Muharraq Airfield is a military base located adjacent to

Bahrain International Airport Bahrain International Airport ( ar, مطار البحرين الدولي, ''maṭār al-Baḥrayn al-dwalī'') is the international airport of Bahrain. Located on Muharraq Island, adjacent to the capital Manama, it serves as the hub for the nati ...

. It is run by the

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 ...

(USN) and usually ships supplies in and out of the airport with many of them from other countries as well. The USN, the

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), the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, and others run the security at the airfield. Often referred to as the nearby city of

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is h ...

, Muharraq Airfield was the last stop for most US troops headed to join the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

forces in

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 ...

. It was previously established by 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 ...

as RAF Bahrain (later changed to RAF Muharraq) in April 1943 and remained in use until 1971 when

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

declared independence.

History

The Royal Air Force's history with Bahrain can be traced back to 1924, with flights originating from Shaibah Air Base in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. The perceived strategic importance of Bahrain by the British led to the signing of a civil air agreement with the

King of Bahrain The King of the Kingdom of Bahrain ( ar, ملك مملكة البحرين) is the monarch and head of state of Bahrain. The House of Khalifa has been the ruling family since 1783. Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of ha ...

in 1934. The Royal Air Force established a base there in the area as RAF Bahrain on 22 May 1943, as part of RAF Iraq Command. It was later renamed RAF Muharraq in 1963. The base was formally shut down on 15 December 1971. The base was also used by

Air Forces Gulf Communication Squadron RAF The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. Search and Rescue Flight RAF, Muharraq was based there from the mid-sixties to 1971. The base was used by a detachment of

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

tankers from

No. 101 Squadron RAF No. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Airbus Voyager in the air-to-air refuelling and transport roles from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. History Formation and early years 101 Squadron RFC was formed at Farnborough on 12 July 1 ...

during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

training with

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inter ...

GR1's. From May 1997 a detachment of VC10's returned supporting Operation Jural and later Operation Bolton over Iraq. It became part of No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group (United Kingdom), No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group in the Middle East. Commanded by a Squadron Leader (RAF) until 2015, the current ranking Officer is a Warrant Officer First Class (Supply Chain) RN.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Airfields of the United States Navy Military installations of Bahrain {{Bahrain-geo-stub