Operation Northern Delay
Operation Northern Delay occurred on 26 March 2003 as part of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. It involved dropping paratroopers into Northern Iraq. It was the last large-scale combat parachute operation conducted by the U.S. military since Operation Just Cause.[1]
Background[edit]
On 26 March 2003, during the American invasion of Iraq, C-17s of the 62d Airlift Wing, 315th Airlift Wing, 437th Airlift Wing, and 446th Airlift Wing dropped SETAF's 173rd Airborne Brigade into Northern Iraq. 996 paratroopers jumped into the Bashur drop zone (36°31′59″N 44°20′25″E / 36.5331°N 44.3404°E).[2][3] The operation forced the Iraqi Army to maintain approximately six divisions in the area to protect its northern flank, providing strategic relief for Coalition Forces advancing on Baghdad from the south. Bashur Airfield is located in northern Iraq approximately 356 kilometers north of Baghdad, 50 kilometers northeast of Erbil. The airbase is served by a single 6,700-foot long runway. Bashur appeared to be a small civilian airport.
Bashur is the epitome of a bare base. It was nothing more than a 7,000-foot runway in the middle of a green valley. It had no infrastructure - no water or sewage system and no electricity, buildings or paved roads.
Aftermath[edit]
As of April 2003, Delta Battery 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment remained in Bashur, and continued training the New Iraqi Army on key tasks which would be needed in to complete future operations in the region. Delta Battery also provided indirect fire support for coalition forces in the area when coalition forces came into contact with insurgents.
A 20 April 2003 report in The New York Times asserted that "the U.S. is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region." The report, citing anonymous sources, referred to one base at Baghdad's international airport, another near Al-Nasiriyah in the south [presumably meaning Tallil AB], the third at the H-1 airstrip in the western desert, and the fourth at Bashur AB in the north.
Bashur Airbase is now known as Al-Harir Air Base/Harir Airport.