WESTFIELD – Tomorrow the 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard will deploy over 100 unit members and F-15 Eagle aircraft for two weeks in support of the United States Air Force Weapons Instructor School (WIC) located at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada.
WIC teaches graduate-level instructor courses to elite fighter pilots, and provides the world’s most advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces. Several pilots assigned to the 104th Fighter Wing are top-flight WIC graduates. The Wing’s ongoing support and participation helps train the next generation of pilots, while keeping 104th Fighter Wing on the cutting edge. This approximately two week long deployment will also allow unit members the opportunity to practice deployment procedures and train at a deployed location by performing their military duties.
The 104th Fighter Wing is a Wing assigned to the Massachusetts National Guard and Air Combat Command. The Wing is equipped with the F-15 Eagle and supports worldwide overseas operations, homeland operations, domestic response, security cooperation and international strategic partnerships. One homeland mission of the 104th Fighter Wing is the Aerospace Control Alert (ACA) – providing armed F-15 fighters ready to scramble in a moment’s notice to protect the Northeast from any airborne threat. The Wing is responsible for protecting a quarter of the nation’s population and one third of the Gross Domestic Product.
