Humanitarian· Kurdish Relief (Op PROVIDE COMFORT)
Incirlik AB
Incirlik Air Base in Turkey served as a principal staging and operating base for Operation Provide Comfort, the 1991 humanitarian relief effort for the Kurds of northern Iraq.
From Incirlik, coalition aircraft and forces, including Marines, mounted and sustained the relief operation, the base providing the logistical and air hub from which aid was organized and the protected zone in northern Iraq supported. As the rear anchor of the operation, Incirlik enabled the flow of supplies, the air missions that protected the relief area, and the coordination of the multinational effort. The base was not a site of combat but an essential piece of the infrastructure that made the humanitarian intervention possible, the staging point for the forces that brought relief to the displaced Kurdish population. Incirlik's role reflected the importance of forward basing in mounting a large and rapid humanitarian operation in a remote and difficult region.
Record no. 796