JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — We all play an important role in helping to prevent suicide, but many people don't know what they can do to support our veterans or service members who are going through difficult times.
One way for everyone to do the best they can in order to support veterans and service members can me as simple as being a friend to those that you know may be struggling. Be kind to others in general, as we don’t always know when someone is going through a difficult time…Click to read the full story.
Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska — The social distancing requirements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped Alaska Air National Guard recruiters from enlisting applicants.
Staff Sgt. Elysia Wilson, a production recruiter with the 168th Wing, assisted with her second virtual enlistment April 16 at the 168th Wing headquarters building at Eielson Air Force Base…Click to read the full story.
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 — The Alaska National Guard Biathlon Team kicked off their competition season by receiving gold medals at the 2020 National Guard Bureau Western Regional Biathlon Competition at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, in Midway, Utah, Jan. 10-11.
At the competition, the Alaska women’s team took first place and the men’s team took home an overall second place award for their speed on skis and accuracy with a rifle. Individual winners included Chief Warrant Officer 5 Tracey Dooley, first place in women’s master’s pursuit race, and Spc. Everett Darrow, first place in men’s senior sprint and pursuit races…Click to read the full story.
Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska — In order to reserve N95 masks for medical personnel, Airmen from the 168th Wing, Alaska Air National Guard, are taking on the challenge to create a functional respirator mask using 3D printers.
The recent low availability of the N95 mask has been a concern expressed by professionals on the front lines of combating the COVID-19 virus…Click to read the full story.
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.
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Aircrew with the Alaska Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation transported three Iditarod mushers after they and their sled dog teams went through flood waters along the Iditarod Trail this morning, about 25 miles outside of Nome.
The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received a distress signal from a personal locator beacon and contacted the Army National Guard to request support from Nome personnel…Click to read the full story.
