Sahl Sinjar Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Nineveh Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Sahl Sinjar Airbase was located approximately 350 kilometers North of Baghdad, and about 100 kilometers Southwest of Mosul. The airbase was served by a 9,800 foot long runway, and there were two parallel taxiways that could be used as emergency landing strips. The base was heavily attacked by Coalition airpower during Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, and seized by Coalition ground forces in February 1991. It was abandoned by the Iraqi Air Force after the cease fire in late February and afterwards thoroughly looted. Camp Sinjar Camp Sinjar was established by the United States Army 101st Airborne Division at the airfield in late 2003. The National Guard Marksmanship Training Center sent the cadre of its sniper course to northern Iraq to train the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in skills that have proved to be useful during combat operations. The sniper course normally runs at Camp Robinson, North Little Rock, AR. The version being run in Iraq has been changed to suit the environment. The sniper school was set up in the Sinjar region of northwest Iraq because of its vast prairies. The openness of the landscape lends itself well to the long firing ranges that had to be built to accommodate the weapons training in the course, said Command Sgt. Maj. Rory Malloy, 2nd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). In mid-October 2003 operations to prevent infiltrations into Iraq were continuing. Operation Chamberlain is designed to provide the Iraqi people with a stable and secure border in order to maintain territorial integrity. In this vein, coalition forces recently intercepted smugglers trying to cross the border southwest of Sinjar. As coalition forces approached the group, the smugglers opened fire on coalition forces. While some of the smugglers escaped, several of them were detained, and in the operation, coalition forces seized weapons and a pickup truck. Other border operations have resulted in the detention of similar individuals trying to illegally cross into Iraq with weapons and money. By the end of October 2003 commanders of the US forces monitoring the border between Iraq and Syria said there was no evidence from human intelligence sources or radar surveillance aircraft indicating that significant numbers of foreign fighters