Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing to conduct F-15 night training missions, possibly over C.O.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Wing will conduct routine F-15 Eagle night training missions next Monday through Thursday, Dec. 11-14, which could include flights over Central and Eastern Oregon.
Commander of the 142nd Wing Colonel Michael Kosderka says these nighttime missions are necessary for pilot proficiency.
“Night training for F-15 Eagles is crucial to ensure the readiness and effectiveness of the 142nd Wing in all conditions," he said. "Mastering nighttime operations enhances pilots' skills, allowing them to navigate and engage in low-light scenarios, ultimately bolstering our national defense capabilities and maintaining air superiority.”
Public Affairs Superintendent Steven Conklin tells NewsChannel 21 that the location of the flights "is all weather- and mission-dependent. They will determine on a day-by-day basis where they will be conducting their training, which could include Eastern/Central Oregon."
Night training allows the Citizen-Airmen pilots based at the Portland Air National Guard Base to stay current with mandatory Air Force requirements. Night flying is conducted as an essential training requirement for nighttime maneuvers.
Training flights will be completed each evening before 10:45 p.m.
The announcement of next week operations referred to them as "temporary," which Conklin is mostly to assure the community around the Portland base that it's "a periodic thing that the Wing conducts multiple times every year, mostly in the fall/winter."
About the 142nd Wing:
The Portland Air National Guard Base employs around 1,400 Airmen who provide an economic impact of nearly $130 million to the region. The 142nd Wing defends our homeland with F-15 Eagle fighter jets, guarding the Pacific Northwest skies from Northern California to the Canadian border, as part of Air Combat Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Their mission is to provide unequaled, mission-ready units to sustain combat aerospace superiority and peacetime tasking any time, any place in service to our nation, state and community.
