final U.S. wing at Sather, securing the airfield until the last flights left | link |
Notable events and facts
- The base was named for Staff Sgt. Scott D. Sather, the first enlisted airman killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
- Air Force public affairs noted that 'Sather' was pronounced to rhyme with 'laser.'
- On 22 November 2003 a DHL A300 cargo jet hit by a surface-to-air missile after takeoff landed safely using engine thrust alone; civilian crews afterward began flying corkscrew approaches.
- Vice President Dick Cheney met Gen. David Petraeus at Sather Air Base on 17 March 2008.
- After 1 December 2011 the renamed Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center was the last base in Iraq under U.S. control.
Photographs
Roll call: who served at Sather Air Base
No names have been added yet. This roll call is built from the people who served here, one post at a time.
Message board: Sather Air Base
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Sources
- Baghdad International Airport (Sather Air Base) - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_International_Airport
- The gateway to Iraq - U.S. Air Forces Central (18 March 2008). https://www.afcent.af.mil/News/Article/222084/the-gateway-to-iraq/
- Sather Dispatch - Air & Space Forces Magazine (14 December 2011). https://www.airandspaceforces.com/satherdispatch/
- Wikimedia Commons: 070730-F-4576W-310 Staff Sgt. Jacob Whetstone holds a pair of marshalling sticks July 30 at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:070730-F-4576W-310_Staff_Sgt._Jacob_Whetstone_hold
- Wikimedia Commons: Baghdad International Airport. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baghdad_International_Airport.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: Steyr AUG DF-SD-06-01774. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steyr_AUG_DF-SD-06-01774.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: Richard Lugar arrives at Baghdad International Airport. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Lugar_arrives_at_Baghdad_International_Air