Thanks to its strategic location in the Middle East, Ali Al-Salem Air Base, housing almost 2000 US Air Force soldiers, will be exempted from the decision to reduce US forces in the region. The commander of the US Air Force No.386, Colonel Georgw Buch Jr., confirmed this during Al Rai’s media tour of the base to see the number of mission groups within the 368th Air Expeditionary Wing and the 4 departments at work.
Colonel Buch said that the numbers of the US army in the region were variable and differed according to circumstances. He stated, “We are committed to staying in the Middle East region, regardless of the number of forces, we will not leave it, given its importance to us and despite the competition with China, Russia, and Iran. We are still in Asia and Europe, and we have strong partnerships in the region, and we help countries in their time of need, as we previously helped Kuwait.”
He expressed it as the reason for having many military bases in the Middle East and the host countries’ concern regarding the possibility of lowering the bases. He said, “We stressed to our administration the importance of our presence at Ali Al-Salem Air Base and the significance of our presence because of its strategic location and proximity to Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine, our administration understood this.”
He emphasized the presence of about 2,000 US Air Force soldiers at Ali Al Salem Air Base and several Canadian and Italian soldiers, pointing out that 21.4 percent of the Air Force in active service were women.