Construction started that same year and in November 1980, No 1 (Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter) and No 11 Squadrons (F-5E/F Tiger II) were deployed there.

Between October 2014 and July 2015 the Belgian Air Component deployed six Lockheed Martin F-16AM Fighting Falcons here as well under Operation Desert Falcon (later Operation Inherent Resolve) due to the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

[3] In April 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Middle East District contracted American International Contractors to build infrastructure on the airbase, including aprons and taxiways, a marshaling yard facility, and support facilities and utilities.

[4] Beginning in November 2021, the United States began upgrading the airbase to turn it into a more permanent base with the US Army Corps of Engineers released the solicitation to find a contractor to build a new air traffic control tower.

[8][9] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency