Apr 1, 2015 2 min read

Five military helicopters flying above the Washington area may have attracted the attention of area residents this week as the aircraft landed and took off from Washington County Airport.

William McGowen, executive director of Washington County Redevelopment Authority, which oversees the operation of the county airport in North Franklin and South Franklin townships, explained the Apache attack helicopters were part of a military training exercise.

He distributed photos of the group of helicopters to the county commissioners at their agenda meeting Wednesday, about the time the aircraft were departing from the county airport, after their arrival about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. One of the pilots is from Weirton, W.Va.

Scott Gray, airport executive director, said Wednesday, “They arrived in succession, about 1,000 feet apart, all in a row,” which is known as “flying in trail.”

“Usually it’s one or two at a time,” Gray said. “It’s normally not five at a time. We do get Blackhawks much more often, bringing people to meetings and so forth with the guard unit.”

Gray was referring to the airport’s neighbor, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard at 125 Goodridge Lane.

The twin-engine Apaches refueled with jet fuel at the airport.

Capt. Peter Smedberg, public affairs officer for the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade based at Fort Drum, N.Y., near Watertown, said the helicopters were on their way to Fort Polk, La., for a joint readiness training exercise, which he described as one of the “routine training events that we have throughout the year.”

The training exercise lasts approximately 30 days, depending on the scenario.

“We fall under the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army,” Smedberg said. When Apache helicopters “fly cross-country from installation to installation, they don’t fly with weapons,” Smedberg added. The helicopters in the United States are outfitted with weapons only if they’re flying over a range conducting live-fire exercises.