Legislature(2015 - 2016)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/09/2016 01:00 PM House ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Briefings: Lieutenant General Russel J. Handy, U.s. Air Force, Commander, Alaska Command U.s. Northern Command; | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
February 9, 2016
1:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator John Coghill, Co-Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Co-Chair
Senator Pete Kelly
Senator Anna MacKinnon
Senator Click Bishop
Senator Bill Wielechowski
Representative Wes Keller
Representative Bob Lynn
Representative Dan Saddler
Representative Geran Tarr
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Geran Tarr
Representative Louise Stutes
Representative Lora Reinbold
PUBLIC MEMBERS PRESENT
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Jones - retired
Colonel George Vakalis - retired
Charles "Chick" Wallace
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
BRIEFINGS: LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL J. HANDY~ U.S. AIR FORCE~
COMMANDER~ ALASKA COMMAND U.S. NORTHERN COMMAND;
MAJOR GENERAL BRYAN OWENS~ U.S. ARMY~ COMMANDING GENERAL~ U.S.
ARMY ALASKA;
COMMISSIONER LAURIE HUMMEL~ COL. (R) U.S. ARMY~ ADJUTANT
GENERAL~ ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD AND COMMISSIONER OF THE ALASKA
DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS;
REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL B. ABEL~ U.S. COAST GUARD~ COMMANDER~
SEVENTEENTH COAST GUARD DISTRICT.
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL J. HANDY, Commander
Alaska Command U.S. Northern Command
U.S. Air Force
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a briefing on the U.S. Air Force
in Alaska.
MAJOR GENERAL BRYAN OWENS, Commanding General
U.S. Army Alaska
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a briefing on the United States
Army Alaska.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL TIM JONES
U.S. Army, Retired
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During the presentation asked a question of
Major General Owens.
ADJUTANT GENERAL LAURIE HUMMEL, Commissioner
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs
Alaska National Guard, Adjutant General
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a briefing related to the
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT PAUL NELSON
Alaska National Guard
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Discussed the ethical fitness initiative.
COLONEL KAREN MANSFIELD, Commander
Alaska Air National Guard
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an overview of the Alaska Air
National Guard.
COLONEL JOE STREFF, Commander
Alaska Army National Guard
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an overview of the Alaska Army
National Guard.
SARGEANT MAJOR MARC PETERSEN
State Command
Alaska Army National Guard
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented an overview of certain military
support in Alaska.
REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL ABEL, Commander
Seventeenth Coast Guard District
United States Coast Guard
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a briefing of the United States
Coast Guard in Alaska.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:05:26 PM
CO-CHAIR JOHN COGHILL called the Joint Armed Services Committee
meeting to order at 1:06 p.m. Representatives Keller, Saddler,
and LeDoux, and Senators Bishop, MacKinnon, Kelly, Wielechowski,
and Coghill, and public members George Vakalis, Dick Wallace,
and Lieutenant Colonel Tim Jones were present at the call to
order. Representatives Lynn and Tarr arrived as the meeting was
in progress.
^BRIEFINGS: Lieutenant General Russel J. Handy, U.S. Air Force,
Commander, Alaska Command U.S. Northern Command;
Major General Bryan Owens, U.S. Army, Commanding General,
U.S. Army Alaska;
Commissioner Laurie Hummel, Col. (R) U.S. Army, Adjutant
General, Alaska National Guard and Commissioner of the Alaska
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs;
Rear Admiral Daniel B. Abel, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander,
Seventeenth Coast Guard District.
BRIEFINGS: Lieutenant General Russel J. Handy, U.S. Air Force,
Commander, Alaska Command U.S. Northern Command; Major General
Bryan Owens, U.S. Army, Commanding General, U.S. Army Alaska;
Commissioner Laurie Hummel, Col. (R) U.S. Army, Adjutant
General, Alaska National Guard and Commissioner of the Alaska
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs; Rear Admiral Daniel
B. Abel, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard
District.
1:06:45 PM
CO-CHAR COGHILL announced that the only order of business would
be briefings by Lieutenant General Russel J. Handy, U.S. Air
Force, Commander, Alaska Command U.S. Northern Command; Major
General Bryan Owens, U.S. Army, Commanding General, U.S. Army
Alaska; Commissioner Laurie Hummel, Col. (R) U.S. Army, Adjutant
General, Alaska National Guard and Commissioner of the Alaska
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs; and Rear Admiral
Daniel B. Abel, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, Seventeenth Coast
Guard District.
