Al Taqaddum Airbase (Arabic: قاعدة التقدم الجوية ), or Al Taqaddum AB (ICAO: ORAT / KQEZ), (Called TQ in military shorthand slang), is an airbase that is located in central Iraq, approximately 74 kilometers west of Baghdad, at Habbaniyah. The airfield is served by two runways 13,000 and 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long. Since 2004, it has been known as Camp Taqaddum. ("Taqaddum" is an Arabic word which means "progress".) The airbase was originally bui...
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Al Taqaddum Airbase (Arabic: قاعدة التقدم الجوية ), or Al Taqaddum AB (ICAO: ORAT / KQEZ), (Called TQ in military shorthand slang), is an airbase that is located in central Iraq, approximately 74 kilometers west of Baghdad, at Habbaniyah. The airfield is served by two runways 13,000 and 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long. Since 2004, it has been known as Camp Taqaddum. ("Taqaddum" is an Arabic word which means "progress".) The airbase was originally built by the RAF in 1952 as the subsidiary PLATEAU AIRFIELD of nearby RAF Habbaniya, whose runway was inadequate for the larger long range and jet aircraft being introduced. The original RAF runway was subsequently extended by the Iraqis and a parallel runway added. Some of the RAF buildings (Nissen huts) were still standing in 2003.
Previously known as "Tammuz Airbase"(Tammuz, being the Babolyonian month the Baath Party took over Iraq), the Iraqi airbase was long-time abandoned when U.S. forces occupied it beginning in March 2003. The U.S. Army...
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