Naval Support Activity Bahrain (or NSA Bahrain) is a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
base, situated in the
Kingdom of Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
and is home to
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and
United States Fifth Fleet.
Occupying the original territory of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
base known as
HMS Jufair, USN presence was established on-site during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Transferred to the U.S. government in 1971, NSA Bahrain today provides support through logistical, supply, and protection as well as a
Navy Exchange facility and
Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs to both United States Armed Forces and coalition assets. It is the primary base in the region for the naval and marine activities in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...
(OEF) and formerly
Operation Iraqi Freedom
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...
(OIF), to include when the latter was changed to
Operation New Dawn (OND) until the end of the Iraq War.
The commander of
Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia is responsible for NSA Bahrain and
Camp Lemonnier
Camp Lemonnier is a United States Naval Expeditionary Base, situated next to Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport in Djibouti City, and home to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). ...
in
Djibouti
Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
. Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia is responsible to
Navy Installations Command, though it has close coordination with
Naval Forces Central Command.
History
The first presence of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
came about from the need to control pirates raiding
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
shipping east of
Suez
Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
, especially the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
routes to
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, when it appointed the first
Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf. In the early 1820s the rulers of Bahrain, Salman and Abdullah Al Khalifa, signed an agreement to try to limit piracy in the area. This was strengthened in 1835 through an agreement signed specifically with the Royal Navy, which addressed the need to stop pirates operating in the area and limit the slave trade. In 1902 the first oil was discovered in the area, but commercial extraction did not begin until 1925 when
Frank Holmes was given the first license, though oil was not exported from Bahrain until 1932.
HMS ''Juffair''
After the death of Sheikh Isa in 1932, having handed control of the state in 1921 under British diplomatic pressure to his son Hamad, his advisor
Charles Belgrave with whom he had modernized the state systems and key infrastructure, suggested that they should come to an agreement with the British to open a permanent Royal Navy base within the state. opened on 13 April 1935, as part of the port at
Mina Salman. It was bombed by the
Italian Air Force
The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as part of an
Axis Forces
The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...
effort to cut off one of the three
Allied Forces sources of oil in the Persian Gulf.
US Navy establishment
As a result of the raid, and the United States' entry into World War II from December 1941, the Royal Navy extended an invitation to the US Navy, allowing the USN to deploy a small detachment. Post-WW2, the posting was recognized as the U.S. Middle East Force from 1948, a small shore facility that provided logistical and communications support to Marine Expeditionary vessels.
In 1971, with Bahrain gaining independence from the British Empire, the permanent Royal Navy presence in Bahrain officially ended. With the agreement of the Emir, the USN immediately took on the entire site, and eight years later the location was named Administrative Support Unit (ASU) Bahrain. In an effort to more accurately reflect the increasing role of United States Navy activities in the region, the organization was renamed Administrative Support Unit Southwest Asia in 1992.
Present
In 1997, under the aegis of the Military Construction Program, facilities located in Juffair saw an increased buildup, resulting in what is known today as Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
In 2003, facilities at NSA Bahrain began expanding after Operation Iraqi Freedom began.
In 2006, a large food court, known as the "Freedom Souq" and an expanded
Navy Exchange opened, expanding morale and welfare support to service members and tenant commands.
In 2010, the Navy embarked on a five-year, $580-million project to expand the base, proposing to essentially double the size of the current 62-acre facility. The first phase of construction included a new perimeter wall and security gate along with several new utility buildings. The second phase expanded the port operations with a new harbor patrol facility and included a small-craft basin. New barracks, a dining facility, a renovated recreation center and administrative buildings were also constructed. The final phase included a flyover bridge connecting NSA Bahrain to the port facility at Mina Salman.
In 2021 NSA Bahrain earned the DOD Installation Excellence Award as one of five recipients of the 2021 Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence, which recognizes the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations.
See also
*
United States Navy submarine bases
The United States Navy built permanent and temporary submarine bases around the world to maintain its fleet of submarines and serve the needs of the crews. Submarine bases are military bases that offer good fleet anchorage and are designed to ...
*
United States Navy dog handler hazing scandal
The United States Navy dog handler hazing scandal was a pattern of misconduct engaged in by members of the United States Navy at Naval Support Activity Bahrain between 2004 and 2006. Naval investigators documented nearly 100 incidents of abuse comm ...
References
Further reading
Official Page for U.S. Naval Forces Central CommandOverview*
*
{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries
Naval Support Activities of the United States Navy
Military installations established in the 1970s
Buildings and structures in Manama
Military installations of the United States in Bahrain