How many nuclear weapons does Incerlik AB, Turkey have today? Are they all U.S. weapons or are some British or French? Are there fifty B-61 hydrogen bombs (or more or fewer)? Is 50 of them more than a quarter of all the nuclear weapons in the NATO stockpile? Does Turkey want to control them or does Russia or does ISIS?
How is the U.S. securing them?? — POTUS [here Updated 14 Oct 2019, 10:49 a.m. ET] is described as a “public health crisis”:
...[...]… as mental health professionals, we have felt a duty to address a public health crisis: a mentally unfit person in charge of the world’s most powerful military and its nuclear weapons. We have found ample evidence of his instability and grandiosity in the president’s own words and public statements, most recently confirmed in his referring to “my great and unmatched wisdom,” coupled with yet another threat to “totally destroy and obliterate” a foreign country. ...[...]… read more
with his “State of Mind” documented in a DKos diary today by Hal Brown.
The current 45-Insanity-Episode comes at a time just ahead of the strategic command post exercise on the management of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to be held tomorrow (in the U.S., that is actually Today!) from October 15 to 17.
About 12,000 soldiers and officers will be involved in combat training missions using 213 missile launchers of strategic missile forces, up to 105 aircraft and helicopters, of which 5 strategic missile carriers, up to 15 ships and 5 submarines, 310 units of military and special equipment, operational groups of the central military command and control units, units and units of the Strategic Missile Forces, long-range and military transport aviation commands.
The exercise will take place on land, aviation ranges and sections of the Northern Fleet and on landfills in the Barents, Baltic, Black, Okhotsk and Caspian seas.
During the exercise, launches of cruise and ballistic missiles of various bases will be carried out, including those at the Pemboi, Chizha and Kura firing ranges.
INCIRLIK AIR BASE (Incerlik AB), Turkey — Still a strategic geopolitical need of the Greater United States (a.k.a. “America”, “American Empire, The United States”) — God forbid Erdogan kicks U.S. forces at Incerlik AB out of Turkey. Incerlik is 250 miles southeast of Ankara, Turkey, with its own structural history beginning in the spring of 1951. The U.S. Air Force initially planned to use the base as an emergency staging and recovery site for medium and heavy bombers. The Turkish General Staff and the U.S. Air Force signed a joint use agreement for the new base in December 1954. Its significance and the history of its primary occupant are intertwined. The history below maybe TLDNR but it’s still important that we understand it.
39th Air Base Wing, now at Incerlik AB, began on Nov. 20, 1940, with the establishment of the 39th Bombardment Group. Dec. 1943, Allied leaders agree to locate a new air base south of Ankara, Turkey. U.S. Congress approved aid to Turkey in May, 1947. By August, The Joint American Military Mission for Aid to Turkey was established in Ankara. The U.S. Engineering Group began construction of the base located approximately 250 miles southeast of Ankara, Turkey, in the spring of 1951. Turkey formally joined NATO in February 1952. Turkish General Staff and the U.S. Air Force signed a joint use agreement for the new base in December 1954. In Feb. 1955, the base was officially named Adana Air Base, with the 7216th Air Base Squadron as host unit. The following years would prove the value of Incirlik's location, not only in countering the Soviet threat, but also in responding to crises in the Middle East.
Project 119L, a U.S. Air Force meteorological balloon launching activity, and conducted operations at Adana AB in 1955. Following balloon operations, pilots began flying U-2 reconnaissance missions as part of Operation Overflight. Renamed Incirlik Air Base in Feb. 1958, the base was the main U-2 operating location until May 1960, when Francis Gary Powers' U-2 aircraft succumbed to a Soviet surface-to-air missile over Sverdlovsk.
As part of an effort to bring units with combat history into the theater, U.S. Air Forces in Europe activated the 39th Tactical Group at Incirlik AB, on Apr. 1, 1966. The group assumed control of permanent support units in place at Incirlik. During the 1960s, Incirlik AB hosted the 16th Air Force and maintained a NATO alert capability. The flying mission at Incirlik AB further diversified in 1970 when the Turkish Air Force agreed to allow USAFE to use its air-to-ground range at Konya, providing a suitable training area for U.S. squadrons deployed to Incirlik. These units also conducted training at Incirlik's offshore air-to-air range. New U.S.—Turkey Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement (DECA) was signed Mar. 1980.
USAFE initiated the Turkey catch-up plan to improve quality of life at the base and major construction projects, which included new base housing, as well as a state-of-the art hospital complex.
