WESTFIELD – The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base will be executing hot pit refueling training along with night flying November 2-5, 2016.
The 104th issues this statement so as not to alarm residents but to inform those in the local area who may be startled by the increase noise around the airfield. In order to increase the safety and efficiency on a limited number of sorties, 104th Fighter Wing aircraft may occasionally takeoff opposite to standard noise abatement procedures. These sorties will remain a very low percentage of all sorties flown.
The training exercise will also include night flying.
The evening missions are a critical part their required reoccurring pilot training. The night training ensures their pilots are ready to respond to any airborne threat in the Northeastern United States, at any time, in any condition.
The pilots will be training on critical homeland defense and wartime aviation skills to defend the nation against terrorist threats and overseas conflicts. The required training is critical to assure the Airmen are prepared for homeland defense and wartime missions.
This training will include F-15 aircraft scheduled to take off and land in a non-standard direction to increase safety and efficiency when doing Hot Pits. Hot Pit training is rarely conducted and when accomplished it is with reduced number of aircraft.
