Camp Bondsteel is the operation headquarters of the
Kosovo Force
The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo Security Force, Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2 ...
(KFOR) in
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
. It is located near
Ferizaj
Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District.
Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by t ...
in eastern Kosovo. It is the Regional Command-East headed by the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
(U.S. Army) and it is supported by troops from Greece, Italy, Finland, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland and Turkey. The base is named after U.S. Army
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services.
History of title
In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...
James L. Bondsteel, who is a
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
recipient.
The camp occupies of land.
During the construction of the base, two hills were flattened and the valley between them was filled. In August 1999, 52 helipads were constructed on the facility's west perimeter to handle helicopter aviation. The camp is built mainly of wooden, semi permanent SEA (South East Asia) huts and is surrounded by a high earthen wall.
Facilities
Camp Bondsteel was constructed by the
94th Engineer Construction Battalion, augmented by A Company,
864th Engineer Battalion and the 568 Combat Support Engineer Company, together with the
Kellogg, Brown and Root Corporation (KBR). The planning, design, and construction management of the project was completed by the Construction Management Section of the
130th Engineer Brigade and a team from the Baltimore District of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
. KBR was also the prime contractor for the operation of the camp.
Camp Bondsteel has several facilities on base, all of which were built with aid from the US military who are used by the soldiers and civilian employees who live and work there. The Base can house up to 7,000 soldiers which makes it the largest US base in the Balkans. The post exchange (PX) is the largest military exchange in
Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
and contains various necessities and luxuries including TVs, phones, books, DVDs, CDs, small furniture, video games, computers, clothes, shoes, food, and more. All of this is housed in the PX's two-story building.
The base also has a hospital, two gyms, and two recreation buildings with phones, computers, pool tables, video games and more. Camp Bondsteel also has one chapel with various religious services and activities, one large dining facility, a fire station, a military police station, two cappuccino bars, a
Burger King
Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
,
Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
, and an
Anthony's Pizza pizzeria
A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta.
Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...
. There is also one
barber shop, one
laundry
Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...
facility employing local nationals, one dry cleaner, a tailor, various local vendors who sell
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
souvenirs and products, softball and football fields, and more.
Controversies
Camp Bondsteel is not open to inspections by the
Committee for the Prevention of Torture
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or shortly Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe. Founded to enforce the Europe ...
(CPT), which has the right to visit all "places of detention" of the member states of the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
. Negotiations with KFOR were underway but were suspended since
Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence was not recognised by the Council of Europe. The United States Army had been criticised for using the base as a detention facility housing detainees who were suspected of terrorism.
In November 2005,
Álvaro Gil-Robles
Álvaro Gil-Robles y Gil-Delgado (born 9 September 1944 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Spanish jurist and human rights activist. He was the 2nd Spanish Ombudsman between 1988 and 1993 and also served as Acting Ombudsman between December 1987 and March ...
, the human rights envoy of the Council of Europe, described the camp as a "smaller version of
Guantanamo" following a visit. The US Army denied the accusation and stated that there were no secret detention facilities in the Camp.
Gallery
File:Defense.gov News Photo 020918-A-4243O-001.jpg, Airfield at Camp Bondsteel, 2002
File:Ukraine soldiers from the 79th Airmobile Brigade on Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo 2010.jpg, Ukrainian soldiers from the 79th Airmobile Brigade at Camp Bondsteel, 2010
File:German Army Maj. Gen. Volker Halbauer, center, the commander of the NATO-led Kosovo Forces, addresses the audience at the Joint Readiness Detachment-East transfer of authority ceremony May 26, 2013, at Camp 130526-A-ED406-264.jpg, Volker Halbauer, the commander of the NATO-led Kosovo Forces, 2013
See also
*
List of United States military bases
This is a list of military installations owned or used by the United States Armed Forces currently located in the United States and around the world. This list details only current or recently closed facilities; some defunct facilities are f ...
*
International recognition of Kosovo
International recognition of Kosovo, since its 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, declaration of independence from Serbia enacted on 17 February 2008, has been mixed, and international governments are divided on the issue.
, out of ...
References
Notes
External links
{{commons category, Camp Bondsteel
GlobalSecurity.org - Camp Bondsteel profileGuardian Online: Multi-National Task Force East (MNTF-E)Report on Council of Europe's criticismsatellite photo from google maps
1999 establishments in Kosovo
Military camps in Kosovo
Ferizaj
Kosovo War
Military installations established in 1999
Military installations of the United States in Kosovo
Bondsteel, Camp