In 1988, as an attempt to enforce a cease-fire between the warring countries of Iran and Iraq, Incirlik AB served as a staging ground to transport a United Nations peacekeeping force into both states referred to as Operation POST ROAD. A U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy transported a 500 personnel force from Canada along with their vehicles and support equipment. Incirlik AB further supported the Canadian aircrew members by providing round-the-clock operations support for the deployed force and 100 additional Canadian aircrew members with 10 Royal Canadian Air Force C-130 aircraft designated for a second wave of the operation. The Canadian force succeeded in their mission to enforce the cease-fire. Incirlik AB continued its Cold War mission of hosting rotational squadrons however, German Democratic Republic opened the Berlin Wall in November 1989. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact forced nations to ponder the future role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Meanwhile, Iraqi aggression in Kuwait brought increased activity to Incirlik once again. Instead of focusing on a possible confrontation with the Soviet Union, the base turned its attention to events in Southwest Asia. After Iraq's 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, the 7440th Composite Wing assumed operational control of the 39th Tactical Group. The 7440th CW was the air component of Joint Task Force Proven Force, which eventually controlled 140 aircraft and opened a northern front. This aerial northern front forced Iraq to split its air defenses between the North and the South where the main thrust of coalition attacks originated as part of Operation Desert Storm. Following the war, Incirlik AB hosted Combined Task Force Provide Comfort, I, II and III, in its mission to provide humanitarian relief and protect Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq.
United States Logistics Group inactivated in 1991 bequeathing responsibility for all U.S. Air Force forces in Turkey to the 39th Tactical Group. The 39th TACG was re-designated as the 39th Wing in Oct. 1993, and restructured as a standard U.S. Air Force objective wing.
Joint Task Force Proven Force, which primarily consisted of 5,000 sorties flown by U.S. aircraft from Turkey against strategic targets in northern Iraq, was an integral part of air operations in the Persian Gulf War. The JTF Proven Force had a broad impact on the Gulf War far beyond the military targets it destroyed — It strengthened post-war Persian Gulf security by increasing Turkey's geopolitical influence and contributing to the rapid response to the post-war Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq.
In March of 1991 thousands of ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq revolted against Dictator Saddam Hussein's rule. Iraqi forces had brutally suppressed earlier Kurdish revolts and had even used chemical weapons in doing so. When Iraqi forces subdued the 1991 uprising, more than one million Kurdish refugees fled to Iran and Turkey. In addition, hundreds of thousands of additional Kurds remained along the border of Iraq and Turkey, where thousands died due to a lack of food, water, clothing, blankets, shelter and medical supplies. This humanitarian crisis spurred the United Nations Security Council to authorize relief efforts 3 Apr 1991. The U.S. organized a task force and Operation Provide Comfort. Operating primarily from Incirlik AB, U.S. Air Force C-130s began relief airdrops on April 7, delivering as many as 600 pallets of supplies per day. In addition to the airdrops, U.S. Air Force C-5s and C-141s flew thousands of tons of cargo from the United States to Turkey. (By mid-July 1991, the U.S. Air Force had transported over 7,000 tons of relief supplies.) On Apr. 17, realizing that the refugees simply could not stay where they were, the U.S. expanded the scope of Provide Comfort and added ground forces to protect the Kurds, U.S. Army building temporary refugee camps for the Kurds and the coalition established a safe zone, using ground and air forces, in northern Iraq to allow Kurds to return to their homes. U.S. expanded the northern no-fly zone from 36 to 33 degrees north and U.S. Air Force completed Operation Pacific Haven, moving nearly 7,000 Kurdish refugees to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Those refugees would eventually find new homes in the United States.
Operation Northern Watch (ONW) stood up Jan. 1, 1997. ONW enforced the U.N. sanctioned no-fly zone for Iraqi aircraft and helicopters north of the Iraq's 36th parallel. While ONW continued, the men and women of the 39th Tactical Group dispatched medical forces to Balti, Republic of Moldova on May 21, 1997, as a joint exercise designed to broaden the Moldavians rescue and treatment experience. The 39th Air and Space Expeditionary Wing was activated at Incirlik Air Base in Sept. 1997, to support and command U.S. Air Force assets deployed to Incirlik supporting ONW. — Incirlik's tent city, Hodja Village, quickly became the Air Force's largest during this time-frame. Combined Task Force Northern Watch headquartered at Incirlik AB. The commanders of the operation were U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Robin E. Scott, Turkish Air Force Brigadier General H. Levent Turkmen (Commander, Turkish 10th Tanker Base Command). The Task Force was charged with enforcing the no-fly zone north of the 36th parallel in Iraq and monitoring Iraqi compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions 678, 687, and 688.
