Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Julie Avey | Due to the strategic location, The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard...... read more read more
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WESTFIELD—Due to the strategic location, The 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Massachusetts, hosted 14 F-15s and one C-17 jet from Lakenheath, UK as they traveled to Nellis Air Force Base, Feb. 10th through the 18th.
“Lakenheath supported our deployment last year when we stopped in there, and this is our way of paying it back to our F-15C counterparts. This is a perfect example of Total Force Integration (TFI) where the Guard supports the Active Duty and vice versa,” said Lt. Col Jeffrey Beckel, commander of the 131st fighter squadron.
According to Beckel, due to the long trip from RAF Lakenheath to Nellis AFB, the jets stopped halfway at Barnes due to crew-rest considerations. An advance party of maintainers and pilots helped the jets continue on their journey.
These types of movements are routine, and the Wing was able to lend support due to available ramp space. Barnes’ own aircraft are deployed to the Weapons Systems Evaluation Program (WSEP) at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
The WSEP tests the readiness of the unit and weapons loaders through training exercises. This gives the unit a good measurement on how they are performing and where they can make improvements to be ready for combat or homeland defense.
Maj. Josh Tweedy of Lakenheath, UK is with the Wing this weekend to aid with the overnight.
“Barnes has been a world class organization letting us use their airfield,” Tweedy said.
Tweedy cited Barnes’ supporting role in areas from manpower on the airfield to housing for visiting unit members.
“It’s an awesome unit to work with…Total force works from that perspective,” Tweedy said.
According to Tweedy, the 14 jets from Lakenheath, UK will do Weapons School Support and Red Flag at Nellis AFB followed by WSEP at Tyndall in mid-March.
According to Senior Master Sgt. Brian Wallace, the opportunity to lend a supportive hand creates a community atmosphere with other units.
“It’s all about supporting the other units…We are a small, tight knit community that continually relies on each other for support,” Wallace said.
| Date Taken: | 02.12.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2017 08:13 |
| Story ID: | 224266 |
| Location: | WESTFIELD , MA, US |
| Web Views: | 608 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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