In December of 2002, while the war in Afghanistan continued to be a prominent fixture in American current events, the 386th AEW began to transform its tiny Southwest Asia undisclosed location from a small steady-state base to, at the time, the largest air base in U.S. Central Commands area of responsibility.On March 19, 2003, U.S. Air Force aircraft entered Iraq signaling the start of OIF. In a short four months the 386th AEW went from 91 to 312 aircraft and reached a max capacity of 13,000 personnel, including Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and coalition forces.