Military

Kut Al Hayy Airbase

Kut Al Hayy Airbase is located in southern Iraq approximately 230 kilometers Southeast of Baghdad and 32 kilometers Southeast of the city of Kut. The airfield is served by one main runway measuring 9,800 feet. Kut Al Hayy has hardened aircraft shelters at each end of the runway.

As of June 30, 2002, there was no Ikonos imagery of Kut Al Hayy in Space Imaging's Carterra Archive.

FOB Delta / Camp Delta

As of May 2004 elements of 1st Armored Division were operating at FOB Delta near al-Kut.

Home to the Center South Academy where Coalition forces are training Iraqi soldiers and police.

As of April, 2004 Romanian forces, including Romanian intelligence units, were stationed at Camp Delta. Romanian intelligence units have deployed on site advanced imagery capabilities. Delta is home to human and signals intelligence units and a system of unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles (“UAVs”) which have flown over one hundred reconnaissance missions as of April, 2004. These integrated unit assets are providing timely, actionable intelligence to coalition forces.

Soldiers stationed at Camp Delta are able to enjoy hot showers and hot meals.

Camp Chesty

Camp Chesty near Kut in Iraq, variously reported to be 65 or 100 miles south of Baghdad, was a city-sized camp used by Marines during Operation Iraqi Freedom. During OIF, the brown cloud that hovered around Camp Chesty was visible from miles away. With a support-base airfield, Camp Chesty was the largest supply depot in the northern most section of central Iraq and supplied all front line troops. The Marines' home to the 7,000 Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Marines of Task Force Tarawa, the Camp was divided from other areas of the camp by 10-foot high sand berms, which keep them nearly cut off from different battalions, platoons and companies.

Camp Chesty was named after WW II hero General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, arguably the most colorful and admired Marine of them all. Puller is the only Marine to earn five Navy Crosses. His career spanned thirty-seven years, during which he mastered the entire spectrum of warfare, from chasing the guerrilla leader Augusto Sandino in the jungles of Nicaragua to commanding a Marine regiment in the bitter fighting near the Chosin reservoir. The Marine's Marine, he was called "Chesty" because his chest was like a battering ram--rumor claimed the original was shot away and replaced with a steel plate. In amphibious assaults, they said he didn't need landing craft because he walked on water. With General Louis B. Puller you never knew where myth ended and reality began. From the Banana Wars to Guadalcanal and Peleliu to the Chosin Reservoir, he compiled a fighting record that needed every inch of his broad chest for medals of valor.

A Marine officer and enlisted man for 37 years, General Puller served at sea or overseas for all but ten of those years, including a hitch as commander of the "Horse Marines" in China. Excluding medals from foreign governments, he won a total of 14 personal decorations in combat, plus a long list of campaign medals, unit citation ribbons, and other awards. In addition to his Navy Crosses (the next-highest decoration to the Medal of Honor for Naval personnel), he holds its Army equivalent, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, the Army Silver Star, and the Bronze Star to name just a few. He died on 11 October 1971 in Hampton, Virginia after a long illness.

Thanks to the German Army, the US Marine Corps has an unofficial mascot. During World War I many German reports had called the attacking Marines "teufel-hunden," meaning Devil-Dogs. Teufel-hunden were the vicious, wild, and ferocious mountain dogs of Bavarian folklore. Soon afterward a US Marine recruiting poster depicted a snarling English Bulldog wearing a Marine Corps helmet. Because of the tenacity and demeanor of the breed, the image took root with both the Marines and the public. The Marines soon unofficially adopted the English Bulldog as their mascot. In the late 1950s the Marine Barracks in Washington, the oldest post in the Corps, became the new home for the Corps' mascot. Renamed Chesty to honor the legendary LtGen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller Jr., the mascot epitomize the fighting spirit of the U.S. Marines. Tough, muscular, aggressive, fearless, and often arrogant, they are the ultimate canine warriors. They symbolize the ethos of the Warrior Culture of the US Marines.

Imagery of the Kut Al Hayy
Click on the small image to view a larger version
Overview of the Middle East with Iraq in the center	CIA Map of Iraq
Tactical Pilotage Chart of the Kut Al Hayy Airbase	Russian 1:200,000 scale map of Kut Al Hayy Airbase as of 1985.
CIB overview Kut Al Hayy Airbase as of 1995.	Kut Al Hayy is served by a main runway measuring 9,800 feet.
The Task Force Tarawa headquarters was located at at Blair Airfield, Al Kut, Iraq, on April 23, 2003. Task Force Tarawa was working in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Camp Chesty	Camp Chesty