Balad, Iraq
Encyclopedia
Balad is a city (80 kilometres) north of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 in the Salah ad Din Governorate  Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. It is located within the borders of the so-called Sunni Triangle
Iraqi Sunni Triangle
The Sunni Triangle is a densely-populated region of Iraq to the northwest of Baghdad that is inhabited mostly by Sunni Muslim Arabs.The roughly triangular area's corners are usually said to lie near Baqubah , Baghdad , Ramadi and Tikrit . Each side is approximately 125 miles long...

; however, Balad is a primarily Shiite town of approximately 100,000. It is the principal town of the Balad district
Balad District
Balad District is a district of the Salah ad Din Governorate, Iraq....

.

Military Camps

Located within the municipality of Yethrib, the installation is known officially as Joint Base Balad, formerly LSA Anaconda and Balad Air Base. The name of this base in the Saddam era was Al-Bakir Air Base . This base currently hosts several Army and Air Force units, as well as a small attachments of U.S. Navy personnel.

As of early 2007 the base is the central hub for airlift and U.S. Air Force operations in Iraq, it is also a major transshipment
Transshipment
Transshipment or Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination....

 point for US Army supply convoys.

Even closer to the actual city of Balad is a tiny FOB (Forward Operating Base) called FOB Paliwoda
FOB Paliwoda
FOB Paliwoda or Camp Paliwoda was a US forward operating base in Balad, Iraq. The base was named for Captain Eric Paliwoda, an Engineer Officer and West Point Graduate from Farmington, Connecticut serving with the 4th infantry division, 3rd brigade combat team who was killed in an enemy mortar...

. Currently home to the 545th MP Company (2nd Plt), the 1-28th ID and a few enablers, it sits on the outskirts of Balad proper.

FOB Paliwoda was occupied by 3rd Squadron 4th US Cavalry in an effort to create a joint effort between coalition and local forces. The unit has disrupted more than 50 million dollars of terrorist organization money due to the hard efforts of Lt. Colonel David M. Hodne and his small unit of 'Raiders', or 'McKenzies Raiders". During the year control of the BJCC, Not one U.S. soldier has lost their life.

External links

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