JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Besides her distinctively mottled Canadian Disruptive Pattern uniform and a habit of pronouncing lieutenant as “left-tenant,” there is nothing differentiating Royal Canadian Air Force Capt. Elyse O’Brien, 176th Air Defense Squadron air battle manager, from her fellow “Top Rock” squadron members. While monitoring her radar-display scope directing F-22 Raptor fighters, O’Brien […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing rescued a pregnant woman in distress Dec. 27 at Kipnuk about 100 miles southwest of Bethel. Alaska Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Evan Budd, Alaska Rescue Coordination Center superintendent, said officials of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital requested assistance when a pregnant […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Matt Steible, a 212th Rescue Squadron pararescueman (PJ), knew that in order to get to the victim of a roadside bomb trapped under a subcompact sedan, he would have to lift the stricken vehicle. Steible grasped the underside chassis rail and, with superhuman strength, lifted […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — A 211th Rescue Squadron HC-130J Combat King isn’t your everyday C-130. Configured for combat search and rescue (CSAR), the King is packed with sensors designed to search for isolated service members, and it has four wing-mounted tanks that can pass JP-8 aviation fuel to CSAR HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters while airborne. […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing rescued four occupants from two aircraft crashes Aug. 12 and 14. The Guardsmen rescued two from a PA-18 Super Cub crash in the Ptarmigan Pass area Thursday, and they rescued three from a PA-14 Family Cruiser on the Beluga River on Saturday. […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing medically evacuated two injured occupants of an overturned Cessna 206 aircraft July 31 from King Salmon to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The aircraft turned over on Kukaklek Lake and triggered the onboard 406 Emergency Locator Transmitter. Good Samaritans on scene transported the injured […]
Arctic Guardians of 176th Mission Support Group swap jobs to become Multi-Capable Airmen JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — The complexity of moving a flying mission from an Air Force base with all the bells and whistles to an austere airfield somewhere in the vast blue reaches of the Pacific is tantamount to a mini moonshot. […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 176th Wing medically evacuated a possible stroke victim Feb. 20 at Stoney River Lodge 200 miles west of Anchorage, about 30 miles east of the village of Sleetmute. Alaska Air National Guard Lt. Col. Keenan Zerkel, Alaska Rescue Coordination Center director, said the Alaska State […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guardsmen of 176th Wing participated in the Operation Noble Defender search-and-rescue/personnel recovery (SAR/PR) exercise Jan. 19 to 22, 2021, in Southcentral Alaska. Noble Defender is a North American Aerospace Defense Command Arctic air-defense operation. “The Noble Defender exercise series seeks to support a variety of campaign objectives […]
