Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

, located northwest of the city of

Lashkargah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

in Helmand Province,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres. The camp was built by the

in 2005-06, and on 27 October 2014 the

handed over control to the

Afghan Ministry of Defense ps, د ملي دفاع وزارت , logo = MOD Afghanistan emblem.png , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = Emblem of the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , picture = , picture_width = ...

. Between 2005 and October 2014 it was the logistics hub for

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

(ISAF) operations in Helmand during the War in Afghanistan and Operation Herrick, and it was capable of accommodating over 32,000 people. It was the largest British overseas military camp built since the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The base was also home to troops from other states, including the United States and Denmark. Shorabak contained the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

(ANA) camp (also called Camp Shorabak), and also held Camp Leatherneck until 2014. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in July–August 2021; and the camp is now under control by the Taliban.

History

Camp Bastion Memorial Wall Vigil MOD 45158077

Camp Shorabak began life as Camp Bastion, a tactical landing zone set up by two air traffic controllers from the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

's Tactical Air Traffic Control Unit. This provided a vital and strategic insertion point in Helmand Province and unbeknownst to the two controllers, was to be the foundations for Camp Shorabak. The camp started out with just a few tents in 2005. However, from early 2006 personnel from

39 Engineer Regiment Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

and various contracting firms, all under the supervision of 62 Works Group Royal Engineers started to build the base with more robust facilities. In November 2006, the then British Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

visited Camp Bastion, and, while addressing a gathering of British troops, described it as an "extraordinary piece of desert ... where the fate of world security in the early 21st century is going to be decided". Four miles long by two miles wide, the camp had a busy airfield and a

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...

and originally had full accommodation for 2,000 people. The base was originally named by the Commanding Officer of 62 Works Group (RE) based upon name of the gabions used to form the compounds walls; Hesco Bastion. The first camp to be built was Camp 251 which housed the construction force and they were housed in tents. The first runway capable of handling C-17s direct from the United Kingdom opened in Camp Bastion on 3 December 2007. The base had previously been divided into a number of different sections (bastions). Bastions 1 and 2 were the first, with Bastion 2 containing Camp Barber (US) and Camp Viking (DK). Bastion 0 was added in around 2010 and housed the contractors and Bastion 3 was used for in-theatre training. Camp Bastion included Bastion Airfield, Bastion Garrison and Camp Leatherneck along with Rowe Lines. By September 2014 it was reported that both Bastion 2 and 3 had reverted to desert. Camp Bastion airfield and heliport handled up to 600 fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft movements every day in 2011, operating combat, medical and logistics flights. Its air traffic controllers were integral to the support of the UK's operations in southern Afghanistan and the Air Traffic Control Squadron at Camp Bastion was the first to recruit and train US Marines to UK air traffic control standards. In February 2014, snow fell in Camp Bastion for the first time since the base was established, eight years earlier. The camp was handed over to the control of the Afghan security forces on 26 October 2014.Drwiega, Andrew.
Combat Operations Cease from Camp Bastion-Leatherneck
" ''Aviation Today'', 28 October 2014. Accessed: 29 October 2014. On 27 November 2014, insurgents infiltrated Camp Bastion. As of Sunday 30 November, the Afghan National Army had not fully driven out the "Taliban" fighters. At least five ANA soldiers were killed in the attack. Upon completion of British and US military withdrawal from Camp Bastion, it was renamed Camp Shorabak as this was the name of the Afghan base situated there. In December 2015, it was announced that a small contingency of British troops would return to Camp Shorabak in an advisory role, due to the Taliban overrun of

Sangin Sangin ( ps, سنگين) is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 20,000 people. It is located on in the valley of the Helmand River at altitude, to the north-east of Lashkargah. Sangin is notorious as on ...

district in

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

province. The base was initially home to the Afghan National Army and during Operation Herrick 7

2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment The Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Army 2020 defence ...

's Battlegroup HQ. Before the 2021 Taliban takeover, home to 4th Kandak, 3rd Brigade,

205th Corps The 205th 'Atul' (Hero) Corps was a corps-level formation of the Afghan National Army. Its headquarter were located in Kandahar and it was responsible for the south of the country (Kandahar, Zabul, Oruzgan, Helmand and Nimruz provinces), partne ...

. The ring road, watchtowers and large parts of Bastion I still remain to be maintained.

United Kingdom

Aviation

The main user of the camp was the United Kingdom which based a number of rotary and a few fixed-wing aircraft. During June 2011 a brand new air traffic control tower was opened which was built by 170 Engineer Group, with Fixed Communications Infrastructure installed by 241 Sig Sqn, 10 Sig Regt. The main aviation unit was

No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing is an Expeditionary Air Wing of the Royal Air Force. It is currently based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and is tasked with conducting operations against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL in Iraq & Syria It w ...

which was responsible for the operation of the airfield and operated the Raytheon Sentinel R1 - Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) along with

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

ASACs and Thales Watchkeepers.

Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of the British Armed Forces for command and coordination purposes. History Background Over the years, the grouping of all battlefield suppor ...

operated

AgustaWestland Apache The AgustaWestland Apache is a licence-built version of the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter for the British Army Air Corps. The first eight helicopters were built by Boeing; the remaining 59 were assembled by Westland Helicopt ...

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

, Westland Sea Kings, Boeing Chinooks of No. 1310 Flight RAF and AgustaWestland Merlins of

No. 1419 Flight RAF No. 1419 (Tactical Support) Flight RAF was a flight within the Royal Air Force. History Second World War No. 419 (Special Duties) Flight was formed at RAF North Weald on 21 August 1940. It moved to RAF Stradishall where it was disbanded to form ...

. Both RAF Flights performed troop and cargo moves but the Chinook also carried the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) and Incident Response Teams (IRT).

Ground based

The UK had a large number of major units based here: * Afghanistan Media Operations Cell * Crew Training School (for vehicles) * EOD & Search Task Force * Joint Force Support (Afghanistan) which included: ** Joint Force Medical Group. ** Joint Media Operations Centre. ** Joint Theatre Education Centre. ** Theatre Military Working Dogs Support Unit. ** Theatre Logistic Group. A number of smaller units were also deployed here including: * Base Security **No 2 Tactical Police Sqn, Royal Air Force Police ** OP H 19 - A Company -

The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland The Highlanders, 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (4 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Prior to 28 March 2006, the Highlanders was an infantry regiment in its own right; The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons ...

* Joint ISTAR Group (brigade surveillance and reconnaissance support) ** OP H 19 - 9th/12th Royal Lancers * Units based at Bastion ** OP H 7 - 40 Commando Battlegroup HQ ** OP H 10/11 - 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (Egypt Squadron) ** OP H 13 - 16 Air Assault Medical Regiment - Elements of 19, 23 & 181 Medical Support Squadrons. ** OP H 19 - 4 SCOTS ** OP H 20 - 26th Regiment RA The base was protected by the Bastion Force Protection Wing as part of the multi-national Task Force Belleau Wood. During August 2013 the Headquarters of

Task Force Helmand Task Force Helmand was the name given to a military unit of the International Security Assistance Force in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Task Force Helmand was part of Regional Command Southwest and consisted primarily of personnel from the Briti ...

moved from

Lashkar Gah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

to Bastion. In 2013, a training school for Afghan troops was opened. By March 2014, the population of the camp had reduced to 4,000 UK service personnel, as preparations were well-underway for UK military withdrawal from Helmand in October 2014. During the dismantling of the base the scrap metal was taken away by ProCon Building Materials Trading LLC.

United States

The United States Military used part of Bastion Airfield for their aircraft and they had their own camp within Camp Bastion until 26 October 2014. The last unit was the

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW) is the major east coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered in Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Wing provides the aviation combat element for the ...

(Forward) which began operating from April 2014. It consisted of: * Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 467 (HMLA-467) which operated Bell AH-1W SuperCobras and

Bell UH-1Y Venom The Bell UH-1Y VenomDoD 4120-15L, ''Model Desi ...

s. *

Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 Marine Wing Support Squadron 274 (MWSS-274) is an aviation ground support unit of the United States Marine Corps. They are based out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The squadron falls under the command of Marine Wing S ...

(MWSS-274) from 7 April 2014. Marine Wing Suppprt Squadron-371(February 2009-October) laid aluminum matting in Camp Bastion and throughout Helmand Province. On 14 September 2012 Camp Bastion was attacked by a unit of 15

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

fighters. The base was defended by pilots and aircraft maintenance personnel from Marine Attack Squadron 21 and

No. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment No. 51 Squadron RAF Regiment is a field squadron of the RAF Regiment in the Royal Air Force. Its mission is protection of RAF bases from ground attack. History The history of No. 51 Squadron goes back to 1947 when it was formed at RAF Celle ne ...

. Base security had been reduced in the weeks leading up to the attack, and the Taliban unit was able to damage or destroy eight USMC

AV-8B Harrier II The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primaril ...

jets before all were killed or captured. Two Marines died in the fighting.

Other countries

Camp Shorabak has been used by various countries including Denmark (until 20 May 2014),

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

(until 9 May 2014) and

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

(until 28 April 2014).

Hospital

Medical Facility at Camp Bastion MOD 45150812

Camp Bastion's Hospital was built by 170 Engineer Group and was operated by regular and reserve personnel of the British Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force of the Joint Force Medical Group, as well as medical assets from the US Army. Medical staff included Orthopaedic Surgeons, General Surgeons, Anaesthetists, Nurses and Medics. The hospital was the location to which wounded military personnel from the British, US and other ISAF forces in Helmand Province were evacuated from the battlefield for treatment, supported by

US 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 ...

, Navy, and Air Force medics, or from which they were further evacuated to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Afghan civilians were also treated at the hospital for injuries sustained in war including victims of improvised explosive device attacks. The hospital was closed down on 22 September 2014. A number of units were deployed to Afghanistan and worked at the hospital: * OP H 4 - 22 Field Hospital (Hospital Squadron) * OP H 5 - Royal Navy Hospital Squadron * OP H 6A -

212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital 212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 146th (West Riding and Midland ...

