Air Station Kodiak's Operation Arctic Shield

“Since I have left office, there have been repeated proposals to open the Arctic Refuge coastal plain to oil drilling.” This direct quote makes me feel like we, as humans, could do some severe damage to the environment. How much damage could we do? Who would be the ones to clean up the irreversible damage we have done? Without the persistence of the indigenous people, this great refuge would not be what it is. “There are few places on earth as wild and free as the Arctic Refuge.” This statement has so much truth and should hit us on a personal level because it makes you wonder how many places are there left like this on the earth? How long can we preserve this place? We should be more careful and use our resources

As well as learning our own capabilities and strengths and weakness making ourselves stronger. Each day we continue to be challenged by the organizational and leadership challenges that present it self, and are still working to fix some of the processes that were broken with the change of the organization. Although, I don’t think anyone can be fully prepared for a disaster such as a Cascadia Subduction Zone, we do have a plan that we are continuing to exercise and are going through the processes of developing relationships with other states to set up mutual aid agreement. Overall, the Joint Operation Command is better prepared on how to respond to natural disasters and states of emergency. All, not having been possible without having gone through the challenges of the restructure of the Oregon National Guard and the vision and confidence of our leaders to

Early realignment and retaining eight OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Helicopter Armament / Electrical / Avionics Systems Repair (15J) Soldiers work in A Troop remained paramount to launch-recover-launch operations, an Operational Readiness (OR) rate of over 98%, and leading TF Wolfpack with over 11,000 hours flown

The strategy of the 176th Wing is to work with internal and external partners to increase our Arctic representation, emergency management response, engagement in Alaskan rural communities, and to continue to perform multiple federal and state missions. The strategy of the 176th Wing is set by the Governor of Alaska through The Adjutant General and the Wing Commander.

The Army will begin their transition in reducing total personnel and force structure beginning in FY13. Our manning flexibility will be reduced causing affecting our ability to over man formations. Currently we can fill every position we are authorized with a Soldier, however that Soldier may not be of correct grade or MOS for that position. Prioritizing, the Army is going to focus on fully manning deploying units for prioritized operations, synchronizing the personnel assignments process with the ARFORGEN cycle and with Army priorities and invest in top quality officer and non-commissioned officers (NCO) in the institutional

But the new proposal goes a step further with the creation of four battalions, which would rotate through bases in eastern Europe and the Baltics, and be on standby for emergencies.

Stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, GA., The medevac was task to assist with disaster recovery when South Carolina was affected by catastrophic, life-threatening flooding. The Commanders, from the company level all the way up to Brigade, using operational sustainment, and knowing what the organization was capable of, were able to organize crews and make the decision to go. This required crews that were trained and proficient at the tasks such as hoist and over-water operations. The equipment necessary to do rescue operations, from the medical equipment up to having aircrafts available. This also meant sustainment in the form of organizational support from DART teams and operations personnel, all ready and providing help in the rear. We were able to accomplish what was asked of us because of training and leadership support at all levels. Sustainment relies on every individual within the organization to do their part, and leadership to be able to recognize deficiencies and have a plan to address this. All in an effort to become fully functional in their warfighting skills and mission

ATC has many functioning sub-units acting in concert to complete a common goal, but for the purposes of this paper, we will focus on the HC-144 platform. The HC-144 program is currently short seven personnel (E-4 to E-6) according to what the PAL requires any unit to support four aircraft. If

In Henry Fountain’s “Alaska’s Permafrost is Thawing”, Fountain discusses how Alaska’s permafrost is slowly thawing away. Alaska is known for its vast, snowy landscape, but that soon could be all gone. This article is directed towards people who are interested in the warming of Alaska. As the Arctic is warming at an alarming rate, wildlife is slowing disappearing and sea levels are rising.

When the Arctic National Wildlife sanctuary is thought about majority of people think about the miles of ice caps one would see, the polar bears relaxing on or playing with one another and then we hear the noises of a seals barking after they have just finish eating fresh fish for dinner. Now, that this thought is so clear, imagine several massive oil drills, enormous well pumps and all types of heavy hauling equipment popping up all around this area that is so overwhelming peaceful. The argument for such action has been in the works for the last

Discussion. When CFLCC seizes Pushkino, the 18th and 88th Tank Divisions and the 77th and 84th Mechanized Divisions will become isolated from the remainder of AHA forces. Assuming CFACC successfully destroys 30% of AHA forces

This article is about the lack of polar icebreakers available to the US coast guard and the obstacles in the way of getting more. One of the biggest obstacles is that they don't know what’s the national imperative for getting another icebreaker.

This case study concerns possible oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on the north slope of Alaska’s Brooks Range adjacent to the Gwich’in reservation. This could put the Porcupine Caribou Herd at risk and possibly jeopardize the food source and traditional culture of the Gwich’in people (Pg. 129). However, as fossil fuel sources begin to run out, Americans seem to feel entitled to drill for oil anywhere there is a reserve, even when that means sacrificing the greater good of a community or nature. One of the questions asked is if America deserves the oil at the risk of the Gwich’in people, when we have such an excess of energy consumption and the failure of North Americans to restrict this energy consumption?

In 2007, the Air Force decided its number one acquisition priority was to replace the KC-135. After a long drawn out battle, in 2011, Boeing was awarded the contract to “build 179 KC-46 tankers for the Air Force by 2027”. However, “414 [Tankers] are still flying, including 180 in Guard,” so the replacement process will be slow, with approximately 12 new KC-46 Pegasus per year. Therefore, the Air Force expect another 20-30 years of service before the KC-135 “E and R models meet their lifetime flying hour limits of 36,000 and 39,000 hours.” Future requirements for aerial refueling might include refueling unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which neither the KC-135 nor the KC-46 can do.

If the arctic becomes an area that is “open for business” for anyone to mine, drill or fish in it is likely that the habitats of many different species of wildlife will be damaged. Oil spills can severely hurt many species of bird and fish which live in the Arctic, as well as the animals which prey on them, and as there is currently no surefire way to fix or contain an underwater oil spill if it happens, along with the limited infrastructure currently in the Arctic, the results of one could be disastrous for the Arctic’s ecosystem. Over half of all of the United State’s fish supply comes from the Arctic Many areas of the Arctic already are being hurt by illegal fishing and unprofitable overfishing, which could be curbed if major countries would stop providing subsidies to unprofitable fishing