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Camp Thunder Cove, formerly Camp Justice is a
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
and Air Forces support facility within the US-UK Naval Support Facility on
Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...
, a small and isolated island in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
.
mirror
The island is in the
Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives arc ...
, part of the
British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 ...
.


Structure

United States forces have used Diego Garcia since at least the mid-1960s, under lease from the United Kingdom. The island has port facilities and an airstrip capable of handling large aircraft. Currently, 1,700 military personnel, mostly United States forces, with around 50 British troops, and a further 1,500 civilian contractors reside there. The installation fills several roles including serving as a support facility for both surface fleets and submarine units in addition supplying regional operations in conjunction with Military Sealift Command. The base is also home to a sophisticated radar, space tracking and communications facility along with a fully operational joint Navy and Air Force airfield.


History

Construction of Camp Justice was the impetus for the British government's expulsion of the Chagossians. The entire population of approximately 1,600 Chagossians were removed from 1967 to 27 April 1973, resulting in limited financial compensation being paid out to the former inhabitants as well as several legal challenges. Starting in 1990, the base saw another round of rapid improvement and expansion. US intervention in the Middle East resulted in the construction of two exceptionally long (2.3 mile) runways, heavy aircraft storage and maintenance facilities and a large fuel depot.Camp Justice Naval Base in Diego Garcia
''Militarybase.com''. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
The camp was renamed "Thunder Cove" in July 2006.


References

{{coord, -7.291, 72.386, dim:2000_region:IO, display=title Chagos Archipelago Military installations of the United States in the United Kingdom United States Navy installations Geography of the British Indian Ocean Territory Military of the British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories