Alaska

Access to rural Alaska remains a struggle for Alaska National Guard

Published

2 years ago

February 8, 2023

Access to rural Alaska remains a struggle for Alaska National Guard

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – On Jan. 25, Alaska Nationwide Guard Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe addressed the challenges Arctic Warriors face within the Arctic throughout the Nationwide Guard Arctic Curiosity Council.

One of many massive takeaways from his handle was the essential want for higher entry to the Arctic.

“We’ve to have the ability to get there,” Alaska Nationwide Guard Public Affairs Director Alan Brown stated. “It’s actually tough to get round within the Arctic.”

As a lot as 80% of Alaska is off the overwhelmed path, with tons of of villages hidden between mountains, tundra, and tucked alongside frozen waters methods. Most of the communities and areas the Guard could also be wanted to reply to are remoted from bigger inhabitants facilities.

“For us to actually be ready for an Arctic operation — a large-scale Arctic operation — we’d like entry,” Brown stated.

Brown stated that entry presents an issue when the Guard finds themselves in a distant space that has restricted entry.

“We don’t have the suitable entry to get there shortly,” Brown stated.

Throughout his presentation, Saxe highlighted one of many massive missions that the Guard deployed on in 2022, the aftermath of Hurricane Merbok. The storms that hit Western Alaska devastated a lot of the coastal area, as homes have been ripped from their foundations and roadways changed by rivers. It was the most important off-road response the Alaska Guard had seen in a long time, in keeping with Saxe.

In the course of the mission, the Alaska Nationwide Guard deployed 160 members throughout 2,400 sq. miles to help in injury evaluation, clean-up, and infrastructure restore.

Whereas helping, the Alaska Nationwide Guard, acknowledged massive issues that they have been encountering.

“What we discovered in Hurricane Merbok is that we would have liked to make use of our hub communities in Western Alaska after which fan out from there,” Brown stated. “So, in a army operation, in a large-scale army operation, if we have been to ever be in some way invaded from one other nation via Alaska, that’s actually going to be a reasonably important constraint for us.”

Having restricted runways might create restraints on how a lot time the Guard must act.

“We want entry, and which means runways which are probably 8,000 toes or so lengthy,” Brown stated.

At the moment, Brown stated, there are solely three communities in Western Alaska that provide them the required runway size: Kotzebue, Nome and Bethel. Throughout Hurricane Merbok, they’d to make use of these communities as a hub and transfer outward from there. So as, to have a faster response time, Brown stated the Alaska Nationwide Guard stated they should have these further runways.

“Whether or not it’s the Nationwide Guard, whether or not it’s the lively responsibility, we have to broaden these runways within the space of the Arctic area in an effort to reply successfully and shortly,” Brown stated.

Brown stated that longer runways would turn out to be a essential element in making the Arctic entrance prepared if the army companies would ever must deploy for fight or a mission.

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Alaska

Augie Hockey team on long, cold, dark road trip to Alaska for 2 weekends

Published

1 hour ago

December 13, 2024

Press Room

Augie Hockey team on long, cold, dark road trip to Alaska for 2 weekends

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -The Augustana hockey team has certainly put on the miles thus far. They haven’t been home much.

But this road trip is unlike any other. They are in Alaska for 2 weeks where it’s cold, it’s dark and they will play 4 games on 2 weekends before coming home. But head coach Garrett Raboin thinks it’s actually an ideal situation for his guys.

Augustana Hockey Coach Garrett Raboin says, “These are the fun road trips that you remember. There’s moments throughout your college career and some of it doesn’t have anything to do with hockey. It’s being together with your best friends. And our guys get a chance to do that and as a staff we’re excited to tag along…”

The Vikings play two more games next weekend. But their next home game isn’t until January 17th. They split the 2 games at Fairbanks and play Anchorage this weekend.

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Alaska

After a yearslong delay, Air Force agrees to send more refueling planes to Alaska

Published

8 hours ago

December 12, 2024

Press Room

After a yearslong delay, Air Force agrees to send more refueling planes to Alaska

An Alaska Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker from the 168th Air Refueling Wing at Eielson A.F.B. photographed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Four additional KC-135 Stratotankers, the lynchpins of the U.S. military’s aerial refueling operations, have been assigned to Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, and with them around 220 additional personnel to maintain the aircraft.

