Wolf Russo, Common Operating Picture manager for the Alaska National Guard demonstrates the capabilities of Maven, an AI logistics software system, at the Joint Operations Center in the AKNG Armory on Joint Base-Elmendorf Richardson, (Alaska National Guard photo by Seth LaCount)
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – During the Alaska National Guard’s most recent disaster response exercise, Vigilant Guard, the AKNG made a significant leap forward in disaster response by integrating Palantir Technologies Maven software into its operations. The effort was led by Wolf Russo, a Title V civilian and the Common Operating Picture manager with the AKNG Joint Staff.
As the COP manager, Russo was instrumental in deploying and customizing Maven to support real-time decision-making across the state during the exercise for the system’s novel run.
Maven was introduced to the AKNG just a few months prior to the exercise. Despite being new to the team, it quickly proved itself as a powerful, intuitive tool for emergency response. Maven fuses data from multiple sources to enhance the COP and uses AI tools to track logistics, personnel and resource movements while recommending courses of action based on real-time input.
“It really shows how intuitive the system is—that we can use it to such great effect in very little time,” Russo said. “It took about an hour and a half to two hours to sit down with someone who had never used it and give them the information they needed to accomplish the mission.’
The system data integration proved valuable during a simulated flooding scenario along the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers, a realistic situation in a state where spring break up regularly threatens remote communities. Russo used Maven to map affected areas and establish key operational hubs in Bethel, Nome, and Fairbanks.
“We wanted to display the communities that were going to be affected,” Russo said. “Flooding happens frequently in Alaska, especially during breakup season. Being able to populate data on affected communities within those regions helps commanders see potential issues before they’re even reported and allows them to make those decisions on the fly.”
Setting up the COP required pulling in a variety of publicly available datasets—from road systems to USGS earthquake layers—to give commanders a detailed, geospatial understanding of Alaska’s terrain and risks.
“This takes a bit of time to set up and is the more labor-intensive part,” Russo noted, “but it allows us to create a visual representation for everyone involved about where they’re responding to and why.”
Russo said commanders can see what the situation looks like, what communities are affected and where to resource supplies and people.
“It allows us to mitigate loss of life, loss of property, and allows us to save money, because the quicker you’re able to respond, the more quickly you can be out of that situation.”
One standout capability of Maven was its integration with Incident Command System Form 213RR, which allowed teams to digitally track requests for assistance and pair them with appropriate Title 10 or Title 32 resources.
“Rather than having all that information at once, you can have a quick summation to look at and pin on the map, so you can see who will be giving that support and where it’s going,” Russo said.
Russo also emphasized the importance of a unified digital framework for operations in a state like Alaska.
“Alaska is geographically isolated from the rest of the United States, like an island,” he said. “If domestic response is needed, the Title 10 and 32 forces who are stationed here will be able to immediately respond. We all need to work together efficiently to take care of Alaskans and Maven helps everyone to use the same setup and streamline communication.”
Feedback from senior leadership and visiting officials from NORTHCOM was overwhelmingly positive.
“What I liked was the response we got about how intuitive the system was,” Russo said. “NORTHCOM had good things to say about the fact that we seem to be doing things very efficiently.”
He continued, “I usually expect growing pains with a new change to our procedures or systems, so it was a really refreshing thing to see—how easily an average service member was able to pick up the system and use it.”
Looking ahead, Russo sees Maven becoming a foundational part of the Guard’s future readiness.
“It’s easy to use, customizable, and adaptable to what we needed for Vigilant Guard,” he said. “I imagine we’ll continue to have training and continue to learn about the system so that when we integrate with Title 10 forces, the integration is more seamless.”
Russo’s goal is to ensure the system works not only on training days—but on Alaska’s worst days.
“My job is to ensure that this is a setup you can easily use to keep track of everything,” he said. “And to make sure that others are trained to use it too—so that on the worst day, they’re not learning the system, they’re using it.”