1:08:12 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL expressed appreciation for the legislature's
involvement with the military, for past co-chairs Senator Kelly
and Representative Saddler, and for the men and women who serve
in the military.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX thanked all [members of the military present at
the meeting] for their service to the United States.
CO-CHAIR COGHILL indicated that additional information the
presenters may not have had time to share during the briefing
was contained within the committee packet.
1:09:43 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL J. HANDY, Commander, Alaska Command
U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Air Force, offered a briefing on the
U.S. Air Force in Alaska, and expressed his appreciation for the
opportunity to brag about the men and women serving in Alaska
and to serve in a state that "feels like home." He explained
that those in the military move often, and Alaska welcomes the
military with open arms, which he said allows the military to
operate and train to "remain ready to do the nation's business."
1:10:51 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL noted that Major General Jacob Lestenkof, USA
(Ret) was on line listening to the briefing.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY said he would give an overview and show
slides, but wanted to keep the discussion open and offered to
produce additional information when requested. He introduced
A.J. Pinto, sitting with him at the witness table, whom he said
was serving today as a legislative liaison but is normally an
air battle manager.
1:12:00 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY began a PowerPoint presentation, titled
"Combined Headquarters: America's finest fighting team, engaged
in crises worldwide while securing America's future in the Last
Frontier." He stated he would address strategic environment,
offer a year in review, and offer a perspective from the U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD). He noted that Secretary Carter has
been active with new policies and initiatives. He said he would
not discuss U.S. Army Alaska, the Alaska National Guard, or the
U.S. Coast Guard, because there are experts to present and
address those topics.
1:13:00 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 3, titled
"The Way Most View the World" and said it is the usual
projection that is seen - a flat map of the world, with Alaska
barely in view. He moved on to slide 4, titled, "Our View of
the World," which shows "the way we view the world." He said
the image - with the North Pole as the central image - is a much
more accurate way to show the challenges of serving in a global
environment. He said last year was the warmest on record in the
Arctic, with multi-year sea ice is melting, which changes the
way [the U.S. Air Force] is thinking about operations [in
Alaska]. He opined that for the most part people agree now that
climate change exists, but there is still debate about the
causes of it. He indicated the focus of the U.S. Air Force is
the need to operate in the Arctic as easily as it can off the
coast of Southern California. He said people can debate about
numbers and timelines, but the U.S. Air Force is seeing an
increase in human activity it believes is based upon the
combination of "better access and undiscovered wealth in the
Arctic." He predicted that increase in human activity would
continue. He said, "And certainly the nation, across the
Bering, recognizes that, and there's a significant amount of
buildup both economic and military buildup going along the
Russian Arctic Coast." He added, "And they very much have
freedom of action on the Northern Sea route and are going to be
able to continue to support that, not only with their economy,
but with their military." He said ultimately Arctic
understanding is a global issue; it is not just about Alaskan
command or Northern Command, but it also includes European
Command, Pacific Command, and Strategic Command. He said,
"We're on a bit of quest to ensure that the rest of the globe
starts to look at our world like this."
1:15:14 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 5, titled
"Our Evolving Environment." He referred to the bullet points,
which read: Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and ISIL [Islamic
States of Iraq and the Levant]. He said "100 years ago" the
U.S. Military was focused on [Russia], whereas in the last 20
years, the military has been focused on "support to counter-
insurgency, counter-terrorism, [and] operations in the Middle
East, at great expense to the other priorities." During this
time, he indicated the rest of the world has been studying "the
American way of war," and "the list of challenges" has grown.
He continued as follows:
A combination of strategy, doctrine, demonstrative
provocative actions in Europe and an increase in
capabilities supported by significant fiscal
investment make Russia a different place from a
military perspective, and one that we have to pay
attention to, not just from a let's-stay-out-of-a-
nuclear-war perspective but [in terms of]
"comprehensive deterrence across the continuum."
