The Qatari Emeri Air Force will build a facility at on Idaho Air Base, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday. Qatar will station F-15s and pilots at the U.S. base, he said.

Hgeseth announced the unit at the Pentagon with Qatari Defense Minister Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Hegseth said that the United States signed a letter of acceptance to build a facility for Qatar’s air force at Mountain Home Air Force Base, which is about an hour south Boise. Qatari pilots will learn to fly F-15s with American crews.

Though the plan drew initial shock and some anger from political pundits, plans for a Qatari detachment at Mountain Home date to at least 2022, according to the Idaho Stateman newspaper. And at least one other country has long trained its F-15 pilots at the base. Sing

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