JUNEAU, Alaska – The Alaska Army National Guard’s 207th Aviation Troop Command, headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, stationed a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter in Juneau, Sept. 19, where AKARNG aviators will fulfill federal training requirements across Southeast Alaska.
In addition to their federal mission, the Black Hawk aviators will support, when available, emergency requests by the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center or the State Emergency Operations Center.
According to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Dana Clifford, a Juneau-based Black Hawk pilot, the primary purpose of stationing the aircraft in Juneau is to enable aircrew to stay proficient and current in their training requirements while operating across a range of austere Alaskan terrain.
“The challenging topography of the areas surrounding Juneau provides the aircrew ample opportunities to hone three mission skill sets: mountain, over-water and glacier operations,” said Clifford.
A Black Hawk helicopter in Juneau greatly increases the Guard’s response capability for future emergencies or domestic operations.
“When a request for helicopter support from JBER to Juneau comes in, the stars have to almost align for that flight to happen,” said Clifford. “Flights require a suitable weather window at both locations, and well, often that’s not the case. Having us down here means that if we get a call for support, we’ll be more able to help as well as get there faster than if we were responding from JBER.”
The Black Hawk is a versatile helicopter, suited for a variety of missions including, air assaults, medical evacuations, and lift operations. Depending on the configuration, the helicopter can also carry up to eleven passengers, lift 2600 pounds of cargo internally or 9000 pounds of cargo externally by sling. The Juneau-base Black Hawk is also equipped with internal and external auxiliary fuel tanks that extend its range to about four hours of flying time.
The Alaska Army National Guard now has full-time aircrews and helicopters stationed in five locations: Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Nome. Aircrews focus on training for a range of potential federal missions and are subject to
being deployed across the globe. However, if available, they can support State of Alaska in range of emergency response or domestic operations.