News of the decision was announced Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, nearly four years after the Air Force first stated its intention to move the planes to Alaska.

There’s still no firm timeline as to when the tankers will be in place.

The aircraft were originally expected to arrive at Eielson in 2023, but that failed to happen. In October, Sullivan sent a stern letter to Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall asking for clarity on the matter.

“I am writing to express both my concern and frustration with years of stalling and rejection on the part of the Air Force to deliver vital aerial refueling assets to Alaska and with the state of aerial refueling capacity across the joint force,” Sullivan wrote.

According to Amanda Coyne, Sullivan’s communications director, Kendall relayed the decision reaffirming the military’s decision to bring four additional KC-135s to Alaska this week, though there is not yet a final timeline for when they will arrive and be put into regular use.

“The Guard and Eielson are excited for these new planes to come online,” said Alan Brown, communications director for the Alaska National Guard, which will be in charge of the aircraft. “To be granted these additional aircraft is a validation of their commitment to the mission and how important that mission is in the Arctic and Pacific regions.”

Brown said the Guard in Alaska received an email this week from the deputy director of the Air National Guard that the Air Force had “approved the final decision” on basing the planes in Fairbanks.

Aerial refueling is the military capacity to add fuel to various planes in mid-flight, thereby extending their range. Though Alaska’s fleet of cutting-edge fighter jets has grown in recent years with the arrival of dozens of F-35s, the number of Stratotankers used to gas them up during trainings and intercept missions has remained flat, straining existing planes and personnel.

There are no new Stratotankers. Of the roughly 400 KC-135s still used by the Air Force, most were built in the 1960s and have been steadily maintained and upgraded over the decades, a fixed stock that is shifted between bases and units. A newer model tanker designed to take over the military’s refueling mission, the KC-46 Pegasus, has been racked with problems, cost overruns, and delays that have meant the aging Stratotankers have remained the workhorses of U.S. air power in Alaska and around the globe.

“I have relentlessly pressed the Air Force to fulfill its commitment made to me in 2021 to redistribute four KC-135 tankers to Eielson, and I am glad to report it is finally happening,” Sullivan wrote.

The additional KC-135s will belong to the Alaska Air Guard’s 168th Wing, but be maintained and flown by active duty Air Force personnel. The four extra aircraft brings the total number of Stratotankers used in Alaska to 13.

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Alaska

University of Alaska Anchorage Launches Alaska Natives into the Psychology Program

Published

15 hours ago

December 12, 2024

Press Room

University of Alaska Anchorage Launches Alaska Natives into the Psychology Program

Details: By Native News Online Staff; December 12, 2024

The Indian Health Service granted The University of Alaska Anchorage Ph.D. Program a $1.2 million grant to support Alaska Native and American Indian students pursuing degrees in psychology.

AI/AN people represent only 0.13% of the psychology workforce. In Alaska, where 22% of the population is AIAN, there is a need for mental health research and services that represent and reflect the communities it serves. Provider shortages in rural areas, along with a potential lack of cultural understanding, can lead to AIAN Alaskans being unable to access mental and behavioral health care.

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The five-year grant will launch the Alaska Natives into the Psychology Program, or ANPsych. Dr. E.J.R. David, a professor of psychology at UAA who led the grant application, will serve as the ANPsych program director.

“We need an approach that centers trust and relationships with AIAN communities, one rooted in collaboration, focused on strengths and committed to addressing systemic barriers. By emphasizing Indigenous and rural psychology, UAA’s psychology Ph.D. program is uniquely suited to address AIAN mental health needs in a more culturally congruent manner,” David said in a press release.

Guided by a cultural advisory board and in collaboration with community organizations throughout Alaska, ANPsych will recruit Indigenous students into the UAA Psychology Ph.D. Program, support their educational journeys and connect them with tribal health organizations.

Additionally, ANPsych will provide full scholarships to qualified and eligible AIAN students who are accepted into the UAA Psychology Ph.D. program. The scholarships include a monthly living stipend, tuition and fees, a book allowance and research support. Upon graduation, ANPsych Scholars are expected to provide health care in organizations that serve AIAN communities.

For more information about the new ANPsych Program, visit the ANPsych website at uaa.alaska.edu/ansych.