Originally an oil depot, Thumrait Air Base was established to project air power in that region of Oman. The first Omani air unit based at Thumrait, equipped with Hawker Hunter FGA.9 aircraft, was tasked with ground attack and intercept missions. 12 new SEPECAT Jaguar fighter-bombers were added to the base's complement to improve attack capabilities in 1977. Thumrait Air Base has been used by US, UK and Allied air forces to support operations during operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Desert Fox, and Global War on Terror operations in Afghanistan. Many current such operations now operate from Muscat International Airport, which is closer to the area of operations. A US Air ForceWar Reserve Materiel contract was let to DynCorp Technical Services to provide support for bare base systems, medical, munitions, fuels mobility support equipment, vehicles, rations, aerospace ground equipment, air base operability equipment, and associated spares and other consumables at Royal Air Force of Oman Air Base, Thumrait. These services include maintaining war reserve materiel stored at Thumrait.
Exercises held at Thumrait Air Base
The US Air Force's 16th Special Operations Wing, 823rd 'Red Horse' Squadron went to Thumrait Air Base on 17 April 1996 for 'Eastern Castle,' an exercise with the Omani military. During this exercise, the US Air Force built runway and apron extensions and installed overhead lighting in the base's aircraft hangars. Exercise Saif Sareea 2 was a military exercise between the United Kingdom and Oman held in Oman between September and November 2001. It involved a combination of His Majesty the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces and Her Majesty's Armed Forces with naval, ground and air activities. Saif Sareea II was one of several major training exercises held approximately every four years, to deploy, sustain, exercise and recover a medium-scale warfighting Joint Task Force at strategic distance into a key strategic area and demonstrate the Joint Rapid Reaction Force Concept. In 2009, Indian Air Force pilots of ‘Flaming Arrows’ and ‘Cobras’, two SEPECAT Jaguar Squadrons, participated in joint exercises called ‘Eastern Bridge’ alongside the Royal Air Force of Oman 's force of SEPECAT Jaguars and F-16 Fighting Falcons at Thumrait Air Base. Another Indo-Omani exercise, ‘Eastern Bridge-II,’ took place in 2011 at Indian Air Force Station Jamnagar.
