PRESS RELEASE | Oct. 22, 2016
Coalition repairs, opens airfield in Qayyarah
CJTFOIR

Oct. 22, 2016
Release # 20161022-03
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve

BAGHDAD – The Coalition welcomed the first of many fixed-wing cargo planes to Qayyarah West Airfield, Iraq, Oct. 21, 2016, after U.S. Air Force engineers with the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group repaired it.

The newly opened runway will allow the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve to increase the rate of logistical support for the Iraqi security forces currently engaged in the Mosul offensive.

The increased logistical capability that this runway provides is just one way that the Coalition supports this fight.

In order to get the runway operational again, the 1st ECEG engineers worked for three weeks to remove dirt piles and concrete barriers and repair trenches that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant had placed in order to make the runway unusable.

CJFLCC-OIR will continue to support the Government of Iraq by training, equipping, advising and assisting the ISF and Peshmerga, while coordinating and providing air and artillery strikes to support the Iraqi-led fight against ISIL.