Eskan Village

Eskan Village
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Coordinates 24°34′N 46°51′E / 24.567°N 46.850°ECoordinates: 24°34′N 46°51′E / 24.567°N 46.850°E
Site information
Owner  Saudi Arabia
Site history
Built 1983
In use 1990–Present
Garrison information
Garrison 64 AEG, OPM-FSF, OPM-SANG, USMTM

Eskan Village, officially named Eskan Village Air Base, is a U.S. military installation located 20 kilometers south-east of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The base is home to the 64th Air Expeditionary Group, Office of the Program Manager - Facilities Security Force (OPM-FSF), Office of the Program Manager Saudi Arabian National Guard Modernization Program (OPM-SANG), and the United States Military Training Mission in Saudi Arabia (USMTM).

History

The 64 AEG in November 2010.

Eskan Village was built in 1983 during the reign of Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to house various bedouin tribes. The tribes declined to occupy the housing complex, and Eskan Village remained unoccupied until August 1990. At that time, the Saudi Arabian government authorized the use of Eskan Village for deployed U.S. servicemembers during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.[1]

In 1992, during the aftermath of the Gulf War, Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) was formed and headquartered at Eskan Village for the conduct of Operation Southern Watch. Eskan Village was home to the region's Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) until it was relocated to Prince Sultan Air Base in September 2001. The transition was accelerated after the events of September 11, 2001.

After the bombing of the Khobar Towers on June 25, 1996, several U.S. military offices and housing facilities located in Riyadh and Dhahran were also moved to Eskan Village and Prince Sultan Air Base in an effort to mitigate possible future attacks.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Eskan Village Air Base".
  2. ↑ Jones, T. Parker (13 February 1998), Military Presence and Theater Strategy: Recognizing MOOTW Restraints in CENTCOM, p. 16

External links