US expands troop, fighter jet presence at Saudi base

submitted by Nemacolin from militarytimes.com

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[–]Nemacolin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I am going to retire in sixty days. Already the Kingdom is going to hell.

Across the vast expanse of this desert air base, hundreds of tents have popped up and F-15E fighters from the recently arrived 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron line the tarmac, flying daily missions over Iraq and Syria. Off in the distance, two American Patriot missile batteries are scanning the skies, prepared to knock down any Iranian attack against the Saudi kingdom.

The U.S. troop presence here has grown to roughly 2,500 since last summer, when the U.S. announced it had begun deploying forces to what once was a major U.S. military hub. The return of U.S. forces to Prince Sultan Air Base is one of the more dramatic signs of America’s decision to beef up troops in the Middle East in response to threats from Iran. The Strike Eagles of the 494th, the “Mighty Black Panthers,” deployed from RAF Lakenheath, England, are capable of executing strategic attack, interdiction and counter-air missions.

On Wednesday, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East spent a few hours meeting with his commanders and troops here, assessing what he called a “sweet spot” of U.S. force projection in the region.