Al - Taqaddum Air Base Al Taqaddum Airbase ( ) , or Al Taqaddum AB , ( 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 long . Since 2004 , it has been known as Camp Taqaddum . ( " Taqaddum " is an Arabic word which means " progress " . ) Overview . 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 hut s ) were still standing in 2003 . 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 . Aviation elements of the 3rd ACR occupied the airfield from April 2003 until replaced by 82nd Airborne Division in July 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 Shelter s at Al Taqaddum . At each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters knowns as a HAS ( pronounced Haas ) , " trapezoids " or " Yugos " which were built by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985 . Various units of the U . S . Army found numerous MIG - 21 , MiG 25 and Su 25 Iraqi Air Force fighter jets partially buried in the area , presumably from the time of the Gulf War . By January 2004 , almost all of the dozens of aircraft had been removed by the local citizens and burned , evedently , for scrap metal . 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 overlooking 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 . In late 2009 Al Taqaddum was turned back over to the Iraqi Military . Greene Field . 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 , Marine Aircraft Group 16 , 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing , who was killed in action July 28 , 2004 . Greene was flying a mission in support of I Marine Expeditionary Force when he was killed by small arms fire . Al Taqaddum Pre 2003 . Al Taqaddum Airbase was known as " Tammuz Airbase " ( Tammuz being the Babylonian 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 . No less than 51 different IrAF fighters were found hidden under camouflage nets near al - Taqaddum , by Australian SAS . Although still only scant details are known about these aircraft , US and British military sources reported that these 51 aircraft included three MiG - 25s ( including a single MiG - 25PU two - seater ) , a Su - 25K and a Su - 7U , a MiG - 29 , several F - 7Bs and Su - 22UM - 3Ks , as well as one Ilushin Il - 76 transport . On the same airfield the US forces also found the hulks of five remaining Iraqi Tupolev Tu - 22B “ Blinder ” supersonic bombers . All were still sitting in their revetments where they were hit and destroyed by Coalition air attacks in 1991 . Near them the wreckage of the Adnan - 1 AEW aircraft , 3rd example was found , also destroyed by air attacks in 1991 , as well as the wreck of the last Iraqi Tu - 16 or H - 6D bomber , which survived 1991 , and was made operational in 2000 again : this old bomber was observed in flight – together with the sole surviving Iraqi Su - 24MK – as late as February 2003 , but was then obviously hit by US air strikes . The last Iraqi Su - 24MK was apparently captured intact , and there are rumours that it was meanwhile flown to the USA as well . Another rarity reported to have survived the war at al - Taqaddum were several Ilyushin Il - 28 “ Beagle ” bombers , including one Il - 28U training aircraft . Supplied to the IrAF in 1960 , this aircraft must have certainly seen quite some service history : they were used during the extensive campaigns against the Kurds , in the 1960s , 1970s , and 1980s , as well as early during the war against Iran , in the 1980s . List of Marine Corps Units since 2005 . Marine Corps Systems Command ( MCSC ) Special Unit To install Armor on all HMMWV ( Humvee ) at TQ