Posted on 03/27/2003 7:53:52 AM PST by kattracks
U.S. Informally Renames Airport for Bush
By DENIS D. GRAY .c The Associated Press
TALLIL AIRFIELD, Southern Iraq (AP) - The first U.S. airplane landed Thursday at a key Iraqi airfield, which forces informally renamed ``Bush International Airport.''
The captured airfield is expected to be a major resupply base and transport hub for American forces.
A C-130 transport plane glided down onto a 12,000-foot runway newly cleared of concrete blocks, wrecked vehicles and other barriers placed on the strip by the Iraqi military to prevent its use.
A hastily erected sign at the airfield's entrance read ``Bush International Airport'' for the U.S. president.
The sprawling base is located four miles from Nasiriyah where U.S. Marines are trying to root out resistance by groups loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime, such as the Fedayeen militia.
The airfield, second in size only to Saddam International Airport in Baghdad, had been out of use since the establishment of the no-fly zone following the 1991 Gulf War. The zones were set up to protect Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims in the south of the country and the Kurds in the north.
Tallil's main runway, once used by Iraqi jet fighters, is long enough to take the military's largest transport planes, as well as civilian jumbo jets.
Tallil sits astride a major logistics corridor for U.S. forces, running from Kuwait toward Baghdad. Aircraft flying in could help speed the flow of supplies from Kuwait to troops in the field.
``It's been sitting in a time warp, waiting for someone to wake it up,'' said Col. A. Myers of the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command. His unit, from Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, had the mission to revive it.
The airbase, overrun by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division on March 22, had been only partially occupied and maintained in the past decade. Jumbles of rusting equipment were strewn around the derelict control tower and U.S. troops were clearing out ramshackle buildings before moving in.
Regular air traffic was expected in coming days, weather permitting.
03/27/03 10:40 EST
They haven't accepted Reagan International.
Already exists in Houston, TX (named for W's father). We should take suggestions for a better name.
"W International" perhaps?
Any chance this could stick with the post democratic Iraq?
I like it. :)
Yuppers, 12,000 feet is plenty for just about anything, assuming that it was constructed for heavy double-tandem loads. And one would imagine that, as much concrete as Maddam has been pouring, that they built this strip pretty well.
Of course, 15,000 feet would be even nicer for heavy outbound lift capability during very hot weather, when air density is lower, but what we're primarily interested is INBOUND lift capacity, so 12,000 is plenty. And that area's not at a particularly lofty altitude, so density-alt. calcs don't really factor in.
This is a nice jewel for us to capture.
Michael
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