The US-Kuwaiti partnership reached dramatic new levels of cooperation after the Iraqi invasion. The United States assumed a leading role in the planning and implementation of Operation Desert Shield. The United States led the UN Security Council to demand Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and authorize the use of force, if necessary, to remove Iraqi forces from the occupied country. The United States played a major role in the evolution of Desert Shield into Desert Storm, the multinational military operation to liberate the State of Kuwait.

Eventually, the US provided the bulk of the troops and equipment that were used by the multinational coalition that liberated Kuwait. The US-Kuwaiti relationship has remained strong in the post-war period. The United States has provided military and defense technical assistance to Kuwait from both Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and commercial sources. All transactions have been made by direct cash sale. The US Office of Military Cooperation in Kuwait is attached to the American Embassy and manages the FMS program. US military sales to Kuwait total $5.5 billion over the last 10 years. Principal US military systems currently purchased by the Kuwait Defense Forces are Patriot missile system, F-18 Hornet fighter, and the M1A2 Main Battle Tank.

Welcome To Camp Buehring - Udairi, Kuwait

Long Knives Arrive In Kuwait	Section Of Tent City

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

Since 07 June, soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division have boarded chartered aircraft at Robert Gray Army Airfield that routinely depart for Camp Buehring, Kuwait. In a minimum time transformation, it was on 08 June when approximately 300 Long Knife Brigade Soldiers arrived to a windy and gusty Camp Buehring, Kuwait. There are many thoughts that could possibly run through the mind of a Soldier stepping off an aircraft and setting foot onto a foreign country prior to a combat deployment. That Soldier could be thinking about family, friends or the mission at hand.

Camp Buehring, formerly named Camp Udairi, is an offloading and staging facility for US Military troops heading north into Iraq. It is located in the northwestern desert of Kuwait, just 15 miles from the southern border of Iraq. The area surrounding Camp Buehring, known as the Udairi Range Complex which is used for live fire training, is largely uninhabited, but for a few nomadic Bedouin tribes raising camels, goats and sheep. The open desert areas provides the opportunity to conduct vehicle rollover training, weapons familiarization and counter-Improvised Explosive Device training. Units are getting the opportunity to not only get adjusted to the extreme wind and heat of the middle east before deploying to Iraq, but they are also receiving additional knowledge from their leaders that have already deployed. Following the accelerated training in the desert environments, the Long Knife Brigade will join with their equipment and move forward to the interior of Iraq where they will engage in combat missions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom - VI.

Camp Buehring is packed with morale and recreation facilities that could rival some US bases. For all the benefits here, Camp Buehring is still a desert, tent city, camp far from home and the friends and families of these US Forces. A fully-stocked exchange, several phone centers, an internet café, a coffee house, gym facilities, Burger King and a 24-hour Pizza Inn are just a few of the amenities here topping the transient soldier's favorites list.

However the one nearly everyone agrees on is the dining facility where meals like steak and lobster are not uncommon. The chow-hall, as the Troopers call it, is one of the largest facilities on the camp and is capable of serving several thousand troops at every meal. Though the line nearly always extends several hundred feet beyond the entrance, fast-moving food lines ensure the soldiers never wait too long to eat. Services at Camp Buehring obviously go well beyond these basics. Soldiers enjoy the video-chat services offered at the Internet Cafe. For five dollars an hour, a Soldier can get a computer with a high-speed connection, a webcam and headphones and then connect with a friend or loved one at home.

A unique challenge to the surge-related activities of Camp Buehring is its distinction as one of the few enduring camps of Kuwaiti, meaning it is slated to sustain operations for many years. This forces the Command Cell Staff of the camp to continue full scale facility operations, such as completing important infrastructure upgrades, while still maintaining the immediate role of the camp as one of the largest transient camps in Kuwait.

Heavy-equipment transporters loaded with M1-A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles sit in about a dozen single-file lines on a sandy staging area ready to move the in-transient Troopers and their equipments forward to the Iraqi operations. An array of 30 or 40 more vehicles dotted the horizon, awaiting the rest of the trucks slated to carry them into battle.