BAHRAIN The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which oversees the region, is based in Bahrain, an island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that is home to over 7,000 American troops. Sheikh Isa Air Base on the island also hosts American fighter jets, surveillance aircraft and a U.S. special forces operations center. The U.S. considers the island a “major non-NATO ally.” Britain, meanwhile, has just opened its first military base east of the Suez Canal since 1971 in Bahrain.
KUWAIT The tiny, oil-rich nation hosts over 13,000 American troops and the U.S. Army Central’s forward headquarters. It also maintains forces and equipment at two air bases and a naval base in the country. Kuwait International Airport also hosts the U.S. military’s largest regional air logistics point. Some 2,200 American mine-resistant tactical vehicles are stationed there. The U.S. also considers Kuwait a “major non-NATO ally.”
OMAN A few hundred U.S. military personnel are based in Oman. The sultanate also allows U.S. military overflights and port visits. It also allows the U.S. to preposition munitions in the country. America signed a new port access agreement with Oman this year. Britain has signed a deal to build a naval base in the country.
QATAR The forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command is at Qatar’s sprawling Al Udeid Air Base, home to up to 13,000 American troops. Qatar plans to further expand the base, which saw the U.S. position nuclear-capable B-52 bombers there as tensions rose with Iran. Turkey also has its own military base in the country, to the chagrin of Saudi Arabia, which sees Ankara as a regional rival for influence.
SAUDI ARABIA The U.S. pulled troops out of Saudi Arabia after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden long criticized the presence of American forces there. This summer, U.S. officials said fighter aircraft, air defense missiles and likely more than 500 American troops would return to Riyadh’s Prince Sultan Air Base over tensions with Iran. U.S. special operations troops also reportedly have assisted Saudi forces along its border with war-torn Yemen.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai’s Jebel Ali port in the United Arab Emirates is the largest port of call for the U.S. Navy outside of America. The UAE hosts 5,000 U.S. military personnel, many at Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Air Base, where American drones and advanced F-35 jetfighters are stationed. The U.S. Navy also maintains a small base in Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. France also maintains its own navy base in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital.
They should always be considered targets.
Iran has already threatened US Troops stationed in Syria and Iraq.
Your concern is very concerning to those that are concerned.
bkmk
Yes. Our men were targets in Reagan's time. Who's forgotten? Seems far too many....
Islam is one problem. Elite globalism is the other. And for any who think it's socialism, recall that the Ba'ath Party and other Muslim groups were socialists, and that the National Socialists were socialists, etc. And all the socialist parties end up be led by elitists.
Hello, I’m sure they are already.
“I have concerns about....”
Being a Concern Troll
My youngest son is a Navy Helo pilot deployed over there now......
Concerned........
Concern has always been present. WE are past that now.
Hopefully our TRILLION dollar defense budget has bought a hell of a lot of gee whiz shock and awe we don’t know about. Hopefully it also negates the need for the raft of pudgy, short, diverse, gender confused recruits we have now.
No, they are not targets. BRICS nations don’t want a war within their own borders.
The US soldiers in Syria though are most definitely a target
*Are these bases safe from a 1983 Beirut Marine barracks type attack?*
I would not enlist and serve in one of those muslim $hitholes.
In Thailand/Korea/Phillipines one could go off base to one of the bars and get laid cheap. Those days are gone and it’s not freedom we’re defending(if we ever did).