CBS THIS MORNING Goes Behind-the-Scens with Air National Guard

CBS News State Department Correspondent Margaret Brennan went behind-the-scenes at the Air National Guard in Tucson for a report on the Iraqi Air Force pilots who are currently being trained to fly F-16 jets in Arizona while Iraq is under siege from ISIS. The jets, Brennan reported, can't be flown into Iraq until the airspace is secured - and authorities don't yet know when that will happen.

In the report, which was broadcast today, Dec. 16, 2014 on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM) on the CBS Television Network, Brennan spoke to Iraqi Air Force Captain Mohammed Hama, who said that the Iraqi people are desperate for this kind of military power in the fight against ISIS.

"They can't wait to see the F-16 actually flying over Iraq to provide some cover," Hama told CBS THIS MORNING.

A partial transcript and full video of the interview follow:

Meet the next top gun of the Iraqi Air Force.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Your instructor told us you're pretty much ready. You could be flying a mission.

MOHAMMED HAMA: I can go today if they want me to.

Mohammed Hama is head of his class at one of America's premier schools for fighter pilots - run by the Air National Guard in Tucson. He's learning how to fly F-16s - the American-made, $60 million fighting machines, with speeds of over 1,500 miles per hour.

HAMA: Being up there is, I mean, I can't describe it to you. You've got to be up there so you can feel the rush.

Captain Hama is practicing on jets in Arizona because the airbases where he'd train in Iraq are under attack by ISIS. The 36 F-16s that the Iraqi government just purchased for nearly $7 billion will be stationed here until security improves.

JULIAN PACHECO: Alright. Chow flare pin is in and a full bucket.

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