Alaska Army Guardsman deploying to New Mexico to aid in border security

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska Army National Guardsman will soon head down to the Lower 48 as part of the federal Southwest Border Mission to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The nearly 12-month deployment will bring 20 Alaska-based soldiers and two UH-72A Lakota helicopters to New Mexico. Among the guardsmen are air crews, maintenance technicians, and additional support personnel.

On Monday, a deployment ceremony brought the deployed soldiers’ friends and family to the Alaska National Guard Joint Force Headquarters to celebrate a traditional Army sendoff.

For some of the guardsmen, like Spc. Derek Ruckle — an aircraft maintainer who joined the guard three years ago — this will be their first deployment.

“There’s definitely some nerves, but it’s equal part nerves and excitement,” Ruckle said. “There’s a lot of opportunities for career growth, as well as just experiencing somewhere new.”

The unit of soldiers — known as Detachment 2, C Company, 3-140th Security and Support Battalion — was formed after the Army National Guard received initial notification to prepare for the mission in January.

It’s the second deployment for Sgt. Marvin Caparas, who previously served overseas in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan. He’ll miss his wife and three kids but feels this deployment will be less challenging, logistically, to keep in contact with them.

“I feel a bit at ease, because I’m still kind of close to them and still within the U.S.,” Caparas said.

Caparas will serve as an aviation fueler during the nearly year-long mission. He’ll be serving alongside several members of the unit who were also on his previous deployment.

The deployment is a first for Spc. Hannah Kinder, a crew chief and maintainer who joined the National Guard just over two years ago. She’s looking forward to the opportunity to work in a new environment alongside her brother, who is also deploying.

“I’m excited for it,” Kinder said. “We’ve both been working side-by-side together, and we both volunteered for this deployment, and I’m excited to go down with him as well.”

Kinder started her career working on Black Hawk helicopters but transitioned her training to the Lakotas over the last five months in preparation for the deployment.

She said the months-long training as also given the chance to bond and learn how to work cohesively together.

The unit will team up with guardsmen from other states to provide aviation support to enhance the mission of the Customs Border Protection’s security operations.

The Detachment’s Commander, Capt. Kyle Johnson, said despite this being his first deployment since joining the National Guard in 2009 — joining Alaska, specifically, in 2021 after serving for over a decade in the Minnesota National Guard — he’s not nervous to lead the unit.

“I probably should be nervous, right? But we have such a good, formidable team that we’ve set up here, I’m honestly not — I think that we’re ready for whatever we need to do,” Johnson said. “I’m really, really confident in our team.”

The crew removed the blades on the two Lakotas and loaded the helicopters onto an Alaska Air National Guard C-17 Globemaster III for transport.

The soldiers are anticipating to leave for the deployment on Friday.

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