* OP H 6B -

208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital 208 (Liverpool) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 8th (Liverpool) General Hospital ...

* OP H 7A -

201 (Northern) Field Hospital 201 (Northern) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 1st (Northern) General Hospital, ...

* OP H 7B -

243 (The Wessex) Field Hospital 243 (The Wessex) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed in 1999, through the amalgamation of 211th (Wessex) Field Hospital, and 219th (Wessex) Field ...

* OP H 8A -

203 (Welsh) Field Hospital 203 (Welsh) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army, based in Wales. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 3rd (Western) Gener ...

* OP H 8B -

204 (North Irish) Field Hospital 204 (North Irish) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, as the 204 (North Irish) General Hospital. Throughout t ...

* OP H 9 - Royal Navy Hospital Squadron * OP H 10A -

202 (Midlands) Field Hospital 202 (Midlands) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of 147th (South Midland) Field Ambu ...

* OP H 10B - Danish Field Hospital * OP H 11 - 33 Field Hospital * OP H 11A - 256 Field Hospital * OP H 11B - 205 Field Hospital * OP H 12 - 34 Field Hospital * OP H 13A -

207 (Manchester) Field Hospital 207 (Manchester) Field Hospital is a unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps within the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Army Reserve of the British Army. History The hospital was formed upon the formation of the TAVR in 1967, from the amalgamation of ...

* OP H 13B -

* OP H 14 - Royal Navy Hospital Squadron * OP H 15A -

* OP H 15B -

* OP H 16 - 22 Field Hospital * OP H 17A -

* OP H 17B -

* OP H 18 - 33 Field Hospital * OP H 19A -

* OP H 19B -

* OP H 20 - 34 Field Hospital

Accidents and incidents

The base has been attacked several times including on 14 September 2012, when two

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

(USMC) service personnel were killed and six USMC

McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primari ...

s were destroyed and two were "significantly damaged." Three refuelling stations were also destroyed, with six soft-skin aircraft hangars damaged. Of the 15 Taliban attackers, 14 were killed and 1 captured. In May 2013 the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

obtained documents showing that up to 85 Afghan nationals were being detained at Camp Shorabak. Philip Hammond, the then defence secretary, confirmed that the UK was holding "80 or 90 Afghan detainees" at the base. The

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

maintains the detention of the Afghans is legal. On March 1, 2019, Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen made an early morning

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

on Afghan forces at Camp Shorabak, killing 23, following another round of talks between U.S. and Taliban negotiators. According to an American military spokesman,

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

advisers (who suffered no casualties) helped Afghan troops repel the attack.

Commanders

* Group Captain Tony Innes (January 2013 – 2014) ** Deputy: Wing Commander John Lyle (June 2013 – December 2013) * Group Captain Jeff Portlock (August 2012 – January 2013) * Group Captain Dave Waddington (unknown – August 2012) * Group Captain Al Gillespie * Group Captain Scott Notman (February–September 2011) ** Deputy: Wing Commander Gordon Pell (July 2011 – January 2012) * Group Captain Guy van den Berg (October 2010 – February 2011) ** Deputy: Wing Commander Guy Edwards (January 2011 – July 2011) ** Garrison Sergeant Major, Warrant Officer Class 1 Cox * Group Captain John Cunningham (unknown – September 2010) ** Deputy: Wing Commander Rich Yates (unknown – January 2011) * Colonel Angus Mathie (December 2009 – June 2010)

In media

Camp Shorabak has been featured in several documentaries, often focusing on medical evacuations. * ''The Air Hospital'' (

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

) - aired 25 March 2010. * ''Frontline Medicine'' (

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

) - aired 20 and 27 November 2011. * ''Extraordinary Dogs'' (

Documentary Channel A documentary channel is a specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific ar ...

). * '' Prince Harry: Frontline Afghanistan'' ( BBC Three) - aired 28 January 2013. * ''Gary Barlow: Journey to Afghanistan'' (

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

) - aired 23 December 2013. * '' Top Gear'' (BBC2) - aired 9 February 2014. * ''The Billion Pound Base: Dismantling Camp Bastion'' (Channel 4) - aired 7 December 2014. * ''The One Show - Afghanistan: Coming Home'' (BBC1) - Series of films on redeployment of 2RTR soldiers and equipment from Camp Bastion. Filmed in September/November 2013. Narrated by Dan Snow and Tony Livesey. - aired January 2014. *" Our Girl"( BBC 1). *"Road Warriors" (ITV) featuring 4 Logistic Support Regiment RLC

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

24 September 2012 BBC News, "Inside Camp Bastion" Guardian report on Camp Bastion 2011
* ttps://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29473419 Photographer Robert Wilson inside Camp Bastion {{Helmand Province 2006 establishments in Afghanistan 2006 in the United Kingdom Helmand Province Human rights in Afghanistan Installations of the British Army Internment camps Military installations of Denmark Military bases of the United Kingdom in Afghanistan Prisons in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Bases