ONW coalition (U.S.—U.K.—Turkey) support provided approximately 45 aircraft and more than 1,400 personnel. The joint U.S. force includes Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines from the Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, all operating as part of the United States European Command.
Incirlik has always served as a hub for U.S. support to the Turkish government.
Incirlik served as a main hub of humanitarian airlift operations to Afghanistan, MC-130 special operations missions, KC-135 refueling missions and sustaining operations for deployed forces. The aerial port managed a 600 percent increase in airflow during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). When U.S. contingency airbases were constructed in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, Incirlik's airflow supporting OEF decreased to a baseline sustaining level. With the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom Mar. 19, 2003, ONW ended. Incirlik's last ONW patrol returned to base Mar. 2003, ending a 12-year mission.
March 12, 2004, the 39th Air Base Group was re-designated as the 39th Air Base Wing.
On June 1, 2005, Incirlik activated one of the Air Force's largest C-17 Globemaster III cargo hub operations in support of OEF and OIF. Hub operations deliver much-needed supplies such as add-on armor, tires, engines and more to U.S. Forces in theater via the 385th Air Expeditionary Group, a tenant unit at Incirlik.
On Oct. 18, 2005, Incirlik served as an air-bridge for the Pakistan Earthquake Relief Effort. Seven countries participated in the NATO-UNCHR humanitarian operation. Incirlik Air Base played host to a vast array of international aircraft and provided round-the-clock support since the relief operation started after the October 8 Pakistan earthquake. From the18th to the 19th of October, U.S. and Turkish Airmen helped the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the country of Turkey move urgently needed supplies. Five C-130 Hercules from Italy, Great Britain, Greece and France arrived and Airmen loaded them with 29 pallets of supplies from the commission’s warehouse in Iskenderun, Turkey. The cargo planes flew the aid, which included 10,000 tents to Islamabad, Pakistan on Oct. 19th, 2005. Over 100 trucks offloaded supplies at Incirlik Air Base that were transported in over 130 airlift missions which delivered 1,647 tons of supplies including heating oil, food and blankets.
From Jul. 21st to the 28th, 2006, Airmen stationed at Incirlik Air Base helped support more than 1,700 displaced American citizens from Lebanon in the wake of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Incirlik Airmen readied Patriot Village, which provided housing, telephone access, a 24-hour BX/Shoppette, a children's play area and provided chaplain's assistance and medical services for individuals transitioning back to the U.S.
Incirlik Air Base served as a hub for Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. UNSCR 1973 authorized all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack by Libyan regime forces. JTF Odyssey Dawn is commanded by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear, III. The JTF supports and protects United States and NATO assets as well as people throughout Turkey while providing a full spectrum of capabilities to the warfighter. The 39th Air Base Wing delivers vital support for numerous tenant and geographically separated units located throughout Turkey. Key support includes medical services, supply, security and force protection, base infrastructure maintenance, communications support, transportation services, airlift, services and personnel support.
GlobalSecurity.org reminds us (all) of anxiety & fear about the security at Incerlik AB :
The attempted coup in Turkey on 15 July 2016 resulted in unexpected national security concerns for the United States. The purportedly spontaneous uprising called into question the security of American hydrogen bombs currently stored in a Turkish airbase. Located in southeast Turkey, the Incirlik Airbase includes NATO’s largest nuclear weapons storage facility. The American embassy in Ankara issued an "Emergency Message for US Citizens,"on Saturday morning, cautioning that “local authorities are denying movements on and off of” Incirlik and that power had been cut. US Air Force planes stationed at the base were prohibited from taking off, and the airbase had to rely on backup generators for power. The threat level reached FPCON Delta, the highest alert, usually declared after a terrorist attack or if an attack is deemed imminent.
“This guy” , for they safety of us (all), must be impeached, convicted, removed, then convicted in criminal court and imprisoned for life. A new publication from the Congressional Research Service summarizes some of the options. It “also describes some of the ways in which an impeachment investigation, as compared to a more traditional investigation for legislative or oversight purposes, might bolster the House’s ability to obtain, either voluntarily or through the courts, information from the executive branch.” Finally, it “briefly describes possible future steps that might follow an impeachment inquiry, including possible action by the Senate.”
See Impeachment Investigations: Law and Process, CRS Legal Sidebar, October 2, 2019