WESTFIELD — The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield is scheduled to conduct early evening training flights on Tuesday through Friday.
The early evening missions will launch from the Barnes-Westfield Regional Airport.
Senior Master Sgt. Julie Avey said in an email that training would not be over Hampshire County unless other airspace was unsuitable.
The base does not want to alarm local residents who may be startled by the increase in aircraft activity during the evening hours. The evening missions are a critical part of their required reoccurring pilot training, since night training ensures that pilots are ready to respond to any airborne threat in the northeastern United States.
“Our Homeland Defense mission is a 24-hour mission and as such we need to be trained and ready to respond both during the day as well during the night at a moment’s notice,” said Maj. Brett Vanderpas of the 104th Fighter Wing Operations Group.
The pilots will be training on critical homeland defense and wartime aviation skills to defend the nation against terrorist threats and overseas conflicts.