Al Taqaddum Airbase (Arabic: قاعدة التقدم الجوية ‎), or Al Taqaddum AB (ICAO: ORAT / KQEZ), (Called TQ in military shorthand slang), is an airbase that is located in central Iraq, approximately 74 kilometers west of Baghdad, at Habbaniyah. The airfield is served by two runways 13,000 and 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long. Since 2004, it has been known as Camp Taqaddum. ("Taqaddum" is an Arabic word which means "progress".) The airbase was originally built by the RAF in 1952 as the subsidiary PLATEAU AIRFIELD of nearby RAF Habbaniya, whose runway was inadequate for the larger long range and jet aircraft being introduced. The original RAF runway was subsequently extended by the Iraqis and a parallel runway added. Some of the RAF buildings (Nissen huts) were still standing in 2003.

A junked Il-28 "Beagle" from Saddam Husseins' former regime at Al Taqaddum Airbase, Iraq

The Iraqi airbase was long-time abandoned when U.S. forces occupied it beginning in March 2003. The U.S. Army started to refer to the base as Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ridgway. The first U.S. Battalion to occupy the base was the 142nd Corps Support Battalion. The primary mission of the 142nd was to provide logistical support to nearby non-divisional Army units. However, a consequential mission of the 800 soldier battalion was to guard the local Iraqi ammunition storage area that at one time supplied the ammunition requirements of the defunct Iraqi airbase. No Army aviation units resided at FOB Ridgway until the 82nd Airborne Division started operating out of the FOB about August 2003.

In 2004, the base name was changed to Camp Taqaddum to keep a more Iraqi face on the local military mission. On August 22, 2004, a group of Marines dedicated the airfield at Al Taqaddum to Lt. Col. David S. Greene, a reserve Marine AH-1W Super Cobra pilot with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775 who was killed in action earlier in the year. "TQ" is a major hub of men and matériel moving into Anbar province by coalition forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

According to the Gulf War Air Power Survey, there were 24 Hardened Aircraft Shelters at Al Taqaddum. At each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters knowns as "trapezoids" or "Yugos" which were built by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985. Various units of the U.S. Army found numerous MiG 25 and Su 25 Iraqi Air Force fighter jets buried in the area, presumably from the time of the Gulf War.

There are three "sides" to Al Taqaddum, "Lake Side", "Main Side", and "Spring Lake". These sides denote particular areas. Each area has its own chow hall and phone center. The PX and main military support services are located on "Main Side". "Lake Side" hosts the air terminal and the primary supply depot. "Spring Lake" hosts other logistics units.

TQ is adjacent to Lake Habbaniyah. This lake varies in colors, blue some days, to a greenish tint on others. The base is built on a desolate plateau over looking the Euphrates River to the north and Lake Habbaniyah to the south. A drainage canal from Lake Habbaniyah flows between it and the base at Habbaniyah.

Al Taqaddum Pre 2003

Al Taqaddum Airbase was known as "Tammuz Airbase" (Tammuz being the Babolyonian month the Baath Party came to power in Iraq),and it was to hold former Iraqi Air Force Units and Squadrons .

List of Iraqi Airforce Units and Squadrons Present Pre 2003

• MiG 29 Iraqi Air Force 6th Squadron
• MiG 23 Iraqi Air Force 73rd Squadrons
• MiG 21 Iraqi Air Force 14th Squadron
• Su 25 Iraqi Air Force 105th and 109th Squadrons
• Su 22 Iraqi Air Force 5th Squadron (6 wings)

The content above was published at Airports-Worldwide.com in 2010.
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