RSAF Patch c AB Royal Saudi Air Force KKMC Air Base F 15S Dep

RSAF Patch Royal Saudi Air Force King Khalid Military City KKMC Air Base 1996 F 15S Strike Eagle Deployment Fully embroidered cut edge 128mm by 77mm five inches by three and one sixteenth inches.

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History

US Army Corps of Civil Engineers designed a military cantonment housing approximately 65000 personnel for the Saudi Ministry Of Defence at Hafr Al Batin in the Eastern Military Sector near the border with Kuwait and Iraq to defend the north eastern border of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with a Royal Saudi Land Forces division of three brigades support units and a Royal Saudi Air Force forward operating airfield with a resident helicopter unit for VIP transport and liaison.

The US Army Corps of Civil Engineers commenced construction in 1976 with phases operational during the early 1980s and completion in 1987. The cantonment was designated King Khalid Military City KKMC named after former Saudi King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz with the RSAF airfield known as KKMC Air Base. The US Military Training Mission deployed and maintained a land forces Combined Arms Training Team at KKMC.

The Gulf Cooperation Council GCC decided to create a joint military force in 1984 with troops and personnel from each of the participating countries Saudi Arabia Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar and United Arab Emirates known as the Peninsula Shield Force to be based at KKMC. The Peninsula Shield Force was not sufficiently developed to be deployed in defence of Kuwait when Iraq invaded in August 1990.

With its proximity to Kuwait and the Iraqi border KKMC became a major forward base for US and coalition forces following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in September 1990 during the subsequent Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. During the Operations the KKMC Air Base hosted 37 Tactical Fighter Wing Provisionals F 117 Nighthawk stealth fighters E 3 Sentry AWACS aircraft from 552 Airborne Warning and Control Wing Provisional KC 135 Stratotankers and B 52D Stratofortess bombers of 1700 Strategic Wing Provisional along with Military Airlift Command VIP executive aircraft for senior coalition leaders. KKMC was protected by the Patriot missile system and three Iraqi Scud missiles were intercepted and destroyed in an attack on 21 February 1991. A force of 3000 from the Peninsula Shield Force as well as KKMC based Saudi forces took part in the liberation of Kuwait in March 1991.

Whilst Desert Storm successfully ejected the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in March 1991 and degraded Iraqs military capability RSAF and Coalition Air Forces border operations continued during the 1990s with Operation Southern Watch and the No Fly Zone. RSAF introduced its Wing system to control and support base Squadrons with 4 Wing established at KKMC Air Base to provide base support at King Khalid Military City Air Base serving the Royal Saudi Land Forces HQ Northern Area Command and Gulf Cooperation Council Peninsula Shield Force units based at King Khalid Military City. The Wing controls its resident 12 Squadron equipped with AB 212 helicopters for VIP transport Search and Rescue SAR troop transport and liaison together with visiting RSAF units deployed for exercises or operations.

Coalition Air Forces border operations culminated with Operation Iraqi Freedom the invasion of Iraq from 20 March to 1 May 2003. Peninsula Shield Force deployed 10000 troops to Kuwait in February 2003 to protect Kuwait from potential Iraqi attacks but they did not participate in the invasion of Iraq.

The Peninsula Shield Force deployed 1500 troops and police to Bahrain entering via the causeway from Saudi Arabia on 14 March 2011 requested by the Bahraini government to secure key installations in response to the Bahraini Uprising becoming the first GCC deployment in relation to an internal threat.

The decision to upgrade KKMC Air Base from a forward operating base to a new combat fast jet fighter base led to its redesignation as King Saud Air Base KSAB in 2013 with survey and refurbishment of existing buildings and infrastructure commencing in 2014 and the construction of new facilities commenced in February 2016. Completion of the new elements of KSAB is scheduled for 2020 with the existing facilities remaining fully operational during the works.

KKMC and KSAB hosted the major multinational training operation Exercise Northern Thunder in February and March 2016 to display military cooperation with twenty Middle East African and Asian Muslim countries including forces from all six GCC countries Egypt Pakistan Turkey Malaysia Jordan Sudan Chad Comoros Djibouti Maldives Mauritania Morocco Senegal and Tunisia. Egyptian Jordanian and Bahraini F 16 and Qatari Mirage aircraft deployed to KSAB and undertook training missions with deployed RSAF Typhoon and F15 fighters.

This patch dates from 1996.