SC Air Guard conducts exercise Friday

The South Carolina Air National Guard is conducting air defense exercises Friday.

The air defense training will take place between 10-11:30 a.m. near Columbia, Augusta and Beaufort, according to a news release.

As part of this routine exercise, fighter jets assigned to the Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing might be seen escorting a single-engine aircraft belonging to the Civil Air Patrol, the release said. Most of the aircraft will not be visible from the ground.

The exercise, coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration, is held to ensure a rapid response against an intruder as part of the Guard’s Aerospace Control Alert mission.

“The McEntire unit is a critical component of the strategic force that is poised 24/7 to respond to airborne threats over the United States and is part of North American Aerospace Defense,” the release said.