Alaska Air Guard trains to support NASA human spaceflight program
Master Sgt. Colton Nelson, a loadmaster with the 144th Airlift Squadron, Alaska Air National Guard, prepares to parachute drop equipment, including a Zodiac boat, into the Pacific Ocean from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft near Kapolei, Hawaii, Jan. 26, 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)