WESTFIELD – The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base is scheduled to conduct evening training flights for two weeks, March 10-12 and March 16-19.
The evening missions will launch from Barnes-Westfield Regional Airport in Westfield between 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., with expected landings between 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
“We do not want to alarm the residence around the local area of Westfield who may be startled by the increase in aircraft activity during the evening hours,” the 104th Fighter Wing stated in a media advisory released Sunday. “The evening missions are a critical part of our required reoccurring training. The night-training is required to ensure our pilots are ready to respond to any airborne threat in the northeastern United States, at any time, in any condition.”
“With our 24/7 alert posture, our Airmen could respond to an airborne threat at any time protecting one quarter of the nation’s population and one third of the its gross domestic product,” the release stated. “We often do not have the luxury of advance notice, however, when we can prepare for training missions such as these, we will try to share as much information as we can. Thank you for your continued support.”
The 104th Fighter Wing is equipped with the F-15 Eagle. One mission of the 104th is Aerospace Control Alert (ACA), providing armed fighters ready to scramble in a moment’s notice to protect the Northeast from any airborne threat.
