Alaska Air Guard trains to support NASA human spaceflight program
Master Sgt. Jeremy Maddamma, a pararescueman with the 212th Rescue Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, prepares his equipment for a freefall parachute jump over the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Hawaii, Feb. 1, 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)