Misplaced Pages

#666333

56-466: Forward Operating Base Salerno ( IATA : OLR , ICAO : OASL ) is a former forward operating base used by the United States Armed Forces from 2002 to 2013 during Operation Enduring Freedom . It is located in the southeastern province of Khost , Afghanistan , near the city of Khost . On 1 November 2013, U.S. forces withdrew from FOB Salerno and transferred control of the installation to

112-465: A 3,000-foot dirt runway, which conducted the first landing in November 2002 by a C-130. Over the years, the base grew to house a population of nearly 5,000 servicemen and -women, civilians, and contractors. Salerno grew to the size of a small city and included features such as a combat support hospital, large gymnasium, post exchange, chapel, large chow hall, aviation hangars, maintenance facilities, billets,

168-426: A double car bomb. The bombs detonated close to the base perimeter and killed 15 Afghans, though estimates from those at the base at the time list this closer to 50. Throughout the day small arms fire and rockets landed on the base and around midnight the next day the base came under heavy mortar fire and was attacked by about 30 Taliban insurgents, though initial estimates listed this closer to 100 Taliban . Several of

224-502: A hand grenade a few days later. Although initially downplayed in the media, in July 2012 both Long War Journal and al Jazeera published an unedited attack video released by the Taliban. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed that an airplane on an airstrip at the base was destroyed and that 'tens' of foreign forces were killed and wounded in the attack. The Taliban later released the video of

280-681: A local truck packed with 1,500–2,000 pounds of explosives; a suicide bomber detonated his truck bomb on the southern edge of the base, breaching the perimeter and causing significant damage to the base's buildings. The dining hall annex was leveled and the main DFAC (Dining Facility) sustained severe roof damage in the blast. Moments later, ten insurgents entered the breach armed with rifles, machine guns, grenades, and rockets; each bomber wore ACU digital military camouflage uniforms while one wore an ANA military uniform and most wore explosive suicide vests. The attackers were first engaged by two Navy SEALs driving by

336-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

392-546: A vehicle checkpoint occupied by Task Force Yukon ( 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division ) security personnel, which led to armed Kiowas being scrambled to search for enemy combatants in the area. On 13 May 2009 there was a green on blue attack when AAF detonated a VBIED in the FOB Salerno Local National parking lot just outside of FOB Salerno facilities killing and wounding FOB Salerno Local National workers and families attempting to use medical resources on

448-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

504-577: Is a connection with Northwestern Chinese units selling their munitions to the Taliban for profit and could be the origin of the AP RPG-69's. FOB Salerno continued to receive a large amount or mortar and rocket fire through the summer of 2009. In one incident, a rocket detonated over the Base Defense Operations Center and a number of personnel was struck by shrapnel, but there were no significant injuries. Months later, another rocket landed near

560-600: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

616-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

SECTION 10

#1733094075667

672-650: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

728-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

784-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

840-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

896-572: The Afghan National Army . The facility was built by members of the Assault and Barrier Platoon, HHC, 307th Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division and 618th Engineer company, respectively. These Combat Engineers were part of Task Force Panther, centered around the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was named for the beachhead in Salerno , Italy that

952-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1008-545: The Hesco barrier or Hesco bastion , with HESCO being the brand name of the manufacturer, is a modern gabion primarily used for flood control and military fortifications . It is made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy-duty fabric liner and is used as a temporary to semi-permanent levee or blast wall against small-arms fire and/or explosives . It has been used during the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan . It

1064-604: The Khost-Gardez Pass . Route clearance is a slow operation as units make slow progress to neutralize mines along the route, since the K-G Pass is relatively long and susceptible to attack the mission routinely took several days to complete. The base is in a hostile location and is only 30 miles south of Tora Bora , it is also only 25 miles north of the location of the friendly fire incident that killed Pat Tillman . On 19 August 2008 insurgents attempted to assault FOB Salerno with

