Alaska Air Guard trains to support NASA human spaceflight program
(From left) Staff Sgt. Tony Meyer, a medic assigned to the 212th Rescue Squadron, Sr. Master Sgt. Jeffrey Hamilton, a pararescueman with the 212th Rescue Squadron, and Tech. Sgt. John Teamer, a loadmaster in training with the 144th Airlift Squadron, all with the Alaska Air National Guard, prepare to recover pararescue personnel and equipment during a night freefall-parachute jump into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii, Feb. 2, 2021, during Exercise H20. Alaska Air National Guardsmen were in Hawaii training during Exercise H20, January and February, honing their long-range search and rescue capability in support of the NASA human spaceflight program they are responsible for supporting. The Air Guard’s 176th Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is the only wing in the U.S. Air Force, Guard, and Reserve, with C-17 Globemaster III aircraft and pararescue personnel that combine to provide long-range search and rescue—able to travel the furthest distance in the shortest time, in response to a life-threatening scenario. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead)