Kermanshah 1st Combat Air Base was present on the western and northwestern fronts during the Sacred Defense.

Havanirouz (Army Ground Forces Aviation), under the command of the Army Ground Forces, includes a headquarters in Tehran and bases in Isfahan, Kermanshah, Masjed Soleyman, Mashhad, Tabriz, Abyek and Kerman⁠[1] and is responsible for support tasks including air attack against the enemy, movement of troops and equipment, and evacuation of the wounded.⁠[2]

The Kermanshah Havanirouz Base was established in the early 1970s. In 1973, a plot of land beside the Kermanshah-Hamadan road was identified and purchased by the Army, and the Assad Ekbatan construction company undertook the construction of the base. Eighty-five percent of the base construction operations were completed in 1975. In early 1975, first an advance group and in late 1975, about 50 percent of the personnel were stationed at the newly established base, and in 1978 the base facilities were completed.⁠[3]

Bell-206 (Jet Ranger), Bell-205 and Bell-214 helicopters for transport and reconnaissance missions and Cobra helicopters for attack missions against armored and mechanized vehicles were assigned to the flight units of this base.⁠[4] In 1975 to 1977, the helicopters of this base also participated in the Dhofar War in Oman.⁠[5]

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution and with the beginning of the Kurdistan crisis, the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base entered action in the western and northwestern regions from 19 March 1979 and participated in the clearing operations of Sanandaj, Mahabad, Sardasht and Paveh against the counter-revolutionaries.⁠[6]

With the beginning of the Imposed War, the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base was bombed by enemy aircraft, which led to the destruction of several important ammunition depots there and the martyrdom of 4 personnel.⁠[7] With the beginning of the enemy ground invasion, the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base, by its presence in the western and southern war zones, created a barrier against Iraqi forces.⁠[8] The Baath Army forces, with large numbers of armored equipment including tanks and personnel carriers and with air force support, entered Iranian territory from five axes of Qasr-e Shirin, Naftshahr, Gilan-e Gharb, Sarpol-e Zahab and Sumar in Kermanshah Province and three axes of Tang-e Bijar, Meymak and Mehran in Ilam Province. In response, the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base stationed dozens of fire teams (Cobra helicopters) and heliborne teams in various points of the region, including Sarpol-e Zahab, Gilan-e Gharb, Sumar, Islamabad Garrison, Ilam, Abdanan and Salehabad, and carried out dozens of combat operations daily;⁠[9] participation in the defensive operations of Qasr-e Shirin on 22 September, Meymak and Mehran on 24 September, and Sumar on 27 September 1980 are among them.⁠[10] Operation Khavarizm (Zarbat-e Zolfaghar) on 9 January 1981 is also among the instances of the presence of the Kermanshah Base in the first year of the Imposed War, which led to the liberation of the Meymak heights.⁠[11]

During the Sacred Defense, carrying out search and rescue operations for Air Force fighter pilots who had accidents was among the actions of the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base. On 5 December 1980, an Iranian Phantom aircraft crashed in Iraqi Kurdistan and its 2 pilots landed in enemy territory. Following that, one Bell-214 helicopter and 2 Cobra helicopters entered Iraqi territory and safely returned the Iranian pilots from 35 kilometers deep inside enemy territory near Darbandikhan Dam.⁠[12]

In Operation Bazi Deraz (May 1981) in the Qasr-e Shirin and Gilan-e Gharb region, 23 helicopters of the Kermanshah Base also supported the combatants, and during this very operation, Ali-Akbar Shiroodi, one of the prominent pilots of the Kermanshah Base, was martyred.⁠[13]

In Operation Muslim ibn Aqil (PBUH) (1 October 1982) in the Sumar region⁠[14] 10 Cobra helicopters, 11 Bell-214s and 4 Bell-206s of the Kermanshah Base,⁠[15] in Operation Qader (1985) in the general Seyyedkan region of Iraq 4 Cobra helicopters, 10 Bell-214s, 2 Bell-206s and 2 Bell-205s⁠[16] and in Operation Valfajr 9 (March 1986) in the northwestern region⁠[17] the helicopters of the Kermanshah Base, together with the Isfahan Base, were responsible for fire support, heliborne and evacuation of the wounded.⁠[18]

During the Imposed War, the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base was repeatedly subjected to enemy air and missile attacks, was 70 percent damaged, and in 1986 was practically taken out of operational status and its flying equipment was transferred to Shahid Nojeh Air Base in Hamadan.⁠[19]

In the eighth year of the war (August 1988), the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, with Iraqi support, advanced from the axes of Sarpol-e Zahab and Gilan-e Gharb toward Islamabad, Hassanabad and Tangeh Chaharzabar in Kermanshah. In this situation, once again the conditions of the first days of the war prevailed in the western region⁠[20] and Operation Mersad was carried out with the aim of repelling this attack and clearing the areas occupied by the Monafeqin, on the Islamabad-Karand axis. In this operation, which began on 27 July 1988 with the grounding of the invaders in Tangeh Chaharzabar and their siege,⁠[21] the pilots of the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base were present by targeting the invaders armored equipment between the Islamabad road to Chaharzabar Pass, and the Bell-214 pilots by heliborne of forces around this pass.⁠[22]

During the Imposed War, the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base participated in a total of 48 offensive and defensive operations.⁠[23]

During the Sacred Defense, 44 pilots, 12 technical personnel, 9 staff members and 18 soldiers of the Kermanshah Base were martyred. Ali-Akbar Qorban Shiroodi, Ahmad Keshvari and Hamidreza Sohilian are among the martyred pilots of this base.⁠[24]

Colonel Pilot Davood Rouhipour, Colonel Pilot Naser Zhian, Colonel Pilot Gholam-Reza Abedini and Colonel Pilot Hossein Ansari were the commanders of the Kermanshah Havanirouz Base during the Imposed War.⁠[25]

After the end of the Imposed War, the damaged facilities of the Kermanshah Base were reconstructed, and now this base, having an air-to-ground firing range and training camps, is one of the most active Havanirouz bases. Carrying out the missions of the two West and Northwest Headquarters of NEZAJA and the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada (PBUH) Headquarters of the IRGC in the border provinces (West Azarbaijan, East Azarbaijan, Ardabil, Kermanshah, Ilam and Kurdistan) is the responsibility of this base.⁠[26]