1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion trains in Alaska’s Arctic

Helicopters and personnel from the 1- 52nd Normal Help Aviation Battalion (GSAB), usually stationed at Fort Wainwright, practiced sling load and long-range flight operations round Prudhoe Bay Aug. 17-26.

Two UH-60 Black Hawk and two CH-47 Chinook helicopters with about 25 help personnel staged from the Deadhorse Airport whereas flying missions over the Arctic tundra to extend the attain of 1-52nd Aviation Regiment past Inside Alaska and to deal with long-range natural logistics to help flight firms as they prepare on expeditionary deployment duties.

The flight operations centered primarily on areas east of Deadhorse alongside the North Slope, mentioned Capt. Jacob Norris, assistant operations officer for the “Flying Dragons” of the 1-52nd GSAB.

“This was an ideal alternative to have the ability to base ourselves out of Deadhorse and fly up all alongside the Arctic shoreline the place there’s not quite a lot of infrastructure put in for flying, there’s not quite a lot of climate reporting, there’s not quite a lot of gas stations, after which use quite a lot of these inherent eventualities to base load plans and coaching off of for our pilots,” Norris mentioned.

Climate alongside Alaska’s North Slope additionally fed into the coaching realism.

“It’s a infamous terrible-weather space,” Norris defined. “We’ve had some low ceilings with some fog that has been persisting and just a few horrible visibility. When all that lifted, we had unbelievable excessive winds that had been outdoors the restrictions of the Chinooks we’ve up right here, in addition to the Black Hawks to take off and go fly.

“No person likes to not fly, nevertheless it gives an outstanding coaching alternative for our pilots to actually know what horrible climate seems like and what they’ll and can’t fly in,” he mentioned.

Norris mentioned missions like this in Deadhorse and an earlier mission flying across the Aleutian Islands in Alaska’s far southwest assist put together the Flying Dragons to help the eleventh Airborne Division in its position within the Military’s Arctic Technique.

“Every part that we’re attempt to do is to increase the attain of the GSAB. The most important factor we are able to deliver to the battle for the eleventh Airborne is to permit a floor commander to maneuver their folks so far as they’ll. So, if we are able to attain each nook of Alaska, we really feel like we’re doing our job.”