Residents of North Whidbey Island might have noticed sleek aircraft whizzing overhead. More than usual, anyway.

Strike Fighter Squadron 125 from Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., and Naval Reserve Fighter Squadron Composite 12 from NAS Oceana, Va., arrived on Whidbey two weeks ago to begin routine training over the Olympic Peninsula.

The Lemoore detachment, VFA-125, represents the Navy’s F/A-18 Fleet Replacement Training Squadron with 12 jets, while the latter squadron, VFC-12, sent eight Hornet strike fighters. All together, the detachment brought approximately 200 military personnel to the base.

Training in the Pacific Northwest has afforded the personnel experience in a very different type of climate with a varied topography.

“It really ramps up the level of training,” said Kim Martin, NAS Whidbey public affairs officer.

Up until Wednesday, the weather had been tailor-made for the training. Although an Olympia native, Lt. Luke Russell, pilot and officer in charge of detachment VFA-125, has grown accustomed to arid, high desert conditions in the California training areas.

“You’re hoping for an Indian summer,” Russell said as the rain fell through a heavy mist. “Then you get this. It was great up until today. But we’re doing fine. We’re tracking very well.”

The lieutenant called the terrain and working areas “outstanding.” In addition to the high altitude training over the Olympics, the squadrons have also worked out west over the water.

“The areas have been really nice,” he said.

The aesthetics, however, have almost taken a backseat to the amazing hospitality offered the visiting military personnel by the base.

“They have been completely supportive from the get-go,” Russell said. “I have been surprised at the support, even from the initial inquiry.”

Bringing a large detachment to NAS Whidbey requires an inflexible schedule to complete the desired training, which has thus far been accomplished. Servicemen and women on the base have accommodated their visiting comrades, even going so far as to wave them through to fill up gas tanks.

“As an overall snapshot, the base support has been outstanding,” the Olympia High School graduate said.

Pilots have flown multiple sorties each day, all in daylight hours, and the training will continue through late-September.