Ali Al Salem Air Base - Recent History

Recent History

In 1990, the base was the last to be overrun by the Iraqi Military. On August 3, Ali Al Salem was the only air base not occupied by Iraq. A small number of Kuwaiti regulars, staff officers, and the base General stayed to fight, and organize resupply missions from Saudi Arabia, by the end of the day, Ali Al Salem had been overrun as well however. Upon discovery by the Iraqi military, the Kuwaiti General was hanged from the base flagpole by Iraqi troops. New flagpoles have since been installed, however as of December 2012, the original pole still stands. The remaining Kuwaiti military personnel were lined up outside the old Kuwaiti officers' club and shot. While no longer used, the building and bullet holes remain.

Prior to 1990, the French, under contract, built large reinforced concrete Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) for the Kuwaiti Air Force. The French told the Kuwaitis that the structures were impenetrable. After Iraq took over the base, they moved the Kuwaiti aircraft and parked the Iraqi aircraft in the hangars. The French impenetrable claim turned out to be wrong when the US and allied forces, in the opening hours of Desert Storm, destroyed the concrete bunkers by use of GBU bombs. The Kuwaitis are still involved in legal suits over the "impenetrable clause of the contract". The French claim that they had no way of foreseeing that the US had invented bunker busters - some say that the French intended for the bunkers to protect against Soviet-procured Iraqi weapons.