JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska —Airmen with the Alaska Air National Guard’s 210th, 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons rescued two distressed hikers with the assistance of two Alaska Mountain Rescue Group members June 17 near Mount Marathon west of Seward.
AMRG is a nonprofit volunteer search and rescue organization dedicated to providing search and rescue services in Alaska.
According to Alaska Air National Guard Master Sgt. Jeff Hamilton, a controller at the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, the mission was opened in response to a request for assistance from the Alaska State Troopers.
The AMRG members reached the hikers by ground and rappelled to their location where they rendered aid and secured the distressed individuals. Upon assessing the steep angle of the slope, the AMRG members determined extraction by helicopter hoist was the safest course of action.
An HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter launched from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with two pararescuemen (PJs) to respond. The aircrew located the uninjured hikers and lowered the PJs to the slope using the hoist.
On scene, the PJs secured and hoisted the two hikers and one AMRG member safely into the helicopter.
The helicopter transported them to Seward Airport before aerial refueling from a 211th RQS HC-130 Combat King.
The Guardsmen hoisted the last AMRG member with his equipment and transported him to Seward Airport.
