Safwan Air Base is a former

Iraqi Air Force The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...

base in the Basra Governorate of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Overview

The facility was an auxiliary airfield, consisting of a 10,000 foot runway and a small aircraft parking ramp. In March 1991 it was the location of the

Safwan Airfield Standoff The Safwan Airfield standoff was a post-ceasefire standoff between Iraqi and U.S. forces at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. Background After the ground offensive, General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. of the coalition forces wanted a spot deep ...

and signing of the Cease-Fire which suspended

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. It was apparently abandoned after the cease-fire and was later seized by U.S. ground forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Today the airfield is abandoned in some desert/agricultural fields; the long runway has numerous tire markings on it, probably being used for touch/go landings but otherwise unused. Safwan is located in the south of Iraq at Iraqi Kuwaiti border, along the infamous Highway of Death from the Persian Gulf War. The cease-fire negotiations between General Norman Schwarzkopf and the Iraqi delegation led by Lieutenant General Sultan Hashim Ahmad took place at Safwan airfield. Schwarzkopf's demand to hold the formal cease-fire negotiations in Iraqi territory led to the encounter between the 1st squadron, 4th Cavalry regiment (Quarterhorse) from Ft. Riley, Ks. of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) and the Iraqi Republican Guard, known in military circles as The Ultimatum. This was detailed in the book Third Graders At War, as well as the book Road to Safwan.

References

http://www.thirdgradersatwar.com/ Dog Ear Press. Third Graders at War by Felix G. {{authority control Iraqi Air Force bases