Air Force pararescuemen are hard at work in a disaster area. The PJs are flying over the mountains of northern Pakistan in a Russian-made MI-8 helicopter, surveying areas where relief supplies are needed in the aftermath of the country’s devastating earthquake. Other PJs on the team, comprising members of the Air National Guard’s 212th Rescue Squadron, Anchorage, Alaska, are on alert or flying with US aircrews. The Alaskan PJs, says TSgt. Chris Robertson, are particularly well suited to the situation in Pakistan. “We have, by far, more mountain training than any other unit in the world,” he noted.
U.S. Northern Command and multiple research organizations just wrapped up a joint, three-year experiment to test new radar technology that could enable the Northern Warning System to detect incoming threats at longer ranges across Alaska and northern Canada.