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY said China is literally building
islands in the South China Sea, and between the South China Sea
and East China Sea sovereignty debates, he said, "We see an
opportunity for potential friction there - between not just us
and China but our closest allies and partners." He stated that
anyone who thinks the next two countries on the list [North
Korea and Iran] would not leverage conflict "in any of those
areas, with their capabilities, to achieve their objectives"
would be naïve. He said organizations, such as ISIL, are not
going away. He characterized such organizations at "evil," and
he said [ISIL] has recently demonstrated a global power
projection capability outside its region. He warned that [the
U.S.] cannot turn its back on [ISIL] in the interest of the
country and its closest allies and partners. He indicated that
although the list [of countries shown on slide 5] has grown, the
U.S. Military force has not grown; therefore, he stressed the
importance of doing "things a little bit better" and think of
things in a "different fashion."
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY addressed information on slide 6,
titled "Military Spending." He said many of the aforementioned
nations have been supporting their military operations with a
significant investment and, after studying "the American way of
war," are developing, implementing, and fielding weapons systems
specifically to counter [U.S. weapons]. For example, he said
the countries are developing long-range ballistic and cruise
missiles "across not just the nuclear end but the continuum of
conventional capability, as well." He said this is something
that [the U.S. Military as a whole] is studying closely. He
said many of these nations lack transparency; therefore, it is
difficult to determine the capacity of their weaponry. He said
[the U.S. Air Force] thinks the North Korean investment may be
"upwards of 25 percent." He said there is major evolution
across the globe to which [the U.S. Military] must pay
attention.
1:18:13 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 7, titled
"DoD Budget," which he said is between $500- and $600-billion.
He said there is a significant difference between the U.S. and
other countries in terms of the way it spends money, the
challenges it faces, and the transparency it provides to its
citizens. He stated there are a number of expenditures that are
"must pays" and there is a growing personnel and entitlement
budget. He mentioned initiatives coming out of the Office of
the Secretary of Defense regarding reform of retirement and
transformation of medical care. He said, "That line is on an
upward vector, and if we don't do anything to arrest it, it will
consume the DoD budget." Also including the must-pay category
is managing infrastructure, some of which he said is excess, for
example, more bases and legacy weapons than necessary. He said
in order to make room "to have that modernization trade space"
will require action. He emphasized the importance of
modernization, and in approximately two months, the average age
of U.S. Air Force combat aircraft - a fighter or bomber - will
exceed 27 years. He stated [the combat aircraft] operates off
of technology like the iPhone, and he asked the committee to
imagine how effective a 27-year-old iPhone would be. He said
some of the aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force requiring
modernization include the F-35, the long-range strike bomber,
and the KC-46 tanker. He stated that sandwiched into the middle
of must-pays and modernization are operations and maintenance,
which include: readiness, investments in the Joint Pacific
Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) training, flying hours and parts
and logistics, and other day-to-day business expenses. He
mentioned the effort for fiscal year 2016 (FY16), and he spoke
of the Presidential budget is rolling out for FY17 today, and on
its way to Capitol Hill this week. He predicted it would
contain achieving a balance between operations and maintenance
and [modernization]. He said Secretary Carter is keen on
knowing that some of these challenges require "game changes" and
"we're investing [a] significant amount of ... resources in ...
that sort of acquisition and technology research."
1:20:56 PM
SENATOR BISHOP asked whether any new C-130J Super Hercules
models would be coming to Alaska.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY said he does not envision that
happening "anywhere in these two budget years" and he has not
heard any serious discussion about "more of them coming to
Alaska."
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY drew attention to a chart on slide 8,
titled "Headquarters Organization." He stated that he "served
two primary masters." He pointed to the left side of the chart,
[which lists USPACOM], and indicated that under that entity he
works for General Lori J. Robinson in Pacific Air Forces in
Hawaii as the management headquarters for the airmen in the
primary organizations in Hawaii, Guam, and Alaska. In this
capacity he takes care of the "organize, train, equip" functions
to provide ready forces across the globe. He noted that F-22
Raptor fighter jets from Hawaii are currently in the Middle East
leading the way in the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and
F-22s from Alaska will relieve them this spring.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY next drew attention to the right side
of the chart on slide 8, [which lists NORAD and USNORTHCOM], and
he said he serves under Navy Admiral Bill Gortney who is the
commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, and take care of
homeland defense, support to civil authorities, mission
assurance, and Arctic advocacy across the Alaskan area of
responsibility (AOR). He continued as follows:
This organization is formalized. We lost about 19
percent of our headquarters manpower; that was
completely consistent with ... an across-the-board DoD
cut of 20 percent - really, really small numbers -
didn't impact our ability to command and control at
all. The synchronization and merger actually helped
us, and we are very much taking the walls down between
this Alaska NORAD region and Alaskan Command
Organization and working ... really like we're one
synchronized headquarters.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY acknowledged that [the U.S. Air Force]
does not do anything alone; it works with its "primary mission
partners," whom he indicated were in the room waiting their turn
to speak.
