Camp Bondsteel is the operation headquarters of the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2009, becomes self sufficient. KFOR entered Kosovo on 11 June 1999, two days ...

(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 international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...

. 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, ...

(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, superv ...

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 val ...

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 The 130th Engineer Brigade is an engineer brigade of the United States Army headquartered in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii that provides engineering support to the United States Army Pacific. The brigade specializes in combat engineering, construct ...

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 (a ...

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 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 restaurant ch ...

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 The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES, also referred to as The Exchange and The PX or The BX) is the retailer in U.S. Army and Air Force installations worldwide. The Exchange is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and its director/chief exe ...

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 ...

facility employing local nationals, one dry cleaner, a tailor, various local vendors who sell

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 (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 human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

. 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 Marc ...

, 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

References

Notes

External links