The A-10 Warthogs the New York Air National Guard flies have new and revised training routes, thanks to rules implemented due to noise complaints from area residents. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports that the aircraft now must stay at least 2,000 feet above ground level when they are in certain “restricted” zones. The New York Air Guard has been working with area elected officials and residents to devise the new procedures. “We mostly changed the boundaries of the existing air space and made the routes wider,” said Lt. Col. Robert Blank, who explained that the change would reduce the concentration of the noise. The Press Republican reports that Blank, who is with the Air Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing, said that changes to New England area flight training would greatly reduce the number of flights over New York’s western Adirondacks, dropping from 4,500 sorties to around 1,400.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
