JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — The fog slowly lifted early morning from the Alaska Military Youth Academy campus. The morning wake-up command of “Get on Line!” is now literally replaced with “Go online.”
The AMYA class 20-2 is exactly one-half of the way through the “residential” phase of the program. In a typical cycle, the class would be excited about seeing their families for the first time on Mother’s Day.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — The Alaska National Guard Joint Task Force-Logistics team is supporting three mission assignments for the State Emergency Operations Center and is continuing a coordinated response to assist the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The team is in charge of sourcing and disseminating equipment and available personnel internally to support entities within the Alaska National Guard, and externally to support community organizations that have requested assistance. They are readily available to provide resources and follow proper procedures for a variety of community requests.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — President James Buchanan told 19th century Americans that “the test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.”
More than a month has passed since President Donald Trump issued a national emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic. Though Alaska remains a state with one of the lowest contraction rates and death tolls in the nation, Alaska National Guard leadership, in a joint effort with the rest of the organized militia, have built on their preemptive measures to mitigate the potential harm done by the virus, acting in the spirit of Buchanan’s vision of how leadership is exemplified.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — On March 24, 1989, a man-made disaster shocked the 49th state.
The Exxon Valdez oil tanker had run aground, spilling more than 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. More than 1,300 miles of coastline were slicked with the greasy substance affecting all manner of wildlife.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska’s geography, land mass and weather create a unique challenge in combating the state’s more common natural disasters like earthquakes, fires and floods. So how much more is that challenge accentuated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic?
In extreme circumstances, there simply aren’t enough law enforcement officials, firefighters or others employed in the field of domestic response to grapple with the task of protecting every Alaska citizen with maximal efficiency. Providentially, Alaska is one of 23 U.S. states that’s backed by a tested, experienced volunteer force with a state-wide presence and the precise skillset for the job: the Alaska State Defense Force.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate the news cycle in America and all over the globe, Alaskans were reminded this weekend that the American Soldier has rarely had the luxury of prioritizing self. One of the fundamental oaths of the Soldier's Creed is to always place the mission first. For more than 150 Alaska Army Guardsmen assigned to the 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, stepping off the aircraft at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Saturday, April 4, closed the book on another completed mission.
It was a luminous spring evening in Anchorage. The golden Alaskan sun flickered through an eerily vacant North Terminal at the airport. More than 10 months had passed since the Soldiers tasted Alaska's fresh mountain air. They were finally home.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — The state of Alaska will welcome back more than 150 Soldiers from the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, returning from deployment on Saturday, April 4. The 297th IN BN Soldiers were deployed to the country of Kosovo for a NATO peacekeeping mission and were out of the country for nearly nine months.
The Soldiers have recently demobilized from deployment and for the last 14 days, the 297th IN BN has been quarantined on U.S. Army base Ft. Bliss located in El Paso,Texas amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Soldiers have followed all federally mandated COVID-19 health and safety precautions during their travels and time spent in Texas.
BETHEL, Alaska — U.S. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Sara McPherson, the decontamination NCO and acting noncommissioned officer in charge with the 12th Civil Support Team (CST) out of New Hampshire, set up a sick call for local native Alaskans to seek medical treatment in Bethel, Alaska, on Feb. 29, during exercise Arctic Eagle 2020.
The CST exercise scheduled to take place in Bethel Feb. 29 through March 1 was cancelled because of near-whiteout conditions. However, even in inclement weather, Staff Sgt. McPherson and the, approximately, 29 other Alaska National Guard, Alaska State Defense Force, and 12 CST personnel continued their domestic operations mission to support the people of Bethel.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska National Guard, Alaska State Defense Force and New Hampshire NG's 12th Civil Support Team will travel to Bethel on Saturday, Feb. 29 as part of exercise Arctic Eagle 2020 and Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe's, AKNG commander and Alaska Department of Military and Veteran's Affairs commissioner, initiative to strengthen department's ties with rural communities.
The Bethel armory will serve as an exercise venue for the AKNG, ASDF and 12th CST to simulate a scenario designed to validate equipment and procedures for operations in rural, arctic environments. The team of 20 personnel will stay overnight at the armory to conduct a simulated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive material response mission. During the exercise, they will establish a sick call medical facility within the armory and test long range communications equipment with personnel as far away as the Alcantra armory in Wasilla.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Approximately 900 Air and Army National Guardsmen from 15 states are set to participate in Exercise Arctic Eagle 2020 across the state of Alaska, from Feb. 20 to March. 7.
Arctic Eagle 2020 is a statewide exercise involving national, state and local agencies designed to provide opportunities for participants to conduct sustained operations in the extreme cold-weather conditions found in Arctic environments.