1120-707: The US war in Afghanistan as well as the Soviet war in Afghanistan . During its operations two Sapper platoons specializing in route clearance operations were stationed at Salerno. Most of the route clearance units were drawn from the National Guard of the United States serving on active duty. They were responsible for neutralizing IED threats as well as escorting convoys through the heavily mined area. The route clearance units at FOB Salerno were also responsible for routinely clearing

1176-562: The 505th PIR parachuted onto on 14 September 1943 ( Operation Avalanche ). Construction began in early October 2002, where the Engineers were inserted via CH-47s prior to the Infantry, responsible for their own security and life support. After acquiring a lone D-8 Bulldozer provided by local Afghan forces, construction began on the initial footprint. This consisted of a living area, helicopter landing pad, forward arming and refueling point (FARP) and

SECTION 20

#1733094075667

1232-469: The CIA Station Chief and other personnel. Seven CIA operatives were killed, making this attack the deadliest for the agency since the 1983 United States embassy bombing . FOB Salerno was once again attacked by a group of Taliban on 28 August 2010. The attack started around 0400 with small arms and mortar fire. In addition, suicide bombers participated in the attack. As the attack commenced, some of

1288-403: The DFAC in a Toyota truck, and then by a five-man team consisting of three helicopter mechanics and two vehicle mechanics; who blocked the attackers advance from two directions. After a 7-minute firefight, US service members repelled the attack, killing all ten insurgents. With the last insurgent dressed in an ANA uniform being killed in a ditch. The first insurgent to fire shot a RPG rocket into

1344-465: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . HESCO bastion The Concertainer , known colloquially as

1400-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

1456-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

1512-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

1568-551: The attack, showing the attackers practicing in Southeast Afghanistan, taking their photos, the group leader showing his shooting skills by shooting two machine guns and the suicide bomber in the truck. FOB Salerno was located approximately 25 km from the Pakistan border and the most viable path connecting it to Afghanistan was the Khost-Gardez Pass , which is highly vulnerable to attack and often lead to supply shortages at

1624-434: The base's towers. Afghan commandos and US Special Forces are credited with surrounding the other suicide bombers before they had a chance to attack though several of the insurgents also detonated injuring Afghan Commandos. Another group of Taliban was observed preparing for an attack 1000 meters from the base before coalition forces opened up small arms fire though rocket fire from the Pakistan border carried through throughout

1680-466: The base. In fact this path was the scene of Operation Magistral , the last large scale Soviet operation in Afghanistan. During the operation the Battle for Hill 3234 took place in which the 9th Company of the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment was almost wiped out but managed to hold back the mujaheddin attack. During this battle the 39 soldiers of the 9th company held back 200–500 fighters, after

1736-559: The battle only 5 active soldiers remained as all others were either wounded or KIA . FOB Chapman was built around the original Soviet airfield servicing Khost while FOB Salerno was built slightly north of this facility, together these two bases were the vanguards of the city of Khost since they were only several miles from the city, often sending forces to respond to attacks in the provincial capital. The Battle of Tora Bora took place approximately 30 miles north of Khost. Because of this geographic isolation FOB Salerno, being isolated from

Forward Operating Base Salerno - Misplaced Pages Continue

1792-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

1848-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

1904-469: The fall flood of 2016. The Concertainer was originally developed by Jimi Heselden , a British entrepreneur and ex- coal miner , who founded HESCO Bastion Ltd. in 1989 to manufacture his invention. Concertainer as the brand name for the barrier is a portmanteau of the words " concertina " and " container ". Assembling the HESCO unit entails unfolding it and filling it with sand, soil or gravel, usually using

1960-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

2016-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

2072-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

2128-399: The front of a Toyota truck hitting the front right bumper but did not explode. Then a Navy SEAL riding in the truck rolled down his window and shot the insurgent. Next two insurgents came around the second wall and were shot by two helicopter mechanics. Two base contractors were killed in the attack when the DFAC annex collapsed, and a US Soldier died of a fragmentation wound to his face from

