Incirlik serves as recon hub

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Rose Richeson
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Following the termination of the USAF meteorological balloon launching activity in 1955, the base commander was notified that another tenant unit, Detachment 10-10, would soon arrive (click here for the rest of the 1951-1955 Incirlik article) . After the first five years, Adana Air Base was still undergoing a flurry of construction. Without a perimeter fence, secure compounds were constructed within the base to protect sensitive assets.

Not long after Operation Overflight was authorized by then President Dwight D. Eisenhower, members of Detachment 10 began to arrive. In order for Operation Overflight to be successful, U-2 aircraft flew at extremely high altitudes gathering photographic imagery and electronic signals from the Soviet Union. The American intelligence community came to rely heavily on the reconnaissance information gathered to assess technological advances. Future flights were used to gather data on military activity during crises involving Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Yemen, making Adana AB the main U-2 operating location.

At the halfway point of the operation in 1958, Detachment 10 became an Air Base Group and its mission changed to that of supporting the Tactical Air Command's rotational units. That same year the base's name was changed from Adana AB to Incirlik AB, which has stuck for nearly 50 years. In Turkish, Incirlik means fig orchard, which is what the area was prior to the base's construction.

The U-2 operation continued at Incirlik for several years. It wasn't until May 1960, when a U-2 was shot down by 14 surface-to-air missiles, that the Operation Overflight mission ceased. Capt. Francis Gary Powers successfully ejected from the U-2 at 67,000 feet to later be arrested by Soviet authorities. He was convicted of espionage against the Soviet Union and sentenced to three years imprisonment and seven years of hard labor. At this point American U-2 overflights were terminated.

In 1957 as political and religious tension in the Middle East increased as a result of the Lebanon crisis, so did President Eisenhower's commitment to the region. The president ordered Tactical Air Command Composite Air Strike Force Bravo to deploy from the U.S. to Incirlik.

The strike force was in place by July 20, 1958, under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry Viccellio. Aircraft including F-100 Super Sabres, B-57 Canberras, RF-101 Voodoos, and RB-66 and WB-66 Destroyers made up the force.

The aircraft and supporting personnel overwhelmed Incirlik facilities, which were also responsible for supporting cargo and transport aircraft deploying an Army battalion from Germany to Lebanon. The Air Force had no role in ground combat so the strike force mission focused mainly on covering troop movements, show-of-force missions, aerial reconnaissance sorties and leaflet drops.

Along with other units tasked in support of the operation, the 728th Air Control Squadron deployed the MPS-14 heat finder radar and provided surveillance, identification, interception, and control of 19th Air Force directed missions. In all, 728th ACS personnel controlled 768 intercepts during the 90-day deployment.

Once tensions in the Middle East diminished the American military presence followed suit.

(Editor's note: Over the next 10 months leading up to the AF's 60th birthday monumental milestones in Incirlik's history will be uncovered. You can read about Incirlik's coming of age during the last week each month either in the printed paper or online at www.incirlik.af.mil.)

(The 39th Air Base Wing historian office contributed to this story)