Ali Al Salem Air Base is a

military air base An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

situated in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, approximately from the

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i border, and roughly west of Al Jahra. The airfield is owned by the

Government of Kuwait Kuwait is an emirate. The Emir of Kuwait, a hereditary monarch from the Al Sabah ruling family appoints the prime minister (who is always a royal) and other members of government, as well as members of judicial, police and financial institutions. ...

, and hosted the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF),

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

(USAF), and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

(USMC) personnel and

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

during

Operation Southern Watch Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003. United States Central Command's Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) had the mission of moni ...

and

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

. The base also hosted the

(RAF) during

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

. Since the cessation of those operations, the base has been returned to the control of the Kuwaiti Government, with the USAF continuing to maintain a presence alongside their

Kuwait Air Force The Kuwait Air Force () is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Kuwait. The Air Force headquarters is located at Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, with the remaining forces stationed at Air Defense Brigades, Ali Al Salem Air Base and Ahmad al-Jaber ...

counterparts. The principal USAF unit on the base is the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing (386 AEW).

History

Gulf War

Ali Al Salem Air Base was the last to be overrun during the

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country for the next seven months ...

. By August 1990, it was the only Kuwaiti air base not occupied by Iraq. A small number of Kuwaiti regulars, staff officers, and the base Commander, General Saber Suwaidan stayed to fight and organize resupply missions from Saudi Arabia. By the end of the day, Ali Al Salem had been overrun. Upon discovery by the Iraqi military, the Kuwaiti General was

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

from the base

flagpole A flagpole, flagmast, flagstaff, or staff is a pole designed to support a flag. If it is taller than can be easily reached to raise the flag, a cord is used, looping around a pulley at the top of the pole with the ends tied at the bottom. The fla ...

by Iraqi troops. New flagpoles have since been installed, however as of December 2012, the original pole still stands. The remaining Kuwaiti military personnel were lined up outside the old Kuwaiti officers' club and shot. While no longer used, the building and bullet holes remain.

Operation Desert Fox and Operation Telic

The

operated out of Ali Al Salem from early 1998, just before

Operation Desert Fox The 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major bombing campaign against Iraqi targets, from 16 to 19 December 1998, by the United States and the United Kingdom. On 16 December 1998 Bill Clinton announced that he had order ...

. The RAF detachment consisted of various non-formed units, and a rotating Squadron of Panavia Tornado GR1s and later Tornado GR4s. The base was rapidly expanded in early 2003 to base the

Joint Helicopter Command The Joint Aviation Command (JAC), previously known as Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of all three services of the British Armed Forces and unmanned aerial vehicles of the B ...

assets prior to the start of

, the British designation for the US-designated Operation Iraqi Freedom. During the war, the RAF amalgamated five Tornado GR4 Squadrons based at AAS to form the Ali Al Salem Combat Air Wing, commanded by

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

Paddy Teakle Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name) Paddy is a diminutive form of the male given names Patrick (given name), Patrick, Patricia, Pádraig, Pádraic and variant forms. It is also a nickname. Notable people include: *Paddy Ashdown (1941� ...

OBE (OC 31 Squadron). He was awarded the DSO for his leadership. The RAF had relocated to

Al Udeid Air Base Al Udeid Air Base () is one of two military bases southwest of Doha, Qatar, also known as Abu Nakhlah Airport (). It houses the Qatar Emiri Air Force, United States Air Force, Royal Air Force, and other foreign forces. It is host to a forward h ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

by 2004, though some elements remained through 2008, and it serves as a backup and emergency strip for RAF operations.

Infrastructure and facilities

The airport resides at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

. It has two asphalt/concrete

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s: 12R/30L measuring and 12L/30R measuring .

2018 expansion

Starting in 2018, expansion on the base was begun by the Kuwaiti Air Force to include a new asphalt/concrete runway and extensive new hangar facilities to support the future delivery of Eurofighters intended to replace their existing complement of F-18C fighter jets. The base expansion was completed in the second half of 2020 with the delivery of the 28 Eurofighters finishing shortly after.

Role and operations

Kuwait Air Force

The

Flight Training School is located at Ali Al Salem. The base is also home to the Air Force's attack and support helicopter squadrons.

Military intervention against ISIL

The base currently hosts several non-Kuwaiti military units, mainly the 386th AEW USAF.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Ali al Salem Air Base.

Kuwait Air Force

* 12th Training Squadron – Hawk Mk.64 * 19th Training Squadron – Tucano Mk.52 * 17th Attack Squadron – AH-64D Apache Longbow * 20th Attack Squadron – AH-64D Apache Longbow * 32nd Helicopter Squadron – SA 330L Puma * 33rd Helicopter Squadron – SA 342K Gazelle * 62nd Utility Squadron – AS 332M Super Puma and AS532SC Cougar * 88th Training Squadron – SA-342K Gazelle * Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit –

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

United States Air Force

Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...

* Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) ** 386th Air Expeditionary Wing *** 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group *** 386th Expeditionary Medical Group *** 386th Expeditionary Mission Support Group *** 387th Air Expeditionary Group *** 407th Air Expeditionary Group

References

{{authority control Airports in Kuwait Military installations of the United States in Kuwait

History

Gulf War

Operation Desert Fox and Operation Telic

Infrastructure and facilities

2018 expansion

Role and operations

Kuwait Air Force

Military intervention against ISIL

Based units

Kuwait Air Force

United States Air Force

See also

References