Tag Archives: sar

Incomplete list of National Guard deployments, and other deployment related news, reported between 11 and 31 March, 2023. For the rest of March see below.

CALIFORNIA:

California National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Crystal Housman, 17MAR2023.

Army National Guard air crews prepared for the upcoming wildfire season, along with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

FLORIDA:

Florida Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Chelsea Smith.

The Sunshine State’s 125th Fighter Wing conducted a deployment readiness exercise to prepare for future deployments scheduled this year.

Florida Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jacob Hancock, 11MAR2023.

The 125th also conducted Search and Rescue (SaR) training on Camp Blanding.

ILLINOIS:

Illinois National Guard photo by Lieutenant Colonel Bradford Leighton, 12MAR2023.

Army National Guard’s 404th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade celebrated their return from an 11-month deployment to Djibouti, on the African continent.

MISSISSIPPI: Army National Guard mechanics (185th Aviation Brigade) are on Fort Hood, Texas, learning how to repair UH-60 rotary wings for deployment;

NEBRASKA: 13 state militia personnel deployed to Ukraine;

NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY: Five New York Army National Guard officer candidates are heading to Albania in April, they are deploying with the New Jersey Army National Guard for a two weeks training event. The New Jersey National Guard has had a State Partnership Program relationship with Albania since 1993.

OKLAHOMA: Army Guard militia personnel are on Fort Riley, Kansas, supporting units that are deploying to Africa. Those units include more than 1-thousand state militia personnel from Oklahoma, Nebraska and Indiana;

Infantry units with the Oklahoma Army National Guard are also being deployed as part of Task Force Tomahawk. Video, by Staff Sergeant John Stoner, showing Oklahoma militia personnel of 1st Battalion-179th Infantry Regiment-45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, taking part in boring ‘pre-deployment’ infantry patrol training on Fort Riley, Kansas, 25MAR2023:

SOUTH CAROLINA:

South Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Tim Andrews, 18MAR2023.

Army National Guard Soldiers with the 678th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 263rd Army Air & Missile Defense Command, returned home after a 12-month anti-Russia deployment to NATO-Europe.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Three Army Guard firefighters deployed to NATO-Romania;

TENNESSEE: The body of Army militiaman Chief Warrant Officer-3 Daniel Wadham was finally returned home. In February, he was killed while flying a helicopter over Alabama, the crash is still being investigated;

WISCONSIN:

U.S. Army photo by Scott T. Sturkol, 13MAR2023.

On Fort McCoy a time capsule was uncovered inside one of the walls in a barracks. It was left there by the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 617th Military Police Company just as they were deploying to Iraq, in November 2004. The time capsule was actually found towards the end of 2022, but not made public until 13MAR2023 (after proper authorities, and the Kentucky Army National Guard, were notified).

Biden’s War: More National Guard deployments for the month of March, 2023, plus the increasing problem of civilian employers firing deployed militia personnel!

U.S.

U.S. Disaster 2022: Montana Militia deploys after major flooding!

Video June 17, 2022 Hutchins AAron

Lowered to a flooded home as SaR ops continue, 16JUN2022. Montana Army National Guard photo.

Since 13JUN2022, Montana Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters have rescued more than 87 people trapped by record flooding, following a weekend downpour that dumped more rain than expected.

16JUN2022, Montana Army National Guard photo.

Interestingly, and you could call it perfect timing, back in February 2022, the Montana Army National Guard revealed plans to lease helicopter hanger space in the Eastern part of the state, due to the fact there was no National Guard search and rescue (SaR) presence in that part of the state: “If you look at a map of the U.S., that area Montana, southern Montana, northern Wyoming, that area is the largest area in the U.S. that does not have military aviation coverage.”-Colonel Rob Oleson, Director of Aviation and Safety, Montana Army National Guard

16JUN2022, Montana Army National Guard photo.

On 15Jun2022, additional militia personnel were sent to Caribou County, to assist local law enforcers by operating seven checkpoints in the Red Lodge area.

Red Lodge, Montana Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Edward Warner, 16JUN2022.

The flooding in the Red Lodge area is considered historic, ripping homes away and even flooding towns with large river rocks.

Montana Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Edward Warner, 16JUN2022.

The road checkpoints are expected to be operating at least until 22JUN2022. Montana National Guard video by First Lieutenant Bayard Lewis, 15JUN2022, personnel deploy for checkpoint duty:

Montana Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Edward Warner, 16JUN2022.

Fort Harrison command center. Montana National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Michael Touchette, 15JUN2022.

Beartooth Slingshot Rentals drone video of flooding, 13JUN2022:

16JUN2022, Montana Army National Guard photo.

KTVQ report, 13JUN2022:

Red Lodge, Montana Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Edward Warner, 16JUN2022.

U.S. Disaster 2022: IDAHO AIR GUARD DEPLOYS TO CHEROKEE NATION!

HURRICANE HUNTERS ISSUE WARNING

U.S.

Mount Whitney Death Trap, SAR Money Pit

Image September 14, 2019 Hutchins AAron

14 September 2019 (15:05 UTC-07 Tango 06) 23 Shahrivar 1398/14 Muharram 1441/16 Gui-You 4717

California Army National Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul Mantiply, 25AUG2019.

It might look like Afghanistan, but it’s not.

Photo via Inyo County SAR, 25AUG2019.

On 25AUG2019 near Iceberg Lake, California, the National Guard’s Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, flew-in Inyo County SAR (Search And Rescue) crews, about 13-thousand-8-hundred feet up Mount Whitney, to rescue a wounded female hiker. She was injured when a boulder cut loose and wedged her in a crevice.

Photo via Inyo County SAR, 25AUG2019.

The Inyo County SAR crew had to hike up to where the hiker was, just 7-hundred feet short of the 14-thousand-505 feet (4421 meter) peak, because the CH-47F helicopter couldn’t fit in-between a crevasse: “We attempted to hoist her out, but we didn’t have the rotor clearance the first time. We were down to about ten feet between the blades and the granite.”: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul Mantiply

Photo via Inyo County SAR, 25AUG2019.

The hiker was delivered to medical personnel at Bishop Airport, no word on her condition.

SAR ops are becoming so common place, across the U.S., and most SAR ops are paid for by taxpayers: “The United States Coast Guard is the leader in SAR operations, coming to the assistance of an average of 114 people per day at a total cost of $680 million annually…… It does not include man hours or money tied to the training of the personnel.

The National Park Service (NPS) is another agency heavily involved in SAR operations. In 2007, the NPS logged almost 3,600 incidents of search and rescue, 136 of which resulted in fatalities. This resulted in almost $5 million in associated expenses.

Other SAR missions around the Unites States are carried out by local sheriff’s offices, which are typically a mix of county employees working in concert with a staff of unpaid volunteers.”

In August 2018, mountaineering news outlet Outside declared Mount Whitney to be an “Overcrowded Catastrophe”, the author blames “Summit fever, a lack of mountaineering skills, and the allure of social media”, as well as weather conditions.

But Mount Whitney has a long history of injuries and deaths:

Inyo County SAR recent missions

June 2019; Body of missing hiker from Virginia found on Mt. Whitney

May 2019; Gonzaga leadership alums save hikers stranded overnight on California’s Mount Whitney

Mt Whitney Multiple Injuries June 11 2018

May 2018; Hiker, mountain climber fall to their deaths

July 2017; Mt Whitney SAR activity

August 2016; My Mt. Whitney day hike: up was easy; down … I’d rather not remember

This video from 2015 shows how easy it is to slip and fall;