Armstrong, Charles, LtCol

The First Marine Expeditionary Force transferred authority for five provinces in southern Iraq to the Polish-led Multinational Division Central-South, in a ceremony Sept. 3, 2003 at Camp Babylon, Iraq.

Multinational Division South Central Iraq is headquartered in the amphitheatre at Babylon. Designed to protect the historic Babylon ruins next to the Euphrates river from looters, the camp is home to a number of coalition countries supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, including Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, all under the command of the Multinational Defense force Southeast, or MND(SE).

When Navy Seabees attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) advanced into the ancient biblical city of Babylon at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), they arrived to find the city's museum and its ruins looted and damaged. After Marines secured the city to protect it from further destruction, the Seabees built Camp Babylon around the ancient city in order to protect one of history's most important archaeological treasures. The individual talent of one Seabee led to the repair of one of the museum's most prized re-creations of ancient history; a scale model of the tower of Babel. The tower, according to biblical history, was built by Noah's descendants who intended it to reach up to heaven. God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand each other.

On the banks of the Euphrates River, a region that was once the center of Jewish culture and study, Jewish Marines and soldiers got a rare chance to celebrate the Sabbath with one of only three military Rabbis' in theater. Army Capt. Avrohom Horovitz a chaplain with 3rd Battalion 27th Artillery Regiment of Ft. Bragg, NC., was invited up to Camp Babylon in Al Hillah from Camp Commando in Kuwait during the last week of June 2003 to minister to the Marines. Years of persecution in Iraq have driven almost all the Jews from Iraq. The region of Babylon was once the center of Jewish study. The Babylon Talmud, a Jewish book of commentary was written near here.

Service members are more connected thanks to new telephone centers being constructed at different base camps and airfields in theater. The second of six phone banks to be constructed in Iraq was completed at Camp Babylon in time for troops to celebrate July 4. The first was constructed at the Air Force Base in Tallil and the four upcoming centers were located in the areas of Al Asad, Mosul, Al Sahra, and Balad. At Camp Babylon, the center was packed with patrons. Before the first call could be made however, much work had to be done. The facility's wooden frame was the handiwork of the Seabees, while five AT&T employees did the installation of the 48 phones. Setting up a satellite telephone in rural Iraq wasn't as difficult as some thought, especially with Navy engineers came on board, according to one AT&T worker. The Marine Headquarters Group at Camp Babylon oversaw service of the phone center by ensuring that the generator powering the bank is fueled, as well as maintaining the tent. Along with a new contracted food catering service that came to Camp Babylon, the new phone center assisted in keeping the troop morale high until they get the long awaited word to return home.

A bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives gave soldiers and Marines supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom a chance to talk to someone from home Aug. 20 at Camp Babylon, Iraq.

The visit, part of a 10-day tour planned to include seven countries in the region, was topped-off by a lunch, during which the members of congress sat and talked with constituents serving in Iraq.

In the arid, ancient Iraqi city of Babylon, soldiers of the 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) watched Maj.Gen. David Petraeus, 101st commander, pass their unit's colors to a new commander after a skirmish in Karbala left their former leader, Lt.Col. Kim Orlando, and two other soldiers, dead on 15 October 2003.

According to a January 15, 2005 article in the UK's Guardian and a British Museum report, Camp Babylon and operations ran out of Camp Babylon caused "widespread damage and severe contamination to the remains of the ancient city of Babylon."

The report claims that heavy military vehicles crushed some archaeologically significant sites and vast amounts of sand and earth were removed from the site in order to fill sandbags. Also, because the city was home to a coalition military base it became the site of frequent insurgent attacks which caused further damage to the ancient site.

In September 2003 the base was passed to a Polish-led force, which held it until January 2005 when the site was handed over to the Iraqi culture ministry. In January 2005 Polish forces transferred control of Camp Babylon to the Iraqi Culture Ministry. Polish forces moved to a nearby area. Polish officials said that the moving out of Camp Babylon was as a result of security reasons and not because the base was allegedly damaging the ancient city.