Alaska Air National Guard may miss half its alert missions under new manning rules
A plan to replace 80 active duty spots with 88 civilian-style jobs could disrupt the 24/7 NORAD-mandated alert missions held by Alaska guard members.
BY MATT WHITE | PUBLISHED APR 5, 2024 2:56 PM EDT
Even by Alaska standards, September 12, 2023, was a big day.
“We had four missions in that day in all four corners of Alaska,” said Col. John Romspert, the director of staff for the Alaska Air National Guard.
In a span of 12 hours, Alaska ANG rescue teams responded to two plane crashes on opposite sides of the state, three lost hunters on a remote river, and a medical emergency in an arctic village. Crews from the 210th, 211th, and 212th rescue squadrons launched two HH-60 helicopters and two HC-130J tankers, each with two-man pararescue teams on board. In all, close to 20 Guard aviators flew for almost 24 hours on the missions. Maintenance crews came in early and stayed late to get the aircraft off the ground.
It was the kind of rare, full-throttle rescue day that Brig. Gen. Brian Kile has seen from almost every angle. In his 34-years in the Alaska ANG, he has served as an enlisted loadmaster on HC-130 rescue tankers, then as a pilot of the Guard’s HH-60 rescue helicopters for almost 20 years before becoming the guard’s commanding officer in early 2023.
But under a new manpower plan that will cover the state Guards in all 50 states and 4 territories, Kile told Task & Purpose, he fears he may be the commander who has to oversee the Alaska ANG failing to live up to its commitments.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/alaska-ang-pec-leveling/
