Jalibah Southeast Air Base Jalibah Southeast Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Thi Qar Governorate of Iraq . It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 . Iraqi Air Force base . Jalibah Southeast Airbase is located in southern Iraq approximately 370 kilometers south of Baghdad , and about 65 kilometers south of Nasiriyah . It is an unoccupied airbase is served by a main runway measuring 9 , 800 feet and an alternate runway / taxiway measuring 8 , 500 feet . Jalibah occupies a 21 square kilometer site and is protected by a 19 kilometers security perimeter . According to the " Gulf War Air Power Survey " , there were 24 hardened aircraft shelters at Jalibah Southeast as of 1991 . At each end of the main runway are hardened aircraft shelters known as " trapezoids " or " Yugos " which were built by Yugoslavian contractors some time prior to 1985 . The base was heavily attacked by Coalition air power during Operation Desert Storm in January 1991 , and seized by U . S . Army ground forces ( 2nd Brigade , 101st Airborne Division ) on February 27 , 1991 in the Battle for Jalibah Airfield . It was abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force after the cease fire in late February . General Chuck Horner tasked USAF Red Horse Civil Engineers to deny the air base in southeastern Iraq to prevent future use by returning Iraqi forces , and the work had to be completed before the signing of a cease fire agreement . Working with EOD personnel , two teams completed the job within four days . Camp Viper . During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 , the United States Marine Corps set up Camp Viper as a Logistics Support Area at the former Iraqi air base . After an exhausting night moving its entire fleet from Camp Coyote in Kuwait , the Army Reserve Unit spent its first day on Iraqi soil March 23 at Camp Viper , a base in American - controlled territory deep in southern Iraq . Sailors from the Naval Hospital Beaufort set up and staffed a hospital well inside the war zone . Theirs was the first hospital set up in a combat zone during the fight . A perimeter of well - trained Marines encircled the camp , called Camp Viper , at all hours . The hospital treated them all , Iraqis and injured Americans alike . Fleet Hospital Three is a 9 - acre , 116 - bed facility , which is manned by more than 300 medical service support and Construction Battalion personnel from around the nation . The Pensacola , Florida - based command is an Echelon Three facility . Considering that FH - 3 went to Iraq with 166 trucking containers filled with more than $ 12 million in medical equipment and supplies , ensuring the availability of that equipment at the end of the supply chain was vital . HMN161 was stationed at Jalibah Air Base , Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . Charlie Surgical Support Company , Health Services Bn ( HSB ) , 1st Marine Logistics Group was deployed to Logistics Support Area Viper . Health Services Battalion , 1st Force Service Support Group established a triage at Jalibah Airbase . Combat Service Support Battalion ( CSSB ) 18 put sandbags on a bunker outside of the Combat Service Support Operations Center ( CSSOC ) for CSSB 18 , 1st MLG , Logistics Support Area ( LSA ) Viper , Iraq . CSSB - 18 sent daily vehicle recovery convoys to pick up numerous vehicles broken and stranded along the roads . The fast pace of the operation and the sand and dust were a contributing factor to maintenance problems . Marines with 6th Engineer Support Battalion kept vehicles rolling during Operation Iraqi Freedom . At the battalion ' s main camp - Logistical Supply Area Camp Viper in the southern Iraqi desert - mechanics managed to keep an 85 percent vehicle readiness under difficult supply conditions . 6th ESB ' s northern shop at Logistical Supply Area Camp Chesty maintained a 92 percent vehicle readiness . Designated as 1st Force Service Support Group ' s bulk - liquids battalion , 6th ESB was charged with fueling coalition forces as they raced northward through Iraq . They also supplied purified water to the Corps ' desert and urban encampments . In fact , the battalion established a dozen fuel and water points across southern Iraq , including sites in or near Baghdad , Nasariyah , Kut , and Diwaniyah . The British forces from 2 / 1 Battery , 16th Air Assault Brigade , were co - located at Camp Viper . They are working between Basra and Camp Viper , providing Force Protection for Intel gathering . Current aerial imagery shows that the operational structures around the airfield appear to have been demolished and removed . Today the concrete runway and series of taxiways remain exposed and deteriorating to the elements , being reclaimed by the desert .