DGAR COMMAND

 Summary

Airport type	Naval air facility
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	United States Navy
Location	Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory
Built	1971–1976; Major extensions 1982–1986
In use	1971–present
Elevation AMSL	9 ft / 3 m

From Wikipedia

United Kingdom military activities

Main article: British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories

British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories (BFBIOT) is the official name for the British Armed Forces deployment at the Permanent Joint Operating Base (PJOB) on Diego Garcia, in the British Indian Ocean Territory. While the naval and airbase facilities on Diego Garcia are leased to the United States, in practice, it operates as a joint UK-US base, with the United Kingdom retaining full and continual access. Diego Garcia is strategically located, offering access to East Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The base serves as a staging area for the build up or resupply of military forces prior to an operation. There are approximately 40-50 British military personnel posted on Diego Garcia, most of them from Naval Party 1002 (NP1002). NP1002 forms the islands civil administration.

British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories (BFBIOT) is the name for the British Armed Forces Permanent Joint Operating Base (PJOB) on Diego Garcia, in the British Indian Ocean Territory. While the naval and airbase facilities on Diego Garcia are leased to the United States, in practice, it operates as a joint UK-US base, with the United Kingdom retaining full and continual access.

Diego Garcia is strategically located, offering access to East Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The base serves as a staging area for the build up or resupply of military forces prior to an operation.

There are approximately 40-50 British military personnel posted on Diego Garcia, most of them from Naval Party 1002 (NP1002). NP1002 forms the islands civil administration.

United States military activities

During the Cold War era, following the British withdrawal from East of Suez, the United States was keen to establish a military base in the Indian Ocean to counter Soviet influence in the region and protect the sea-lanes for oil transportation from the Middle East. The United States saw the atoll as the "Malta of the Indian Ocean" equidistant from all points. The value has been proven many times, with the island providing an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for the United States during the Iranian revolution, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the contemporary era, the atoll continues to play a key role in America’s approach to the Indian Ocean as a flexible forward hub that can facilitate a range of regional strategies.

The United States military facilities on Diego Garcia have been known informally as Camp Justice and, after renaming in July 2006, as Camp Thunder Cove. Formally, the base is known as Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia (the US activity) or Permanent Joint Operating Base (PJOB) Diego Garcia (the UK's term).

United States military activities in Diego Garcia have caused friction between India and the United States in the past. Various political parties in India repeatedly called for the military base to be dismantled, as they saw the United States naval presence in Diego Garcia as a hindrance to peace in the Indian Ocean. In recent years, relations between India and the United States have improved dramatically. Diego Garcia was the site of several naval exercises between the United States and Indian navies held between 2001 and 2004.

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia

B-1B Lancer bombers on Diego Garcia in November 2001 during the Afghanistan bombing campaign

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia provides Base Operating Services to tenant commands located on the island. The command's mission is "To provide logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf AORs in support of national policy objectives."

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia is a facility of the United States Navy located on Diego Garcia.

Mission

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia provides Base Operating Services to tenant commands located on the island. The command's mission is "To provide logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf AORs in support of national policy objectives."

As of January 2012, the facility supported the following tenant commands:

    Maritime Pre-Positioning Ships Squadron TWO

    Branch Health Clinic

    Naval Computer And Telecommunications Station Far East Detachment Diego Garcia

    Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Detachment

    Naval Media Center Detachment Diego Garcia

    Military Sealift Command Office Diego Garcia

    Mission Support Facility

    Fleet Logistics Center Diego Garcia

    NAVFAC Public Works Department

    As of March 2015, the submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) is forward deployed to Diego Garcia.

History

Naval and military construction and operations 1977–2006

On 1 October 1977, Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, was established as the senior United States Navy command on the island. At the time the NAVCOMMSTA was the primary tenant, but as new major facilities were completed, most notably the expanded anchorage and mooring area and the extended airfield, other tenants were commissioned.

In 1980, the United States Navy established the Near-Term Prepositioned Force of 16 ships. Then NTPF became the Afloat Prepositioning Force (AFP) and eventually Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two (MPSRON 2) consisting of 20 deep-water pre-positioned logistics ships anchored in the lagoon.

In 1981, the naval air facility was commissioned. It was decommissioned in 1987 and its responsibilities returned to the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.

In 1982, construction activities were transferred from the Seabees to a consortium of civilian contractors, Raymond International, and Brown and Root and Molem, a joint venture. Raymond had deep-draft wharf and waterfront skills, Brown and Root had concrete and infrastructure skills, and Molem was an English firm known for taking on challenging projects. The majority of the projects were completed by 1988.

On 26 March 1982, Barbara Shuping and five other women were assigned to the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia. Prior to this assignment, no women had lived on the island since those on the plantation in 1971.

In 1985; the new port facilities were completed and the USS Saratoga (CV-60) was the first aircraft carrier to tie up.

The Strategic Air Command began deploying Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers and aerial refueling aircraft to the newly completed airfield facilities in 1987.

Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, three ships of COMPSRON 2 sortied, delivering a Marine Expeditionary Brigade to Saudi Arabia for participation in the Gulf War. Other COMPSRON 2 ships offloaded the ammunition and fuel on Diego Garcia that were required for the American bomber fleet that deployed to the airfield. Subsequently, B-52G bombers flew more than 200 17-hour bombing missions over 44 days and dropped more than 800,000 short tons (730,000,000 kg) of bombs on Iraqi forces in Iraq and Kuwait. One of the B-52s crashed from mechanical failures just north of the island with the loss of three of its six-man crew.

Beginning on 7 October 2001, the United States again commenced military operations from Diego Garcia using B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers to attack enemy targets in Afghanistan following the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. On 12 December 2001, a B-1 bomber was lost to mechanical failures just after take off from the island, but the crew survived and was rescued by the USS Russell (DDG-59). Combat operations resumed in the spring of 2003, with MPSRON 2 sortieing to the Persian Gulf for the Iraq War, and bombing operations began again, this time against Iraq. Bomber operations ceased from Diego Garcia on 15 August 2006.

United States Air Force units based on Diego Garcia

    36 MSG, Pacific Air Force

    Det 1, 715th AMOG, Air Mobility Command

    AFSPC Det 2, 22nd Space Operations Squadron, a GPS control facility, Air Force Space Command

    AFSPC Det 2, 18th Space Surveillance Squadron a GEODSS facility, Air Force Space Command

United States pre-positioned vessels

Camp Justice on Diego Garcia

The atoll shelters the ships of the United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two. These ships carry equipment and supplies to support a major armed force with tanks, armoured personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital. This equipment was used during the Persian Gulf War, when the squadron transported equipment to Saudi Arabia.

The ship composition of MPSRON TWO is dynamic. During August 2010 it was composed of the following:

    MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett (T-AK-4296)

    USNS SGT William R. Button (T-AK-3012),

    MV SSG Edward A. Carter, Jr. (T-AK-4544),

    MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher (T-AK-4396)

    USNS Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT-1125)

    USNS SGT Matej Kocak (T-AK-3005),

    USNS 1st LT Baldomero Lopez (T-AK-3010),

    MV LTC John U. D. Page

    USNS GYSGT Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017)

Five of these vessels carry supplies for the US Marine Corps sufficient to support a Marine Air-Ground Task Force for 30 days: USNS Button, USNS Kocak, USNS Lopez, USNS Stockham, and USNS Fisher.

Prior to 2001, COMPSRON 2 consisted of up to 20 ships, including four Combat Force Ships which provided rapid-response delivery of equipment to ground troops in the United States Army. Three are Lighter aboard ships (LASH) which carry barges called Lighters that contain Army ammunition to be ferried ashore: MV American Cormorant, SS Green Harbour, (LASH), SS Green Valley, (LASH), MV Jeb Stuart, (LASH). There were Logistics Vessels to service the rapid delivery requirements of the United States Air Force, United States Navy and Defense Logistics Agency. These included container ships for Air Force munitions, missiles and spare parts; a 500-bed hospital ship, and floating storage and offloading units assigned to Military Sealift Command supporting the Defense Logistics Agency, and an offshore petroleum discharge system (OPDS) tanker. Examples of ships are MV Buffalo Soldier, MV Green Ridge, pre-position tanker USNS Henry J. Kaiser, and tanker USNS Potomac (T-AO-181).

HF global station

Main article: High Frequency Global Communications System

The United States Air Force operates a High Frequency Global Communications System transceiver site located on the south end of the atoll near the GEODSS station. The transceiver is operated remotely from Joint Base Andrews and locally maintained by NCTS FE personnel.

The High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) is a network of single sideband shortwave transmitters of the United States Air Force which is used to communicate with aircraft in flight, ground stations and some United States Navy surface assets. All worldwide receiving and transmitting sites in the HF-GCS system are remotely controlled from Andrews Air Force Base and Grand Forks Air Force Base. Before 1 October 2002 it was known as the Global High Frequency System (GHFS).

HFGCS stations tend to operate in the aviation bands clustered around 5, 8 and 11/12 MHz, although other frequencies are in use. The primary HFGCS voice frequencies are 4724.0 kHz, 6739.0 kHz, 8992.0 kHz, 11175.0 kHz, 13200.0 kHz and 15016.0 kHz. In addition to the HFGCS, U.S. aircraft frequently use Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) HF stations (13927.0 kHz) and Canadian Forces HF stations (11232.0 kHz) to relay messages.

