STUTTGART, Germany — A new medical facility is among the recent improvements at a remote U.S. military airfield in Somalia that also is being fortified following heavy attacks in recent years. The medical aid station at Baledogle Military Airfield will ensure that troops can receive lifesaving care without delay, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa said in a statement Tuesday. The added medical capability, along with other housing and force protection projects, further develops the airfield “as an enduring location,” the statement said.
The engineering work at Baledogle suggests that there are no immediate plans for a U.S. withdrawal from Somalia, where several hundred American troops are assisting government forces. Military officials said the work at Baledogle includes unspecified force protection improvements.
The New York National Guard’s 152nd Engineer Support Company has been playing a “pivotal role in enhancing both military operations and the quality of life for service members” stationed at the airfield, according to the task force. “Any time there is an operation, (troops) need a place to sleep, to eat, to have security, and that’s what we provide,” a 152nd sergeant said in the statement. “We are the bedrock.”
