{"id":203975,"date":"2025-10-11T00:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T00:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/203975\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T00:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T00:43:11","slug":"us-announces-it-will-allow-qatar-to-build-an-air-force-facility-in-idaho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/203975\/","title":{"rendered":"US announces it will allow Qatar to build an Air Force facility in Idaho"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the US will allow Qatar<\/a> to build an Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, which will host Qatari F-15 fighter jets and pilots who will train alongside US troops.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase the lethality, interoperability,\u201d Hegseth said during a meeting with his Qatari counterpart Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the Pentagon. \u201cIt\u2019s just another example of our partnership. And I hope you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The announcement of the deal comes just weeks after Trump signed an executive order for the US to guarantee the security of Qatar \u2014 a significant commitment to a non-NATO, Arab ally. Israel had bombed Qatar several days earlier as part of an operation against Hamas officials living in Doha. But sources told CNN that the plan to build the Qatari facility has been in the works for several years, dating back to the previous administration.\n <\/p>\n

\n A US official said the agreement with Qatar is routine and something the Air Force has done for decades with other partner nations including Germany and Singapore.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hegseth later on Friday wrote in a post<\/a> on X, \u201cThe U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w\/ Qatar, including today\u2019s announced cooperation w\/ F-15QA aircraft,\u201d emphasizing there will be no Qatari owned base in the US.\n <\/p>\n

\n But a close ally of Donald Trump, far-right activist Laura Loomer, has posted on X more than a dozen times since the deal was announced calling it \u201coutrageous,\u201d \u201can abomination,\u201d and a \u201cbetrayal.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Hegseth praised Qatar for playing a \u201csubstantial role\u201d in the peace talks that led to a ceasefire and hostage swap deal between Israel and Hamas, as well as the Gulf country\u2019s support when the US struck Iranian nuclear sites in June. Qatar is also home to the largest US military base in the region at Al-Udeid.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Qatar facility specifically has been in the works for several years; a 2022 announcement<\/a> from Mountain Home Air Force Base, published while President Joe Biden was in office, provided the results of an environmental assessment looking at the \u201cpotential impacts associated with the beddown of a US-led Qatar Emiri Air Force F-15QA squadron\u201d at the base.\n <\/p>\n

\n The \u201cbeddown\u201d is facilities for the training squadron\u2019s operations, the US official said, providing space for the pilots to train, brief, do their scheduling, and more. The countries who send pilots as part of this program provide the US funds through foreign military sales to build the facilities, the official added, and the military hires community labor around the bases to build them out.\n <\/p>\n

\n The final environmental impact report published in 2022 said it was for \u201cthe beddown of 12 F-15QA permanently assigned QEAF aircraft and associated equipment, use of the Mountain Home Air Force Base airfield and special use airspace and military training routes for training, use of defensive countermeasures and ordnance, approximately 300 additional QEAF and United States Air Force personnel, and the construction and modification of facilities and infrastructure needed to support the beddown.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The report said basing and operations were expected to begin in early Fiscal Year 2024, with an initial timeline of 10 years and an option to extend further if needed.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe further welcome today\u2019s signing of the letter of acceptance establishing a Qatar Emiri Air Force facility at Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho,\u201d al Thani said. \u201cThis step strengthens interoperabilities, enhances joint readiness, and advances our shared defense goals. Mr. Secretary, together we will continue to deepen this strategic partnership in pursuit of lasting peace and shared security.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n This story has been updated with additional details.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Friday that the US will allow Qatar to build an Air…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-203975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}