Camp Arifjan
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| Also known as | Patton Army Heliport (on-post airfield); Camden Yards (GlobalSecurity designation); Araifjan / Arefjan / Urayfijan (spelling variants); "AJ" (informal) |
|---|---|
| Location | Kuwait, south of Kuwait City, west of Shuaiba Port |
| Type | Army logistics base and staging installation |
| Category | Theater staging and support |
| Opened | Construction began July 1999, built and funded by the government of Kuwait |
| Closed or transferred | Not closed; still a U.S. Army installation |
| Coordinates | 28.87800, 48.15790 (28°52′40.8″N 48°09′28.4″E) |
Overview
Camp Arifjan is a U.S. Army installation south of Kuwait City, west of the Shuaiba port and Kuwait Naval Base. The Kuwaiti government built and paid for it; GlobalSecurity described it as a $200 million facility. Construction started in July 1999. The Army wanted a better-protected replacement for Camp Doha after the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the camp takes its name from the local desert shrub called arfaj.
The camp was laid out in zones: administrative and quality-of-life areas, an industrial area with warehouses and maintenance bays, ammunition storage, and infrastructure. Prepositioned equipment was meant to sit in large warehouses rather than outdoors, as it had at Doha. A planned 1999 move from Camp Doha was canceled in August of that year.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Arifjan served as a forward logistics base, motor pool and staging area for equipment moving into the theater. Vehicles and equipment unloaded at the nearby port of Ash Shuaybah usually passed through the camp. Tens of thousands of U.S. military vehicles that had not been up-armored before deployment got their added armor at Arifjan. The on-post Patton Army Heliport, run by Army National Guard aviation repair depot (AVCRAD) elements, provided aviation maintenance for the whole Southwest Asia theater.
In April 2005 the Army announced it would close Camp Doha and split its personnel between Arifjan and Camp Buehring. Arifjan then became the forward home of Third Army/U.S. Army Central and of theater sustainment commands including the 377th Theater Support Command and the 1st Theater Sustainment Command. As the war ended in December 2011, National Guard and Reserve units on the base supported the drawdown under Operation New Dawn.
Thousands of service members and contractors passed through Arifjan on their way into or out of Southwest Asia. Wikipedia puts the number of personnel stationed at the camp at about 9,000, and the base also hosted Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard elements as well as coalition personnel.
Timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1996-99 | After the Khobar Towers bombing, the Army chose to replace Camp Doha with a better-protected base, and Kuwait began building Camp Arifjan in July 1999. |
| Aug 1999 | A planned move of personnel and materiel from Camp Doha to Arifjan was canceled. |
| 2004 | Vehicles and equipment offloaded at the port of Ash Shuaybah were staged at Camp Arifjan on their way to final destinations. |
| Apr 2005 | The Army announced the closure of Camp Doha, with personnel to be divided between Camp Arifjan and Camp Buehring. |
| 2006 | Third Army/U.S. Army Central headquarters operated at Camp Arifjan, alongside the 377th Theater Support Command. |
| 2008 | Area Support Group Kuwait hosted community events on the base. |
| 2010 | 1st Theater Sustainment Command soldiers served at Camp Arifjan. |
| Dec 2011 | The 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command and the Minnesota National Guard's 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division were on post during Operation New Dawn. |
| 2003 | The 1014th Quartermaster Company leaves Camp Arifjan by convoy for Logistics Base Seitz near Baghdad, about a three-day drive (veteran's account). |
Units stationed at Camp Arifjan
Units documented in public sources as based at or operating from Camp Arifjan. This list is not complete; units rotated frequently and many smaller elements were never reported. Veterans can add their unit on the message board below.
| # | Unit | When | Role at the base | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Third Army / U.S. Army Central (forward headquarters) | by 2006 onward | Army component headquarters for U.S. Central Command; forward element at Camp Arifjan. | link |
| 2 | ARCENT (Forward) | not specified in source | Forward headquarters of Army Forces Central Command, listed among Arifjan units. | link |
| 3 | 377th Theater Support Command | 2006 | Theater logistics command with personnel at Camp Arifjan. | link |
| 4 | 40th Public Affairs Detachment | 2006 | Public affairs unit covering events at Third Army headquarters. | link |
| 5 | Area Support Group Kuwait | 2008 | Base support organization that ran community programs at Camp Arifjan. | link |
| 6 | 1st Theater Sustainment Command | 2010 | Theater sustainment headquarters with soldiers at Camp Arifjan. | link |
| 7 | 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command | December 2011 | Army Reserve sustainment command deployed to Camp Arifjan. | link |
| 8 | 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division (Minnesota Army National Guard) | December 2011 – 2012 | Provided critical life-support and emergency operations center services at Camp Arifjan during Operation New Dawn. | link |
| 9 | Combat Equipment Battalion-Kuwait / Army Prepositioned Stock (APS-5) | not specified in source | Maintained prepositioned Army equipment, listed among Arifjan units. | link |
| 10 | 831st Transportation Battalion detachment | not specified in source | Transportation detachment listed among Arifjan units. | link |
| 11 | Task Force AVCRAD (Army National Guard Aviation Classification and Repair Activity Depots) | not specified in source | Ran Patton Army Heliport and aviation maintenance for the Southwest Asia theater. | link |
| 12 | Navy Customs Battalions (Oscar through Tango) | not specified in source | Navy reserve customs units listed among Camp Arifjan units. | link |
| 13 | Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Forward Groups (Hotel through Papa) | not specified in source | Navy expeditionary logistics units listed among Camp Arifjan units. | link |
| 14 | 1014th Quartermaster Company (Supply), U.S. Army Reserve, Athens, Georgia | 2003 | Staged at Camp Arifjan, then convoyed about three days north to Logistics Base Seitz, Baghdad, where it served through 2004 (veteran's account) | Veteran's account see the Log Base Seitz page |
Notable events and facts
- Tens of thousands of U.S. vehicles were "up-armored" at Camp Arifjan.
- The camp and the surrounding Arifjan desert are named for the shrub Rhanterium epapposum, known locally as arfaj.
- Patton Army Heliport (LID OK2A) inside the camp is named for Gen. George S. Patton.
- Entertainers including Al Franken (2006) and Louis C.K. (2008) performed for troops at Camp Arifjan.
- Troops informally call the camp "AJ".
Photographs
Roll call: who served at Camp Arifjan
No names have been added yet. This roll call is built from the people who served here, one post at a time.
Message board: Camp Arifjan
Served here? Share a memory, name your unit, or send a correction. Posts are reviewed before they appear. The full community board is on the Message Board page.
Sources
- Camp Arifjan - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Arifjan
- Camp Arifjan - GlobalSecurity.org. https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-arifjan.htm
- Camp Doha - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Doha
- United States Army Central - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Central
- Wikimedia Commons: Camp Arifjan storage from air. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camp_Arifjan_storage_from_air.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: Al Franken Kuwait. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Al_Franken_Kuwait.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: Black History Month celebration, Camp Arifjan 2008. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Incorporating_multiculturalism_in_Black_History_Mo
- Wikimedia Commons: Memorial Day Observance at Camp Arifjan. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_Day_Observance_at_Camp_Arifjan_DVIDS28485
- Wikimedia Commons: Army Reserve leadership visits troops. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Army_Reserve_leadership_visits_troops_111224-A-PF7
- Wikimedia Commons: Critical life support services provided by Minnesota soldiers. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Critical_life_support_services_provided_by_Minneso
- Wikimedia Commons: Louis CK Kuwait. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_CK_Kuwait.jpg