Prince Khalid bin Salman, who was named as Deputy Defense Minister with a ministerial rank by a royal decree on Saturday, was the Saudi ambassador to the United States of America. Prince Khalid presented his credentials to US President Donald Trump and took office on July 21, 2017. He graduated from King Faisal Air College in Riyadh and joined the Saudi Royal Air Force. He received his initial training at Randolph Air Base in San Antonio, Texas, and received advanced training at the Columbus Air Base in Columbus, Mississippi, and studied advanced electronic warfare in France. Prior to his appointment as the Kingdom's ambassador to Washington, he served as an advisor at the Office of the Minister of Defense and then as an advisor to the Kingdom's embassy in Washington. During his tenure as advisor at the Office of the Minister of Defense, he was appointed by the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman with various portfolios and responsibilities. Prince Khalid has been close to the Crown Prince for a long time, and has been able during this period to accommodate the vision of the Crown Prince to develop the Ministry of Defense to be in the ranks of developed countries militarily. Prince Khalid bin Salman was the pilot of an F-15 aircraft and a tactical intelligence officer at the Saudi Royal Air Force. During his tenure as a Saudi Royal Air Force pilot, he carried out many combat missions as part of the international coalition campaign against Daesh in Syria and as part of Decisive Storm and Restore Hope operations in Yemen. Prince Khalid Bin Salman's closeness to the Crown Prince and the Defense Minister, and his work with him at the Defense Ministry helped him to become more familiar with the details of his recently announced strategic development plans. SPA
