Al Tanf takes most by surprise. Built atop the M2 highway running from Baghdad to Damascus, the SFA headquarters is over 200 kilometers from the nearest Syrian city and lies within the 55-kilometer Deconfliction Zone (DCZ), a nominally constructed 2016 agreement between the United States and Russia to establish a US and SFA controlled region along the Syrian-Jordanian border. Those who have grown accustomed to sprawling military installations across Iraq and Afghanistan, equipped with state-of-the-art gyms and Burger King, often arrive at Al Tanf expecting an airport terminal, only to find open desert.
