Turkey

Incirlik Izmir Fast Facts Telephone Directory

FACILITIES AND SERVICES
Sports. Facilities include an outdoor swimming pool, nine-hole golf course, skeet range, bowling center, fitness center and horse stable. Intramural sports include flag football, basketball, volleyball, softball, golf and bowling. Horse riding and scuba diving lessons are available
Education Facilities. The Education Office offers a variety of college courses during the week as well as weekend classes. Bachelor, Master's and Associate Degrees are available through City
Colleges of Chicago (CCC) and Maryland in Europe. Some continuing education opportunities are available for teachers.
DODDS Schools. Incirlik American High and Elementary Schools are the Department of Defense schools located on base. The elementary school grades are preschool through grade six, and also include a preschool for Sure Start Program. The junior high and high schools are combined in the same facility. The high school offers many extracurricular activities which include drama and speech clubs, National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, variety of sports teams, band, choir, yearbook and Student Council.
Medical. The regional hospital for U.S. military interests in the Republic of Turkey supports the base by providing medical, dental and public health care. Emergency Room services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The hospital recently experienced a significant reduction in staff due to ongoing USAFE right sizing. Expectant mothers are transferred to Landstuhl, Germany for storknesting at about 34 weeks, unless they choose to deliver at the local Adana hospital. There are scheduled flights in a C-9 (which is based in Germany) for those who require specialty care not provided at Incirlik, and sometimes a Turkish hospital in Adana is used for patients who can't be air evacuated
Veterinarian services are available on base. However, pet owners must be aware that other mission essential requirements take precedence over this service and some restrictions in hours may be necessary at times. There is a list of Turkish veterinarians available if emergencies occur when the base veterinarian is TDY or on leave.
Red Cross services on base include verification of death or sudden illness, birth announcements and health and welfare reports due to lack of communication over a long period of time.
Youth Center, for grades 6th through 8th, offers monthly activities, video games and field trips. The Cyber Lounge is available for 9th through 12th grade. It offers Internet access, computer and video games and a snack bar.
Shopping. In addition to the Base Exchange there is a shoppette, food court (Anthony's Pizza, Baskin Robbins, Burger King and Robin Hood), furniture store, gas station (self-service) and movie theater.
Concessions available: alteration shop, barber and beauty shop, electrical repair shop, outside coffee stand, flower shop, Turkish base exchange, optical shop and video/book rental store. There is also a commissary.
Religious activities. Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim services are offered. Programs include prayer groups, Bible studies and ministries for adults. Men, women, teenagers, children and singles are active and meet at varying times and locations. The Chapel sponsored coffee house serves free coffee in a smoke- and alcohol-free environment.
Clubs and Recreation. Facilities include auto hobby shop, library, consolidated club and recreation center. Information, Travel and Tours (ITT) offers many tours of the surrounding area. Most are one day, some are overnight. Anyone interested in ceramics or woodworking can contact the Skills Development Center.
Banking. There is no base "bank," but there is a Pentagon Federal Credit Union on base. There are two ATM machines available on base. The Finance Office cashes checks, exchange dollars for Turkish lira and redeems savings bonds for service members.
Television. TV is limited, but the English-language channels include Newsports, AFN Atlantic, Korea, Pacific, Spectrum, EuroSport, Cartoon Network/TNN and Forces Television.
Lodging. Space available lodging is not available due to entrance requirements enforced by the Turkish Air Force. People must be on orders to stay in billeting, and even then it is usually necessary to double up in a room.

IZMIR
Though there is no U.S. base in Izmir, some 1,500 members of the American military community, including family members, live and work alongside the Turkish population. Most base functions are located in the Alsancak area of Izmir in several buildings intermingled with civilian offices and shops.
Izmir, formerly known as Smyrna, is located on Turkey's west coast along the Aegean Sea, 150 miles south of the Dardanelles, the strait that divides Europe and Asia. This modern metropolis is the third largest city in Turkey with a population of more than four million. One of Turkey's major seaports, second only to Istanbul, Izmir is a major outlet for a rich agricultural region where much of Turkey's tobacco and fruits are grown.
The most important street for tourists in Izmir is the long Ataturk Caddesi. One side of this broad seafront is lined with handsome modern buildings, mainly restaurants. Also worth visiting are the Archaeological, Cultural and Ethnographical Museums.
A bit of local color is provided by Mustafa a local man nicknamed Charlie, who drives his buggy up to the front of AAFES/Commissary building all day to provide a cherished taxi service for the American customers. He's been doing this for 30 years. The taxi ride is fun and includes Charlie's hugs for the children and his assistance in carrying groceries into the apartment buildings occupied by American families.