One common use for the HFGCS is to place telephone calls from the aircraft in flight by means of the Defense Switched Network (DSN) to an Air Force base to obtain local weather conditions, to arrange for refueling, and to inform the base of the number of passengers and crew. The HFGCS also carries Emergency Action Messages.

In addition to EAM's the HFGCS also carries a few different types of messages. A higher priority code for orders is a Skyking Message, which is a time sensitive message for orders that need immediate attention. Force Direction Messages (FDM's) are also sent through the HFGCS, although it is impossible to tell whether the message is an FDM or just another EAM being read.[1] The sign off 'Colour Bar' is currently being used (2016) at the end of the transmission.

Although transmissions are often single sideband, the use of the ALE transmission mode is more and more common. Naval Special Warfare[clarification needed] HFGCS complements the use of satellite communications between aircraft and ground stations.

Stations of the HF-GCS Network

    Andersen Global, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, USA

    Andrews Global, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, USA

    Ascension Global, Ascension Auxiliary Airfield, Ascension Island, British Overseas Territories

    Croughton Global, RAF Croughton, United Kingdom

    Diego Garcia Global, Diego Garcia Naval Station, British Indian Ocean Territory

    Elmendorf Global, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, USA

    Hickam Global, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, USA

    Lajes Global, Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal

    Lincoln Receiver Site (aka West Coast Global), Beale Air Force Base, California, USA

    Offutt Global, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USA

    Puerto Rico Global, Salinas, Puerto Rico, USA

    Sigonella Global, Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy

    Yokota Global, Yokota Air Base, Japan

Closed Stations

    Thule Air Base, Greenland

    Keflavík Global, Keflavík NAS, Iceland

Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Far East Detachment Diego Garcia

Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Far East Detachment Diego Garcia operates a detachment in Diego Garcia. This detachment provides base telephone communications, provides base network services (Local Network Services Center), pier connectivity services, an AN/GSC-39C SHF satellite terminal, operates the Hydroacoustic Data Acquisition System, and performs on-site maintenance for the remotely operated Air Force HF-GCS terminal.[citation needed]

Naval Security Group Detachment Diego Garcia

Naval Security Group detachment Diego Garcia was disestablished on September 30, 2005. Remaining essential operations were transferred to a contractor. The large AN/AX-16 High Frequency Radio direction finding Circularly Disposed Antenna Array has been demolished, but the four satellite antenna radomes around the site remain as of 2010.

ETOPS emergency landing site

Diego Garcia may be identified as an ETOPS (Extended Range Twin Engine Operations) emergency landing site (en route alternate) for flight planning purposes of commercial airliners. This allows twin-engine commercial aircraft (such as the Airbus A330, Boeing 767 or Boeing 777) to make theoretical nonstop flights between city pairs such as Perth and Dubai (9,013.61 km or 5,600.80 mi), Hong Kong and Johannesburg (10,658 km or 6,623 mi) or Singapore and São Paulo (15,985.41 km or 9,932.87 mi), all while maintaining a suitable diversion airport within 180 minutes' flying time with one engine inoperable.

Space Shuttle

The island was one of 33 emergency landing sites worldwide for the NASA Space Shuttle.[138] None of these facilities were ever used throughout the life of the shuttle program.

Cargo service

From 2004 to 2009, MV Baffin Strait transited between Singapore and Diego Garcia once a month.

All consumable food and equipment are brought to Diego Garcia by sea or air, and all non-biodegradable waste is shipped off the island as well. From 1971 to 1973, United States Navy LSTs provided this service. Beginning in 1973, civilian ships were contracted to provide these services. From 2004 to 2009, the US-flagged container ship MV Baffin Strait, often referred to as the "DGAR shuttle," delivered 250 containers every month from Singapore to Diego Garcia.[139] The ship delivered more than 200,000 tons of cargo to the island each year." On the return trip to Singapore, it carried recyclable metals.

In 2004, TransAtlantic Lines outbid Sealift Incorporated for the transport contract between Singapore and Diego Garcia.[141] The route had previously been serviced by Sealift Inc.'s MV Sagamore, manned by members of American Maritime Officers and Seafarers' International Union.[141] TransAtlantic Lines reportedly won the contract by approximately 10 percent, representing a price difference of about US$2.7 million.[141] The Baffin Straits charter ran from January 10, 2005, to September 30, 2008, at a daily rate of US$12,550.

A map of military installations on Diego Garcia in 2002