1:23:23 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 9, titled
"ALCOM Year in Review," which shows what Alaska Command
headquarters has been doing. He indicated that the purple boxes
indicate that that the U.S. Air Force has been receiving a lot
of attention, including from senior United States Department of
Defense officials, individuals encouraged by Alaska's U.S.
congressional delegates to visit, and media. He indicated that
much of that attention centered around President Barack Obama's
visit to Alaska.
1:24:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER noted there had just been a change in
Canadian government where liberals took over and the country was
pulling back its CF-18s. He asked, "Has there been any change
in the candidate's posture of support for the NORAD Command
structure?"
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY answered there had been no change,
other than perhaps "a strengthening of that". He mentioned the
prime minister [of Canada] and stated, "Although those
statements weren't necessarily synchronized, I think you could
make the relation that he is thinking seriously about homeland
defense and making sure that he's got the right kind of
investments at home." He said "we are constantly working" at
evolving our plans and doing things better. He said Navy
Admiral Gortney has held many conversations with evolving
NORAD's relationship with NORTHCOM and the way [the military]
defends the U.S. He concluded, "We have total support from the
Canadian government." He indicated there is more integration
[between the U.S. and Canadian government defense] in training
exercises and intercept operations.
1:25:45 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY moved on to slide 10, "DoD Arctic
Capability Advocacy." He said that from an Arctic advocacy
perspective, there has been a lot of activity at NORTHCOM
headquarters and in Alaska. He said "we are NORTHCOM's
operational Arctic experts," who truly understand what it is
like to operate in the Arctic on a day-to-day basis. He
indicated that "we help NORAD become established as the DoD
advocate for the Arctic." He relayed that this year NORTHCOM
established the Arctic Capability Advocacy Working Group, which
is a group of like-minded governmental and community agencies
both living and operating in the Arctic and addressing potential
contingencies. He added, "And we're working very carefully with
them on that."
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY said the two main themes for NORTHCOM
in considering capability gaps are: how "we use existing
capabilities," because it takes a long time to develop
requirements and fund things; and what needs to be done in that
regard for the long term. Regarding the latter, he explained
that it is first necessary to agree upon what the Arctic will
look like in 20, 30, 50 years, and there is not total agreement
on that. He said NORTHCOM is working hard to determine "what
that means to DoD."
1:27:15 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY named the "four main areas we examine"
from a capability perspective: communications, which are
limited in the Arctic; domain awareness, primarily air and
maritime domain, which requires having the necessary systems and
common operating pictures to maintain awareness; infrastructure,
which is expensive and time intensive to build in the Arctic,
thus requires an effort to understand what infrastructure is
necessary in order for the military to be able to respond to
contingencies; and then finally, presence, how often do they
want to operate in the Arctic and in what kind of environments,
and what kind of training. He said there is a lot of local
effort on that and mentioned that now there is a little more
time to invest in soldiers "increasingly coming home from Iraq
and Afghanistan." He talked about working with the U.S. Navy,
which has Ice Exercise (ICEX) and repeat with its submarine lab
again this year. He said, "This year we've been partnered with
them from the very beginning planning stages to ... make that a
joint exercise."
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY reminded the committee that last year
"we did a replication of the Good Friday Earthquake" as a
biennial capstone exercise and the whole nation focused on
Alaska and earthquake scenarios. He relayed that this year "the
Arctic edge scenario" is focused on a Cascadia earthquake
scenario, but with impact that includes Alaska. He said there
would be other exercises planned in order to take advantage of
all the attendees. He mentioned there is an Arctic Council
indoors search and rescue exercise. He explained that even
though the Arctic Council is a diplomatic agency rather than a
military one, "we understand that we need to be in support of
those things, and we are full participants in that, and that's a
multi-national, Arctic-based disaster that we need to help
respond to in a search and rescue environment" this coming year.
