Air Defense Exercises Scheduled for Southeast Ohio Nov. 5-7 Published Nov. 7, 2013 By Tim Jones EADS Rome -- The Eastern Air Defense Sector will conduct three exercises over southeast Ohio from Tuesday, Nov. 5 through Thursday, Nov. 7. Carefully planned and closely controlled, the exercises have been coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and will evaluate elements of the Ohio Air National Guard's 180th Fighter Wing and the 965th Air Control Squadron from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. The exercises, collectively known as Fertile Hawk 14-02, also test the Eastern Air Defense Sector's (EADS) command and control procedures. The exercises will take place between 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. each evening in military training airspace southeast of Columbus and east of Cincinnati. Two F-16 fighter jets, an E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control systems (AWACS) aircraft, and two small Civil Air Patrol aircraft, which serve as simulated targets, will be involved in each exercise. Most activity will not be visible from the ground. EADS and its counterpart, the Western Air Defense Sector at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, are part of the Continental North American Aerospace Defense Command Region (CONR) and are responsible for the air defense of the continental United States. The Sectors conduct these types of exercises on a routine basis as part of North American Aerospace Defense Command's Operation Noble Eagle, which was initiated after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.