MOUNTAIN HOME, ID – The commander of the U.S. Air Force’s 366th Fighter Wing told a committee of Idaho legislators on Friday that an initial contingent of about 50 Qatari Emiri Air Force personnel could arrive for training at Idaho’s Mountain Home Air Force Base beginning around 2030 under a training program announced last month by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Col. David “Boar” Gunter told the Idaho Legislature’s Committee on Federalism that the number of personnel could increase to perhaps 300 people – in Qatari personnel and U.S. personnel – as the training program reaches its full operational capabilities. Overall the training program could last for 10 years, he said.

Gunter told Idaho legislators that plans for the Qatari training program have been under development for several years, and the squadron would be a U.S. flag squadron under the leadership of the U.S. Air Force.

“The program builds on the United States Air Force’s long standing tradition of hosting allies and partner nations for training with similar programs as to several Air Force bases here in the United States,” Gunter said.

Training with allies to prepare for combat

Gunter said the ability to train with allies with Qatari Emiri Air Force at Mountain Home Air Force Base helps ensure they will be prepared to serve with multinational forces during more stressful, high stakes combat missions in the future.

“The United States Air Force and United States government relies on our allies and partners to multiply our capabilities and to continue to provide the safety and security that we provide around the world,” Gunter said.

Gunter made a sports analogy to describe the training, saying a team of football players who practice and train together will perform at a higher level with better unity during high-stakes game situations.

“That is very similar to the advantages that we get by training with our partners and allies before we are in a very stressful situation that is air-to-air combat,” Gunter said.

In addition to Qatari Emiri Air Force personnel, Gunter told Idaho legislators the Qatari personnel may bring dependents such as spouses or family members with them, but Gunter said it was too early to know details.

Idaho’s elected officials were surprised by Qatari facility announcement

On Oct. 10, Hegseth announced the deal to train Qatari Emiri Air Force personnel at Idaho’s Mountain Home Air Force Base.

In televised remarks, Hegseth said, “Today we are announcing that we are signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emiri Air Force Facility at the Mountain Home Air Base in Idaho.”

That same day, Hegseth took to social media to clarify his remarks, writing “Qatar will not have their own base in the United States – nor anything like a base.”

The announcement caught U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, Gov. Brad Little and other officials off guard, records obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun revealed.

Late last month, Risch, Little, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo and U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher, all R-Idaho, wrote letters asking Hegseth for a briefing on the Qatari training deal and answers questions about logistics and national security.

Risch also spoke to the Idaho Legislature’s Federalism Committee on Friday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

Risch, who serves as chairman of the U.S Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Idaho’s entire congressional delegation’s staff was meeting Friday morning with the Department of Defense to “find out exactly what happened” with the training program announcement.

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho calls Qatar an ally, touts U.S. military base in Qatar

Risch said the purpose of the Mountain Home Air Force Base is to provide training for aviators from the United States and its allies. Risch said U.S. allies from all over the world train on F-15 and F-16 aircraft at Mountain Home Air Force Base.

“People come from all over the world – not our adversaries – but people who are allies,” Risch said Friday.

“Go out there any day and you’ll find people from all over the world training out there,” Risch said.

Risch told committee members that Qatar is a U.S. ally and the U.S. operates a military base there.

“Being careful of what I say here, they are not a perfect ally of ours,” Risch said. “But we have a huge military base in Qatar. It’s got thousands of soldiers, sailors, Marines, aircraft, ships – everything. If there’s ever a blow up in the Middle East, our war will be fought from Qatar because they host our base there.”

When it comes to the Mountain Home Air Force Base training deal, Risch stressed that the United States controls that base and Hegseth’s announcement doesn’t change that.

“Nobody has control of that except the American government,” Risch said.

Several Idaho legislators voice concerns about Qatari Emiri Air Force training deal

After Gunter delivered his prepared remarks to the committee, several Idaho legislators voiced concerns about the training partnership with Qatar.

“I would assure you that Idaho has an unwavering support for you and the members of our Air Force, but when it comes to this, the support is waning greatly in the population,” Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood, said. “I’m getting dozens and dozens and dozens of emails and phone calls with great concern that we are yoking ourselves and bringing people here that have been speculated to be a major funder of terrorism in other parts of the world.”

Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins, also told Gunter that she has concerns and has heard from many concerned constituents.

“I just want to go on record that I have concerns about this process about aligning ourselves with a known country of … sponsoring terrorism,” Carlson said.

Gunter told the Idaho legislators there is a rigorous vetting process for everyone brought on the Mountain Home Air Force Base that takes about 30 days to complete. Gunter said there would be certain areas on the base and certain information the Qatari Emiri Air Force personnel would not have access to. Gunter also said there are numerous other security measures in place on the base that he could not disclose but that he said he had total confidence in.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.