FOB Marez
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| Also known as | Forward Operating Base Marez; Contingency Operating Station (Site) Marez; COS Marez; Former Iraqi Republican Guard Fifth Corps headquarters |
|---|---|
| Location | Nineveh Governorate, southern edge of Mosul, next to Mosul Airfield |
| Type | Forward operating base (later contingency operating station) |
| Category | U.S. installation in Iraq |
| Opened | Not stated in sources consulted; in U.S. use by 2004 |
| Closed or transferred | 2011; transferred to Iraqi Security Forces by the 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Armored Division (exact date not stated in sources consulted) |
| Coordinates | 36.34167, 43.12917 (36°20′30.0″N 43°07′45.0″E) — approximate |
Overview
FOB Marez was a large U.S. installation on the southern edge of Mosul, next to the main U.S. military airfield there, known as Diamondback. Before 2003 the site held the headquarters of the Iraqi Republican Guard's Fifth Corps. It took in a graveyard of Iraqi tanks, more than 300 buildings and other structures, and the ruins of the ancient Christian monastery of St. Elijah (Dair Mar Elia). The base perimeter ran for miles.
U.S. troops, coalition allies, civilian contractors and Iraqi soldiers all lived and worked at Marez, and U.S. troops trained Iraqi soldiers there. In 2004 the area was secured by Task Force Olympia, which was built around a Stryker brigade combat team and had taken over from the 101st Airborne Division that February.
On December 21, 2004, a suicide bomber in an Iraqi security forces uniform blew himself up inside the base's tent dining facility at lunchtime. The blast killed 14 U.S. soldiers, four U.S. contractors and four Iraqi soldiers and wounded 72 others. It was the deadliest single attack on a U.S. military installation in the Iraq War. The group Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility. A later Army investigation found breaches in the southern perimeter fence and gaps in access control at the dining facility.
Marez stayed a major brigade base through the later years of the war. Units from the 1st Cavalry Division, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Infantry Division rotated through, and the base hosted training for Iraqi police, Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga. By 2010 it was called Contingency Operating Station Marez.
In September 2011 the 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division cased its colors at COS Marez. The 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Armored Division then took responsibility for transferring the base to Iraqi Security Forces as U.S. forces drew down.
Timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Pre-2003 | The site served as headquarters of the Iraqi Republican Guard Fifth Corps. |
| Feb 2004 | Task Force Olympia, built around a Stryker brigade combat team, took over security of the Mosul area from the 101st Airborne Division. |
| 21 Dec 2004 | A suicide bombing at the base dining facility killed 22 people and wounded 72. |
| 2005-06 | A Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team operated from FOB Marez. |
| 2008 | The 163rd Rear Area Operations Command held mass-casualty exercises in June, and the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was based at Marez in September. |
| 2009 | The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, and later the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, operated from Marez. |
| 2010 | Combined checkpoint training for Iraqi police, Iraqi army and Peshmerga took place at the base, now known as COS Marez. |
| 18 Oct 2010 | The 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division took over the Ninewa, Dahuk and Irbil mission from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. |
| Sep 2011 | The 4th AAB, 1st Cavalry Division cased its colors at COS Marez on September 4. The 4th AAB, 1st Armored Division then began transferring the base to Iraqi forces. |
Units stationed at FOB Marez
Units documented in public sources as based at or operating from FOB Marez. 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 | Task Force Olympia (built around a Stryker brigade combat team) | February 2004 – 2004 | Led U.S. forces in the Mosul region, including during the December 2004 dining facility bombing. | link |
| 2 | 276th Engineer Battalion, Virginia Army National Guard | 2004 | Engineer battalion based at Marez; two of its soldiers were killed in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 3 | 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment ('Deuce Four') | 2004 | Infantry battalion that lost four soldiers in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 4 | 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment | 2004 | Lost a soldier in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 5 | 133rd Engineer Battalion, Maine Army National Guard | 2004 | Engineer battalion that lost two soldiers in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 6 | 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment | 2004 | Lost a soldier in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 7 | Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 | 2004 | Seabee battalion that lost a chief petty officer in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 8 | 705th Ordnance Company | 2004 | Lost a soldier in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 9 | 2nd Battalion, 390th Infantry Regiment | 2004 | Training unit that lost a soldier in the December 2004 bombing. | link |
