VAQ-141, Navy Customs Battalion Juliet, elements of the Iraqi Army's 7th Division, and the United States Air Force (USAF).

[6] On January 8, 2020, the air base came under an Iranian ballistic missile attack in retaliation for the killing of Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike a few days earlier.

The base was originally named Qadisiyah Airbase (قاعدة القادسية الجوية), a reference to the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (c. 636).

Qadisiyah AB was one of five new air bases built in Iraq as part of their Project "Super-Base", launched in 1975 as a response to the lessons learned during the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973.

[citation needed] Prior to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the base housed three units of the Iraqi Air Force, which flew MiG-25s and MiG-21s.

It was initially known as Objective Webster,[13] and then eventually was renamed Al Asad Airbase, which means "The Lion" in Arabic.

Huge shipments of fuel, aircraft ammunition, construction materials, drinkable water and food were commonly run along the dangerous routes coming out of Jordan, and Kuwait and, despite insurgent attempts, a majority of these convoys arrived at their destinations untouched.

The 482nd TC ran one operation that was 48 hours straight out of Al Asad carrying supplies into the hot spots (Most of the fighting) of Iraq like Fallujah during the second siege in late 2004.

Like other large bases in Iraq, Al Asad offered amenities including an indoor swimming pool, movie theater (which was a carbon copy of the Sustainer Theatre at Camp Anaconda), post office, Morale, Welfare and Recreation center, several gyms, Post Exchange, towards the end of 2005 aBurger King, Cinnabon, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Subway Restaurant, Combat Support Hospital, and a Green Beans Coffee Shop.

The base was a common destination for celebrities and politicians visiting American troops in Iraq, such as Chuck Norris and Toby Keith.

On September 3, 2007, President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace visited Al Asad and spent Labor Day with the servicemembers deployed to the base.

"[4] In late October 2014, the airbase and surrounding region came under repeated attack by Islamic State (ISIL) militants.

Also to conduct a site survey for U.S. advisers can use the installation to support the Iraqi military, said Navy Cmdr.

Sheikh Mahmud Nimrawi, a prominent tribal leader in the region, added that "U.S. forces intervened because of ISIL started to come near the base, which they are stationed in so out of self-defense," he responded, welcoming the U.S. intervention, and saying "which I hope will not be the last.

Later, according to CBS News, "Eight suicide bombers managed [on February 13] to get onto [Al Asad] ... but were killed by an ISF counter attack almost immediately."

[39] During the visit, Trump took photos with Seal Team 5 special operators and posted images of their faces without obscuring them.

"[45] A defense official said, "10 of the missiles hit Al Asad Airbase, one struck Irbil in northern Iraq and four "failed in flight.

"[45] In late March 2020, U.S. military deployed Patriot air defence systems in Al Asad Airbase as a precaution against possible further Iranian missile attacks.

[46] On 17 October 2023, amid the Israel–Hamas war, Iraqi militants launched a drone strike on the airbase, a United States base in northern Iraq.

[52] On 20 January 2024, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for striking the base with dozens of missiles which injured several US military personnel and an Iraqi service member.