Ali Al Salem Air Base is a military air base situated in Kuwait, approximately 23 miles (37 km) from the Iraqi border, and roughly 15 km west of Al Jahra. The airfield is owned by the Government of Kuwait, and hosted the Royal Air Force (RAF), United States Air Force (USAF), and United States Marine Corps (USMC) personnel and aircraft during Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The base also hosted the Royal Air Force (RAF) during Operation Telic. 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 counterparts. The principal USAF unit on base is the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.
A Kuwait Air Force Eurocopter AS-332M Super Puma of the 32nd Helicopter Squadron based at Ali Al Salem AB
Significant bomb damage to a HAS incurred during the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. Bomb damage caused by precision-guided "bunker busting" munitions is still visible 27 years (2019) after the liberation of Ali Al Salem.
Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from August 1992 to March 2003.
Two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from the Texas Air National Guard and New Jersey Air National Guard prepare to depart Prince Sultan Air Base on a patrol as part of Operation Southern Watch in 2000.
Two US Navy aircraft – an F-14B Tomcat of VF-102 (foreground) and an EA-6B Prowler of VAQ-137 – over Iraq during January 1998
