Forward Operating Base Hope
Open-knowledge reference entry
Forward Operating Base Hope is the current name of Camp War Eagle which 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. War Eagle was located on the site of a pre-war Iraqi Army base, and as such was walled and somewhat suited for use as a forward operating base.
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, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment and Bravo Company 20th Engineer Battalion (United States), 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, C1-82FA, and B/1-12 Cav) and Task Force Charger's (1-12 Cav, B/2-5IN, B/20E) 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 six-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.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Forward Operating Base Hope” as open-knowledge reference entry. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as open-knowledge reference entry. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5027660. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003 and 2004.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Forward Operating Base Hope”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Forward Operating Base Hope primary sources, Forward Operating Base Hope archive and Forward research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Forward Operating Base Hope”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Forward Operating Base Hope” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.