[Eva]

Well, that’s odd because I know a guy who works on the ships that were going to Diego Garcia and the government stopped the shipping to the island. The US was leasing the base from the British and the lease ran out. There is a big push being made to return the island to it’s native inhabitants, but the problem is, it doesn’t seem to have any real “native inhabitants.” Anyway the shipping is going somewhere in the Mediterranean, now, I think. Off the coast of Spain, maybe. I forget what the guy said, but he has been getting off the ship in Spain.

[mad_as_he$$]

Diego Garcia is the site of a military base jointly operated by the United Kingdom and the United States. The base is a naval refueling and support station, and the home of a U.S. naval prepositioning squadron, which is responsible for the readiness of naval vessels as part of the Military Sealift Command in the Indian Ocean.[10] It has an air base that primarily supported land-based U.S. Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft during the Cold War. Since 11 September 2001, in addition to P-3 aircraft, it has also supported some of the largest military aircraft. U.S. Air Force B-52s and B-1Bs, as well as various aerial refueling tanker aircraft have been deployed to Diego Garcia to execute missions. During the 1991 Gulf War, Diego Garcia was home to the 4300th Bomb Wing (Provisional), made up of B-52G bombers from the former Loring AFB, Maine and other B-52G bases. It was also used in support of military missions in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and to Iraq again during the 2003 invasion. The B-52s, and B-1s deployed to Diego Garcia in anticipation of the second Iraq War carried out the initial aerial bombardment on Baghdad on March 22, 2003. Some of these bombers dropped GPS guided bombs and laser guided 1,905 kg (4,200 lb.) bunker busters in “decapitation strikes” intended to kill Saddam Hussein and other Baath Party officials.[11] Although they now primarily deploy to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Diego Garcia still remains a regular deployment site for U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

In recent years, Diego Garcia has also become the home for forward deployed U.S. guided missile submarines, SSGN-728 (USS Florida) and SSGN-729 (USS Georgia). Florida and Georgia are formally assigned to Submarine Squadron SIXTEEN, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, but conduct crew turnover and minor maintenance at Diego Garcia.

GEODSS at Diego GarciaThe base is part of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network,[12] with a three-telescope GEODSS station, and is a NASA Space Shuttle emergency landing site.[13]

Neither the UK nor the U.S. recognise Diego Garcia as being subject to the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, though the rest of the Chagos Archipelago is included, suggesting they wish to maintain the freedom to base nuclear weapons there.[14]

The agreement between the UK and U.S. for the U.S. to use the island as a joint military base was made in 1966 and is due to expire in 2036. However, either government may opt to terminate the agreement in 2016.

Construction and maintenance of the base’s communications equipment, fuel facilities and military hardware are conducted strictly by military contractors, and inventories of that weaponry are classified. No service-member family dependents are allowed. In 2001, the United States Department of Defense said that there were more buildings on Diego Garcia (654) than military personnel.[15]

I saw B2’s there three years ago.