FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Fort Smith mayor George McGill gave his annual State of the City address on Feb. 27. McGill touched on a couple of subjects including the foreign service pilot training service which could be coming to Fort Smith.

The mayor says all signs are pointing to it coming to the city. He also discussed the potential impact the program will have on the area.

“You will have a whole new culture of families in Fort Smith, Arkansas,” McGill said. “Their children will be attending our schools and their families will be leaving in our community. This is the first time a mission like this where the families will be living on base,”

McGill says he hopes to get official word on the program sometime in the next three weeks. If it does come to the River Valley, it could bring hundreds of jobs.

Former Secretary of the Air force Barbara Barrett signed a memorandum on July 6, 2020, to establish a permanent Foreign Military Sales training center at a single location in the continental U.S. for up to 36 F-35 aircraft and a Singapore Air Force F-16 squadron.

In that same month, it was announced that Fort Smith was one of five finalists to host the mission.