F-15 deal brings in Saudi students

Saudi Arabia's $29.4 billion deal to buy 84 F-15SA fighters and upgrade a fleet of 70 F-15S aircraft will bring additional students to three bases in the Gulf Coast: Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. The Saudi students also will train at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and will receive English language training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. In 2012, the service expects to train more than 300 Saudi airmen under the agreement. The Air Force has been training members of the Royal Saudi Air Force on U.S. soil for more than 25 years. (Source: AFNS and 81st Training Wing, 01/04/12)