Cameroonian Air Force Base 301

Last updated June 30, 2019

Cameroonian Air Force Base 301 (Base Aerienne 301 De Garoua) is an airbase of the Cameroonian Air Force located in Garoua, Cameroon. It is adjacent to the United States Army Contingency Location Garoua.

Garoua or Garua is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 436,899 inhabitants in 2018.

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although Cameroon is not an ECOWAS member state, it is geographically and historically in West Africa with the Southern Cameroons which now form her Northwest and Southwest Regions having a strong West African history. The country is sometimes identified as West African and other times as Central African due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa.

The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775.

Operations

The base was used to launch the first Cameroonian airstrikes against Boko Haram, which involved Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets.^[1]

The Islamic State in West Africa or the Islamic State's West Africa Province, formerly known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād and commonly known as Boko Haram until March 2015, is a jihadist terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.

The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform the trainer and light attack missions, as well as to perform these duties more ideally than the first generation of jet trainers that preceded it. Following a competition, a design submitted by a team comprising Breguet Aviation, Dassault Aviation, and Dornier Flugzeugwerke, initially designated as the TA501, was selected and subsequently produced as the Alpha Jet.

As of 2017, the base was commanded by Col. Barthelemy M. Tsilla.^[2]^[3]^{[nb 1]}

Education facilities

The base is also home to Ecole Maternelle Base Aerienne 301 Garoua, a government-run nursery school.^[5]

Notes

↑ Alternatively transliterated as Barthelemy T'Silla or Barthélémy Tsilla^[4]^[5]

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References

↑ Omeni, Akali (8 September 2017). Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria: The Military and Operations against Boko Haram, 2011-2017. Taylor & Francis. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-351-59763-0.
↑ "Together for Security". U.S. Embassy in Yaounde. April 11, 2017. U.S. Army Maj. D. Max Ferguson thanked Chief of Staff of the Cameroonian Army Regional Commander Brig. Gen. Ndjonkep Meyomhy Frederic, and Cameroonian Air Force Base 301 Commander Col. Barthelemy M. Tsilla for our security partnership.
↑ Turnipseed, Christina (November 24, 2017). "Thanksgiving in Cameroon". United States Army. Col. Barthelemy Tsilla, commander of Air Base 301, and his Airmen were invited by Maj. Andrzej V. Kujawski, Task Force Darby commander at CL Garoua to join in the American Thanksgiving tradition.
↑ Hammer, Joshua (February 25, 2016). "The U.S. Extends Its Drone War Deeper Into Africa With Secretive Base". The Intercept .
1 2 Barnes, Trevor (April 19, 2016). "U.S. Soldiers present donated educational supplies to Cameroonian school children". United States Africa Command.

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[6] Alternatively transliterated as Barthelemy T'Silla or Barthélémy Tsilla^[4]^[5]

[Omeni2017-1] Omeni, Akali (8 September 2017). Counter-Insurgency in Nigeria: The Military and Operations against Boko Haram, 2011-2017. Taylor & Francis. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-351-59763-0.

[2] "Together for Security". U.S. Embassy in Yaounde. April 11, 2017. U.S. Army Maj. D. Max Ferguson thanked Chief of Staff of the Cameroonian Army Regional Commander Brig. Gen. Ndjonkep Meyomhy Frederic, and Cameroonian Air Force Base 301 Commander Col. Barthelemy M. Tsilla for our security partnership.

[3] Turnipseed, Christina (November 24, 2017). "Thanksgiving in Cameroon". United States Army. Col. Barthelemy Tsilla, commander of Air Base 301, and his Airmen were invited by Maj. Andrzej V. Kujawski, Task Force Darby commander at CL Garoua to join in the American Thanksgiving tradition.

[intercept-4] Hammer, Joshua (February 25, 2016). "The U.S. Extends Its Drone War Deeper Into Africa With Secretive Base". The Intercept .

[school-5] 1 2 Barnes, Trevor (April 19, 2016). "U.S. Soldiers present donated educational supplies to Cameroonian school children". United States Africa Command.