Capt. Jason Green, an F-16 pilot from the Montana Air National Guard's 120th Fighter Wing, puts on his helmet before flying a mission out of Prince Sultan Air Base supporting Operation Southern Watch in October 2002.
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Prince Sultan Air Base
Location: Al Kharj, about 50 miles south of the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh.
Personnel: About 5,000 U.S. military, mostly Air Force.
Units: 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing, including 67th, 390th, 524th and 457th Fighter Squadrons; 363rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron; 38th Reconnaissance Squadron; 92nd Air Refueling Squadron; 99th Reconnaissance Squadron; and VWAQ 1 and No. 43 Squadron of Britain's Royal Air Force, according to military research group Global Security. Joint Task Force-Southwest Asia is also based here.
Aircraft: About 72, including F-15C, F-15E and F-16 fighters, KC-135 and KC-10 refueling tankers, RC-135, E-3 and U-2 reconnaissance planes, C-130 transports, HC-130 combat search-and-rescue aircraft, and C-21 passenger planes. Two Patriot antimissile batteries are also on post.
Role: Built on a temporary Gulf War air base, this large, isolated facility is a key staging area for Operation Southern Watch, the allied patrol of the southern Iraq "no-fly" zone. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says his country would be willing to allow its territory and facilities to be used for military action against Iraq -- but only if such an action were backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution.
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