Camp Marmal
Camp Marmal is a 120 million euro installation built by the German Bundeswehr. The camp, at over two square kilometers in size, is the largest German military facility outside of Germany. Marmal is vulnerable to rocket and mortar attacks from the foothills of a nearby mountain range. Therefore, the administrative headquarters is heavily fotified against attack. Medical services are provided, in part, by a Norwegian Deployment Hospital. The camp has 8km of access roads and a 6km-long 3 meter high wall. About 1700 German troops live at Camp Marmal.
As of July 2007, the German Point Defense Group along with elements of the German Airforce stationed there had been responsible for a wide variety of missions in their area of operations. Some of these included patrolling the camp and providing security, fire prevention particularly near the runways, explosive ordinance disposal, rapid runway repair and interaction with local population. The camp is host to ISAF Regional Command North and is home to about 2,000 soldiers, around 1500 are German with the other 500 being Dutch or Norwegian.
On October 12, 2007 The German Parliament voted to extend their commitments in Afghanistan for another year. This meant that German forces would continue to occupy and improve Marmal. With fuel and munitions depots, hangars for Tornado jets and helicopters, a repair unit, a hospital and a mess hall and kitchen, Camp Marmal at the foot of the Marmal mountain range is like a small town but its had its share of problems. The soil around Marmal is porous leading to sinkage in certain areas of the camp when water runs down the mountains. This posed a particular problem relating to the runway made worse by damage caused during the war, if ISAF forces are going to continue to operate there a new runway must be built or more intensive patchwork must be undertaken.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
