JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Approximately 60 members of the Alaska Air National Guard's 176th Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, recently deployed to Southwest Asia to support Operation Inherent Resolve.
The Guardsmen are HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter pilots and aircrew with the wing's 210th Rescue Squadron along with Airmen of the wing's 176th Maintenance Group and the 176th Operations Support Squadron.
The deploying Guardsmen will be attached to Combined Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. Upon arrival in theater, they will work with partner forces in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Their deployment is scheduled to last about four months.
“I'm proud to be sending an elite team downrange to conduct combat search and rescue – potentially bringing back isolated personnel to their families,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Harper, 210th Rescue Squadron commander.
Harper, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, said the Pave Hawk is the only purpose-built helicopter specialized in the recovery of personnel isolated under hostile conditions. It has a robust sensor suite and a hoist to assist in rescue operations, and is capable of refueling in flight to extend its endurance in a combat zone.
Harper said the deployers' training included participating in the Red Flag-Alaska exercise at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; and training in Boise, Idaho, where they worked with A-10 Thunderbolt II aircrews to further hone their combat search-and-rescue skills.
The crew of an HH-60G consists of two pilots, a flight engineer and a gunner. Flight operations require the support of operations support and maintenance Airmen.
“The Operations Support Squadron Airmen … make sure the mission can get done,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Calabro, 176th OSS commander. “They're the guys in the background, and they don't always get the majority of the credit, but the mission wouldn't go without them.”
Support specialties of the deploying Airmen include intelligence, fuels, munitions, maintenance and aircrew flight-equipment technicians.
Staff Sgt. Ken Mendenhall, an AFE technician with 176th OSS, said he is responsible for the life-support equipment on the Pave Hawk – everything from night-vision goggles and pistols to flight helmets and life vests. The Albany, Georgia, native said this is his first deployment, and he is ready to carry out the task he trained for.
“With everything that's going on in the world, I'm just going to focus on the job,” Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall is a “traditional” Guardsman who normally drills part time. He joins active Guardsmen and full-time technicians to round out the team.
“The Guard is different flavors, but you would never know it from looking at them and their uniforms,” said Calabro, a native of Yorktown Heights, New York. “You can't tell what status they are in, and it doesn't really matter, because they are all trained and prepared to do the job.”
For Tech. Sgt. Anthony Bockelman, an HH-60G avionics technician with the 176th Maintenance Squadron, this is his second deployment. As a civilian, Bockelman serves as an aviation safety inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration. He has a fiancée and three children.
“I travel with my civilian job, so they're used to me leaving, but I told them early on so we could get all of the emotions out of the way,” the Wasilla, Alaska, native said. “I took them to the Miranda Lambert concert last night as a way to say farewell.”
Calabro said many of his traditional Guardsmen work well beyond two days a month and two weeks a year to keep current with their aeronautical requirements. He anticipates his Airmen's mission overseas will look a lot like it does at home station.
“We do it every day here,” he said. “There's really no difference downrange except it's a little bit more dangerous in theater. The things they do here prepare them for the mission downrange.”