Alaska News

Army helicopters to help with medevacs, rescues in Interior Alaska

FAIRBANKS -- A Black Hawk helicopter unit that returned from Afghanistan late last year is set to begin providing emergency search-and-rescue assistance in Interior Alaska next week.

Fort Wainwright crews from C Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment will assist with emergency medical evacuation and search-and-rescue missions under an agreement with the Rescue Coordination Center at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

The program differs from the former Military Aid to Safety and Traffic , or MAST, operation that existed for decades in Interior Alaska before it was discontinued during the Iraq War. According to one estimate, MAST crews flew more than 1,000 missions over three decades in all kinds of bad weather.

An Army spokesman said that the new plan calls for the aviation regiment to provide assistance when possible, coordinated through the Anchorage center.

"We have a memorandum of agreement with the RCC that we will support when able to the best of our abilities," said Army spokesman John Pennell.

"We keep a crew ready to go anytime we are conducting 'high risk' military training such as demolitions, live-fire exercises, etc. At the mission commander's discretion, we also keep a crew on standby at Ladd Field when there is no high-risk training happening," he said.

If a request for help comes in, "we will respond if we have assets available." A flight crew will not necessarily be on duty at all hours, however, so response times will vary.

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"We don't have Black Hawks that we can take out and land in remote areas," an Alaska State Troopers spokesman said after a training exercise Wednesday.

The Army, the Troopers and other emergency personnel conducted the exercise north of Fairbanks near Livengood to ensure their lines of communication are set up to begin service Wednesday.

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

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