Río Gallegos Air BaseRío Gallegos Air Base is a main military airfield in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina in the far south of the nation. It was the nearest air base to the Falklands Islands in the 1982 war.HistoryIt opened in June 1952.Falklands WarErnesto Horacio Crespo, the head of the F.A.S, coordinated attacks on the islands from the base, which was 380 miles to the west of the Falklands Islands.