Camp War Eagle was the name of the United States Army camp located at the Northeast corner of the Baghdad slum known as Sadr City. It was established in May 2003 by 1st Squadron 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (known as the War Eagles) and B Company 2nd Battalion 37th Armor Regiment which is an element of 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Some of the first battles with the Mahdi Army were fought out of this camp in early 2004.
Soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division including 1st battalion 12th Cavalry Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment were stationed at Camp War Eagle and fought against the shia Militia of Muqtada al Sadr known as the Mahdi Army during the uprising which began April 4, 2004.
The Troops of Task Force Lancer's (2-5 Cav and 1-12 Cav) stay at War Eagle (March '04-05') was one of the deadliest periods in the Iraq war. On April 4, 2004 this was the launch point for what was to be named "black sunday". During the 6 hour night battle, 8 were killed and 60+ were wounded. This initial fight would go on for 10 days. It was during this time that Casey Sheehan was killed. Casey Sheehan's mother would use her sons death to protest the war in Iraq. On Mothers day, 2004, Camp War Eagle was attacked with approx. 100+ detonated Mortars and Rockets inside the camp in a 24 hour period.
It was renamed in early 2005 as Camp Hope.
On March 10, 2006, the camp, then known as Forward Operating Base (FOB) Hope, was transferred from Multi-National Division – Baghdad control to the Iraqi Army. Specifically, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 101st Airborne Division handed control to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade ("The Tiger Brigade"), 6th Iraqi Army Division. [1]
The original article can be found at Camp War Eagle and the edit history here.