1:29:35 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY brought attention to slide 11, titled
"OP Colony Glacier," and provided an update on the remains
recovery operation pertaining to a 1952 crash of a C-124
Globemaster II on Mt. Gannet. Sixty years later the remains of
the aircraft and passengers on board are beginning to merge
[because the glacier is receding]. He said each year since the
initial discovery [in 2012], the U.S. Air Force has conducted an
annual operation spanning three to five weeks, during a small
window where the snow has melted down, but before conditions
become unstable later in the summer. He said ALCOM is the
headquarters that "keeps our arms around everything that's going
on" and assists with that operation. He relayed that this year,
the job will be transitioned from the Defense Accounting Agency
(DAA), which focuses more on overseas loss, such as POWs and
MIAs, to the U.S. Air Force Mortuary Affairs because this is the
latter's core mission. He reported that the remains of 17
passengers of the 52 passengers that were on board have been
repatriated. Last year more remains were recovered and the
glacier reveals more each year. He said DNA tests are used to
determine whether new remains found belong to another body or
belong to a deceased person already identified.
1:31:23 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 12, titled
"GLACIER Summit & POTUS Visit." As shown on slide 12, GLACIER
is an acronym that spells out Global Leadership in the Arctic
Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement & Resilience. He said there
were many ministerial level events in which the DoD was not
directly involved. Notwithstanding that, he said, "We were
involved in ... shadowing things that have an interest to DoD,
such as the strengthening emergency response ministerial
session." He said the [Alaska] National Guard, DoD, and the
[Alaska] Coast Guard "will take a very big role in helping with
that." He described the military's involvement in ensuring a
successful visit from President Obama.
1:32:47 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL, in referring to President Obama's visit,
surmised that the U.S. Air Force had probably tested Alaska's
communication links, and asked Lieutenant General Handy whether
improvements needed to be made.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY responded he was very satisfied with
the results. He said there are a number of ways of "forward
deploying expeditionary communications." He described it as a
three-tier operation, and offered further details.
1:34:33 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slides 13-14,
titled "Ballistic Missile Defense." He said Alaska is always
"the center of gravity for ballistic missile defense in North
America." He said other countries are acquiring greater numbers
of ballistic missiles with greater capabilities and ranges, and
it is a burden for the Missile Defense Agency and United States
Department of Defense "to ensure the system keeps up." As shown
on slide 14, he said MDA has a sizeable budget and is making
strides in meeting the Secretary of Defense's mandate of 44
ground-based interceptors within the inventory by 2017, as well
as increasing the performance and reliability of the
interceptors that are on the ground. He said the Missile Field
1 refurbishment he said he mentioned last year would be complete
in the fourth quarter of FY 16, which will provide ["14
operationally configured silos"].
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY mentioned there are two ongoing radar
projects. He said the Clear Air Force Station (AFS) early
warning radar upgrade and connection to the ballistic missile
defense system is on track, and he offered his understanding
that it should be completed by the end of [2016]. He related
that "the department" and Missile Defense Agency and NORTHCOM
agreed that Clear would be the preferred location for the long-
range discriminating radar, which also increases the performance
of the system and the ability to discriminate different pieces
and parts. For example, what is a threat and what is a piece of
the missile body. He said an environmental impact analysis is
ongoing for the [long-range discrimination radar] (LRDR), "but
so far, again, looking to be included in the budget for '17, at
least some of the military construction for Clear." He reported
that the commercial power tie-in was successfully completed; a
50-year-old power plant was shut down, and there have been no
issues with capacity or liability in terms of that power.
1:37:21 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 15, titled
"2015 NORTHERN EDGE." He said Alaska continues to represent a
critical training venue for the U.S. Joint Team and allies and
partners "across the continuum of operations," everything from
very small training scenarios to capstone events such as
Northern Edge. Northern Edge is a biennial event and during the
last event there were over 7,099 participants, including U.S.