| 10 | Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (with Company B, 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion) | 2005 – 2006 | Reconstruction team based at FOB Marez that supported infrastructure rebuilding in Tal Afar. | link |
| 11 | 163rd Rear Area Operations Command | June 2008 | Ran a mass-casualty exercise at FOB Marez. | link |
| 12 | 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment | September 2008 | Armored cavalry squadron with M1 Abrams tanks in a motor pool at FOB Marez. | link |
| 13 | 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division (incl. 215th Brigade Support Battalion) | 2009 | Brigade based at FOB Marez; it held events at the base dining facility in February 2009. | link |
| 14 | 25th Infantry Division Canine Section | August 2009 | Trained Iraqi military working dog handlers at FOB Marez. | link |
| 15 | 2nd (Heavy) Brigade Combat Team / 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division | 2009 – 18 October 2010 | Brigade headquartered at COS Marez; trained Iraqi police, army and Peshmerga. | link |
| 16 | 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 2nd AAB, 3rd Infantry Division | 2010 | Battalion stationed at Contingency Operation Station Marez. | link |
| 17 | 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd AAB, 3rd Infantry Division | 2010 | Battalion stationed at Contingency Operation Station Marez. | link |
| 18 | Task Force Marne Military Police | February 2010 | Gave traffic control training to Iraqi federal police on FOB Marez. | link |
| 19 | 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division ('Long Knife') | 18 October 2010 – 4 September 2011 | Ran the advise-and-assist mission in Ninewa, Dahuk and Irbil, then cased its colors at COS Marez. | link |
| 20 | 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Armored Division ('Highlander') | September 2011 – transfer | Responsible for transferring COS Marez to Iraqi Security Forces. | link |
Notable events and facts
- The December 21, 2004 dining facility bombing killed 14 U.S. soldiers, four U.S. civilian contractors and four Iraqi soldiers, and it was the deadliest attack on a U.S. military installation in the Iraq War.
- Weeks before the bombing, soldiers at the base intercepted a document that proposed a "Beirut"-type attack on U.S. forces.
- The Army investigation found five breaches in the 1980s-era fence on the southern part of the base and noted that plastic explosives had been stolen from Marez less than two months before the attack.
- The base contained the ruins of the ancient Christian monastery of St. Elijah (Dair Mar Elia).
- Entertainers including Aaron Tippin (Thanksgiving 2009), Keri Noble (January 2010) and the Zac Brown Band (April 2010) performed for troops at Marez.
Photographs
Roll call: who served at FOB Marez
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Message board: FOB Marez
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Sources
- The inside story of the deadliest attack on a U.S. military base during the Iraq War (Task & Purpose, 2020). https://taskandpurpose.com/history/iraq-war-fob-marez-bombing/
- 2004 Forward Operating Base Marez bombing - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Forward_Operating_Base_Marez_bombing
- "Long Knife" Soldiers complete their New Dawn mission in Iraq (army.mil, Sept. 2011). https://www.army.mil/article/65105/long_knife_soldiers_complete_their_new_dawn_mission_in_
- U.S. Military Units In Iraq (Musings on Iraq, Sept. 2010). http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2010/09/us-military-units-in-iraq.html
- "Iron Dukes" finish the fight (DVIDS, 2006). https://www.dvidshub.net/news/7713/iron-dukes-finish-fight
- Wikimedia Commons: Before a run on FOB Marez. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Before_a_run_on_FOB_Marez_080922-A-WL206-003.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: Mass Casualty Exercises at FOB Marez. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mass_Casualty_Exercises_at_FOB_Marez_DVIDS94524.jp
- Wikimedia Commons: 3rd BCT celebrates black history on FOB Marez. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3rd_Brigade_Combat_Team_celebrates_black_history_o
- Wikimedia Commons: Iraqi Dog Handlers. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-_DVIDSHUB_-_Iraqi_Dog_Handlers.jpg
- Wikimedia Commons: Iraqi Security Forces undergo traffic control training. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iraqi_Security_Forces_undergo_traffic_control_trai