SERVICES AND FACILITIES
Sports & Recreation. Just about any recreational activity that you enjoy at a stateside base can be found in Izmir. These include a brand new golf driving range, sand trap, and miniature golf course, called Fresh Ocean Breeze, only a few miles out from the air station at Bayrakli Park, the only open green space under U.S. military control. This is a complete recreation complex with a gym and an outdoor recreation center as well as a swimming pool and wading pool, an indoor racquetball court and a jogging/running track. Bayrakli park also boasts outdoor basketball and tennis courts, a football and soccer field, and a volleyball pit plus the only baseball field in Turkey west of Ankara.
Turkey's jagged coastline is beautiful to look at and provides many delightful places to swim in the turquoise-clear waters of the Aegean Sea. Within an hour's drive of Izmir is a wide selection of beaches, hotels, resorts and campgrounds.
DoDDS Schools. DoDDS offers K through 12 with a very limited ability to handle special needs students. The Education Office offers a variety of college courses during the week as well as weekend classes.
Health Services. The clinic is staffed with three family practice physicians, two dentists and two social workers. For problems that require a specialist, patients are sent to a local English-speaking physician or are referred to another military treatment facility via the aeromedical evacuation system. Specialists in the fields of orthopedics, surgery and optometry from Incirlik Air Base visit Izmir. Persons with respiratory problems may not be approved for command sponsorship. Coal is used widely for heating and smog control is poor.
Youth Programs. Most services for children and teens are provided through the school, Chapel programs, Youth Programs, CDC and community groups such as. Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. The Teen Center, aka "Cyber Zone," offers sports, dances, tours, birthday parties, games, tournaments and crafts.
Religious Activities. The Chapel offers Catholic masses and Protestant worship services every Sunday, Catholic religious education classes, Protestant Women/Men of the Chapel Bible Study and Children's Bible Study. The chapel also provides Catholic and Protestant training for worshipers to get involved in the chapel ministry. The predominant religion of Turkey is Islam. The Turkish constitution guarantees religious freedom, but it is against the law to try to convert someone to another religion.
Shopping. Izmir's bazaar is situated to the northeast of Konak Square extending through a maze of narrow streets and lanes with innumerable workshops, little shops and stalls. Specialty items are gold, silver, copper, carpets and leather goods.
Exchange and Commissary. Izmir is unique in the European Region in that the commissary and exchange are located on a busy side street in the middle of the downtown area. There is no protective American installation around it, no fences, no gate guards, and, indeed, it has on occasion had to be moved inside a more secure building because of heightened security conditions in the Middle East. There are several concessions within the building, including souvenir, gold, copper, electrical repair shop, optometry shop, barber shop, beauty shop, laundry/alterations and dry cleaning. The commissary has most items available at larger commissaries, including fresh milk, produce and meat.
The Family Activity Center in the Mercure Hotel is a place where incoming/outgoing personnel can watch movies and television as well as housing a laundry room and children's playroom.
Television. Antenna systems can pick up six to ten Turkish TV stations, but you will need a PAL-compatible or multi-system TV in order to view them. Services has satellite dishes available for rent. This will give reception for USAFE, AFRTS and AFN TV stations. American (NTSC) VCR tapes are available for loan at the library and for rent at the Shoppette.
Other Recreational Activities include an officers club, an enlisted club, library, recreation center and Information Tickets and Tours.
The Transit Lodging Facility, located in the five-star Mercure Hotel overlooking the Second Kordon, with an indoor swimming pool and fitness room. The sixth floor of the Hotel houses an AAFES Shoppette for snacks, breakfast items and VCR rentals for Military/DOD personnel staying in the hotel. There is a Family Room with a large screen TV, a small play area for children and two microwave ovens. There is a laundry room with four washers and four dryers. Each room has a refrigerator, TV/VCR, hair dryer and ironing board.