Army activates Arctic Aviation Command for extreme cold flying
Two helicopter battalions previously under commands in Washington and Hawaii were moved under Alaska's 11th Airborne Division.
Patty Nieberg
Posted on Aug 20, 2024 4:12 PM EDT
The Army activated its Arctic Aviation Command earlier this month, bringing all of its Alaska aviation soldiers under one command. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez. Tech. Sgt. Efren Lopez
Army helicopter crews assigned to fly and operate in arctic conditions will now answer to leadership based with them in Alaska rather than commanders in Hawaii or near Seattle. They’ll now report instead to the newly activated Arctic Aviation Command at Fort Wainwright, just outside of Fairbanks, Alaska.
“You have to be in the Arctic to understand the Arctic,” Col. Russ Vanderlugt, the unit’s new commander, told Task & Purpose.
The new unit officially stood up on Aug. 8 as a local headquarters for two active-duty aviation battalions already in Alaska: 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment and 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment. The units previously answered to headquarters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington near Seattle and Fort Shafter, Hawaii. Now, both flying units fall under the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division.
The new structure means that the leaders of the units will be local in Alaska to manage training, mitigate risk and provide a direct line of support through to the division. There are no plans to expand the size or number of aviation units in Alaska.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-activates-alaska-aviation-command/