2184-495: The indirect fire rarely hit the base. Insurgent activity remained a constant threat as the close proximity to Pakistan provided for easy mobility of the hostiles. Due to its rural location the base was selected for closure in 2013 as ISAF forces prepare to draw down their presence in the country. On 1 November 2013 the Afghan Government fully took control of the base while before they operated in their own separate section as

2240-401: The initial 30 insurgents were of Saudi descent and trained to operate Apache Helicopters. The attackers attempted to breach the base near the airfield in an attempt to steal Apache gunships as per intelligence reports at the time, where there is no HESCO bastion . Nearly all of the attackers carried suicide vests, three of which detonated their vest early as they came under machine gun fire from

2296-492: The installation. US forces and local nationals working with U.S. and Coalition Forces supporting everyday operations were targeted. On 30 December 2009 FOB Chapman , another nearby installation was attacked by a suicide bomber who was involved with the CIA as an undercover agent infiltrating Al Qaeda. The double agent was not properly searched by base security as he was allowed into the base and detonated his explosives while meeting with

Forward Operating Base Salerno - Misplaced Pages Continue

2352-481: The insurgents were able to penetrate inside the base and attempted to detonate themselves, but were stopped by coalition forces. Afghan forces also detained five insurgents and destroyed a recoil-less rifle at the scene. After the failed assault, NATO forces conducted an airstrike on a car occupied by 4 Haqqani Network fighters in the area. There was a complex attack against the FOB in early June 2012. Insurgents utilized

2408-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

2464-477: The last U.S. Army Soldiers to occupy FOB Salerno, exiting on 31 October 2013 after transferring FOB Salerno to the Afghan National Security Forces. Salerno is geographically isolated from the rest of Afghanistan being connected to the rest of the country through the Khost-Gardez Pass , this pass serves as a natural choke point to the region and the pass has been the scene of many battles throughout

2520-472: The last remaining US forces withdrew from FOB Salerno led by Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment. Constructed in 2002 the base hosted US and ISAF troops for over a decade. During the closure the Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction noted that the inadequate planning of the command staff on the base resulted in $ 5 million being spent on an incinerator. The incinerator was to replace

2576-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

2632-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

2688-460: The open burn pit on base which was thought to cause potential health problems, however once built it was never used and allowed to rust away. The base command continued open burn pit operations while being aware of the health hazard of an open burn pit, even though an incinerator was built and ready to use. [REDACTED] Media related to Forward Operating Base Salerno at Wikimedia Commons IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

2744-497: The rest of Afghanistan on one side and having the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan on the other, the area remained vulnerable to insurgent attacks, supplies often had to be airlifted into the base when the path to Gardez was impassible adding to shortage and cost issues. The base remained a blackout FOB for its existence due to constant mortar and rocket fire, however losses were usually minimal as

2800-404: The rest of the evening and the rest of the following day. Helicopter gunships, A10 warthogs and Reaper Drones later pounded the Taliban staging area and surrounding rocket sites, resulting in 3 known deaths. After the attack the insurgents were found in possession of anti-personnel Type 69 RPGs . As anti-personnel RPGs are rare in Afghanistan it is unclear how the weapons were obtained, though there

2856-424: The runway and FARP, and sub-camps for U.S. Special Operations Command units. In November 2009, a portion of FOB Salerno, where US Special Forces worked and lived with an Afghan Commando unit, was renamed Camp Pucino after SSG Matthew Pucino died that month. SSG Pucino was a member of ODA 2223. Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th BCT, 101st Airborne Division, popularly known as Fox Company, were

SECTION 50

#1733094075667

2912-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

2968-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

3024-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

3080-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

3136-668: Was originally designed for use on beaches and marshes for erosion and flood control. They were used in 2005 to reinforce levees around New Orleans in the weeks between Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita . During the June 2008 Midwest floods , 8,200 metres (9,000 yd) of HESCO barrier wall were shipped to Iowa. In late March 2009, 10,700 m (11,700 yd) of HESCO barrier were delivered to Fargo, North Dakota , to protect against floods. In late September 2016, 16 km (10 mi) of HESCO barriers were used in Cedar Rapids, Iowa , for

#666333