23rd Squadron (Iraq)

No. 23 Squadron of the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) is an air transport squadron operating three Lockheed C-130E Hercules transport aircraft.

The squadron was reactivated in 2005, as part of the reconstruction of the Iraqi Security Forces following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It received three C-130Es formerly operated by the United States Air Force. The aircraft  involved  were  ex-USAF  serial  numbers  62-1839,  63-7826,  and  63-7848. The transaction  was  valued  at  $11,807,052, of which $10,448,881 was for the aircraft. The remainder included mission-support equipment and spare parts.

The squadron made the new air force’s first C-130 flight beyond Iraq "..during the first week of February when, under AST mentorship, a five-man crew flew from  Ali AB to Amman.  On 1 April one of the squadron's crews transported 51 Iraqi soldiers back to Iraq from an Emirati training  site.  This sortie  established  an  administrative milestone of sorts because, in addition to flying the mission on their own, the crew was able to complete all the clearance forms, customs declarations, transit route applications, and other paperwork needed to travel through international airspace and land in a foreign country.

In July, the squadron "..conducted Operation Iraqi Power, the first operational airlift mission flown since the fall of the Hussein regime. This effort, mounted at the request of the Ministry of Electricity, was needed to protect Iraqi government power generation stations and distribution networks. The squadron had to palletize and move 2,700 assault rifles and a million rounds of ammunition from Baghdad to Basrah. After five days’ preparation, the squadron delivered the shipment in five “chalks” without incident. The operation also chalked up some other firsts, including the first time Iraqi loadmasters prepared airlift cargo without significant AST assistance and the first time that New Al Muthana Air Base (NAMAB) was used to stage an operational ..mission.  This was a significant event, as NAMAB had already been proposed as the squadron's new  ..location.. . Operation Iraqi Power would be the first in a series of familiarization movements designed to introduce the squadron and the base to one another over the next six months."