The Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates has been used for 27 years – off the record. But it’s been a pretty poorly kept secret. US Air Force aircraft such as the KC-10 tanker, RQ-4 Global Hawk drone, Boeing’s E-3 Sentry command and control plane, the U-2 Dragon Lady ultra-high altitude jet (also once flown by the Central Intelligence Agency) and the F-22 Raptor have been seen taking off from and landing at the base.
The main unit running out of Al Dhafra Air Base, aside from the UAE Air Force, is the US Air Force’s 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. As of October 26, 2016, Raptors had conducted 716 sorties in the fight against Daesh, sometimes referred to by US commanders as Operation Inherent Resolve, according to USAF data.
A command center within the 380th AEW known as “the Kingpin” has been instrumental in coordinating logistics for coalition aircraft to refuel from KC-10s, Military.com notes. The Kingpin “minimize[s] fog and friction for the entire [area of responsibility falling under US Central Command’s domain],” Brig. Gen. Charles Corcoran, unit commander and F-22 pilot, told the news agency.
Communications for aerial missions is important both within the US Air Force and for other air forces operating in the same area. Despite US-Russian relations sitting at an “all-time & very dangerous low,” to quote President Donald Trump’s August 3 tweet, communications between both military services have managed to persist unfazed by the political winds. US and Russian officials communicate 10 to 12 times per day at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Reuters reported August 24.
Maintaining the de-confliction line hasn’t been easy at every step, but “the Russians have been nothing but professional, cordial and disciplined,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, told Reuters.
The UAE government has been wary of making America’s presence in the country a matter of official business due to concerns that it could rub some Emiratis the wrong way, the Washington Post reported in 2014. UAE authorities began to reconsider this position as Dubai began to feel that its efforts against Daesh were going without due recognition.
While it’s not clear why the US Air Force and US Embassy & Consulate in the United Arab Emirates chose late August to make the announcement, it’s worth noting that Tuesday’s announcement shortly follows an August 22 meeting between Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and senior adviser to the president Jared Kushner, special representative for international negotiations Jason Greenblatt, Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell and deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Gulf affairs Tim Lenderking. “Both sides stressed their shared priority of cutting off all support for terrorists and extremists,” the US State Department’s joint readout stated.
