Coordinates: 30°56′08.73″N 46°05′24.40″E / 30.9357583°N 46.090111°E / 30.9357583; 46.090111

Great Ziggurat of Ur

Ali Air Base (ICAO: ORTL) is a military airbase located near Nasiriyah, Iraq. It was formerly known as Tallil Air Base. It is called Camp Adder by the U.S. Army; the name "Ali Air Base" is used chiefly by the U.S. Air Force; the installation, however, is still commonly referred to as "Tallil". The base has United States forces on it, including USAF, USN and USMC, as well as being home to coalition forces from Australia (Camp Terendak; Australian Battlegroup withdrew June 1, 2008) and Romania (Camp Dracula; Romanian Army withdrew in summer of 2009. Camp Dracula is now referred to as the Regional Center of Excellence for Civil Capacity). Camp Adder is also the home to three Provincial Reconstruction Teams for the provinces of Dhi Qar, Muthanna, and Maysan. The Dhi Qar team is Italian led, while the Muthanna and Maysan teams are headed by U.S. State Department officers.

History

Ali Air Base was a fighter base before the 1991 Gulf War when it was heavily damaged. According to the Gulf War Air Power Survey, Tallil had 36 hardened aircraft shelters. At the each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters knowns as "trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were built by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985.

The 332d Air Expeditionary Wing was at Ali Base for a time before moving to Balad Air Base in January 2004. The 407th Air Expeditionary Group remains at Ali Base. The 407th Air Expeditionary Group operated C-130 Hercules and trained more than 100 Iraqi Airmen on how to maintain and fly the cargo airplanes until February 2006, until the Iraqi Air Force's 23rd squadron was fully trained and relocated to Kirkuk Air Base.

Conditions

The base is home to a large number of U.S. Army and a much smaller number of USAF and USN troops. It has various amenities such as a large post exchange, pizza hut, burger king, and taco bell. Like most US forces bases in the AOR it is also home to a Green Bean coffee shop. Three dining facilities operated by KBR provide hot food for the troops and contractors working on the base. The base also boasts a large chapel and decent MWR facility. A private contractor, SniperHill, provides commercial internet service. The highest speed available is 128k, for the price of $88 monthly.

Most personnel living on the installation now live in containerized housing units, affectionally known as CHU's, as opposed to conventional tent quarters.

Airfield

The airfield is served by two main runways measuring 12,000 and 9,700 feet. A modern air traffic control tower was completed in March, 2010 to further increase the airfield's capabilities. An instrument landing system is currently being installed to provide CAT 1 service to the 30R approach and is planned to be operational by the end of April, 2010. The airfield lighting system is also currently being upgraded as part of the airfield modernization program.

Additional Facts

The base occupies 30 square kilometers and is protected by 22 kilometers of security perimeter. The ancient city of Ur is located within the security perimeter for Ali Base, and its ancient ziggurat is visible from nearly every area of the base.

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
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