National Guard will again operate Black Hawk out of Nome
The Alaska Army National Guard plans to station a crew in Nome beginning in June to operate a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The threeperson crew will consist of two pilots and one crew chief/aircraft mechanic.
“The Nome crew will be responsible for training and conducting the Alaska Army National Guard’s federal mission and can assist in local search and rescue if requested by the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center,” said Alan Brown, director of communications and public affairs for the Alaska National Guard & Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “Our crew will also be available to support state emergency response if requested by the State Emergency Operations Center.”
The last time the Guard had a fulltime crew stationed in Nome was fall of 2020, Brown said.
“They had to depart to train and prepare for the unit’s deployment to Iraq in January 2021,” he said. “A large portion of this unit returned from Iraq last spring. Due to the Army’s relocation schedule, career timelines and seasonal barge schedule to Nome, we were unable to relocate a crew there last summer. This summer is the first opportunity we’ve had to re-station a crew there since their return from deployment.”
Brown noted that the Guard is not staffed to station full-time crews at all its locations across the state. The Nome facility has been staffed on and off since it was completed in 1991. Brown added that in the last three years, the Guard has sent a crew and aircraft to Nome for federal and state missions. For example, they were here last summer to support training on St. Lawrence Island and for the response to Typhoon Merbok.
“With limited personnel, we must balance crew and aircraft stationing with all our requirements,” Brown said. “We will do our best to maintain a crew in Nome unless federal and state missions dictate otherwise. At this time, we are able to station a crew there because we don’t have any upcoming deployment requirements.”
Jim West Jr., chief of Nome Emergency Services, said the Black Hawk will be valuable for search and rescues in the region.
“It has been a few years since we have had access to one since they were on deployment,” West said. “Being able to respond to an emergency which could be life threatening in a timely matter makes the all the deference. No one can put a dollar value on that. Having the U.S. Coast Guard located up in Kotzebue and with the Black Hawk here in Nome, a lot of area can be covered fast.”
Besides assisting in local search and rescue missions, the Guard is also subject to a host of federal missions as directed by U.S. Department of Defense.
“These missions can support contingency operations all over the world, so it is necessary for our crews to maintain their skills flying in a range of conditions over a variety of terrain and training a wide range of skills,” Brown said. The air crews might also conduct cargo transport, reconnaissance and medical evacuations as part of their duties.
The crew should be here sometime in June, though Brown said the exact timing depends on logistical factors. As there is no military barracks in Nome, the crew will need to find housing.