Navy ships [in the Gulf of Alaska], and training included large
force exercise, joint live fires, search and rescue, with many
high end capabilities. Alaska, he said, is a unique environment
with the ability to train and test where no one is watching or
listening to the exercises, and it brought approximately $13
million to the economy of Alaska.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 16, titled
"2015 RED FLAG Exercises." He said Red Flag continues to be a
success. He said, "We got ... the U.S. Air Force to commit to
three of these in Alaska per year, in addition to the ... Red
Flags that we do down in Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada." He
said three Red Flag exercises had taken place in 2015, in
April/May, August, and October. During "Red Flag 15-3," six
nations participated in the exercise; 15 nations sent senior
general flag officer representatives to participate in an
Executive Observer Program that Lieutenant General Handy said he
hosted at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage
and in Interior Alaska. He said some nations had participated
before, while others had never done so; each year that the event
is held brings in a few more nations to participate.
1:39:34 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 17, titled
"2015 VIGILANT SHIELD," and advised it is an annual capstone
homeland offense command post exercise, which took place in
November 2015 hosted by NORAD and NORTHCOM. The exercise
focuses not only on offense mechanisms, but also in teaching how
to respond to a bad thing happening to the U.S. by practicing
consequence management, support to civil authorities, et cetera.
He noted that three field training exercises (FTX) are
necessary, although unusual for Vigilant Shield. He talked
about live exercises. One was a "render safe operation," in
which a dangerous device was found in the Port of Anchorage and
all the commanding control and operations were utilized for the
situation, which required high-level U.S. Government approval.
He said this was a successful event. Another exercise was
taking a C-17 with a force Stryker to Deadhorse, Alaska, and
conducting an Arctic operation with the U.S. Army Alaska to
conduct base patrol operations. He said an infantry unit was
self-deployed "from Brian's organization to Fort Greely" to do
security operations.
1:41:06 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 18, titled
"Major 2016 Exercises." He said there are literally hundreds of
other events and exercises that were conducted in and around
Alaska, but slide 18 shows the biggest ones: ICEX 16, in
February through March; four Red Flags are on the books; another
Vigilant Shield in October; and Arctic Edge 16 that have three
associated exercises. The first exercise is Alaska Shield,
which he said is focused on response to acts of terrorism and
response to a "cyber event." The second exercise is Ardent
Sentry, which he described as a NORTHCOM sponsored exercise
linked with the aforementioned Cascadian earthquake scenario.
The third exercise is Arctic Chinook, which is an Arctic Council
search and rescue exercise.
1:42:10 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 19, "11th
Air Force" and said he will shift gears to discuss the units
within the 11th Air Force, his responsibility, and some of the
things the airmen have been doing for their country in Alaska
over the past years. As the committee members are aware, the
Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Regional Support Center executes
operations and maintenance contracts for a number of facilities
in Alaska and throughout the Indo-Asia Pacific. He related that
if they have a base or facility they do not know what to do
with, they give it to Colonel Frank Flores and he determines how
to make it work. The Alaskan Command executes the two largest
contracts in Pacific Air Force taking care of the 15 long range
radars that encircle Alaska and assist with indications of
warnings. They have a large installation support contract that
takes care of their operation at King Salmon, at Eareckson Air
Station located on the island of Shemya, Alaska and also Wake
Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Of note, he
commented, those contracts were completely transformed over the
last 18 months. The first contract is with ARCTEC Alaska
managing the Alaska radar system and is a $474 million savings
based on consolidation and changes to the way it is managed.
Chugach runs the ISS support contract with a contract value at
$184 million for a seven year period of time. A modernization
was recently completed of the 15 Long Range Radar, the picture
in the upper left corner is of one of their radars. The
facility looked exactly like that in 1955 from the outside, but
the inside is a modern facility that was previously run by 100
airmen, full squadron for each of those radars. Currently,
there are four contractors supporting the entire system to keep
it operating at the same level of readiness, and that has
happened through a number of upgrades. The Essential Parts
Replacement Program was completed last year, $126 million
contract. Notably, he explained, over the 10 year period of
that contract, $170 million was saved by consolidating many of
the support activities and bringing some of that back to support
in Anchorage.
1:44:33 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 20, titled
"JBER - 673d Air Base Wing" and referred to their ongoing
environmental restoration projects in Alaska that "kinda go on
under the radar, if you will," and 58 environmental projects
will be complete in 2016. He explained the projects are
anywhere from a village experiencing erosion on their coastline
to some new discovery. Typically what happens, he said, a
previous military base site was completely cleaned up - there
were thousands throughout the cold war in Alaska, and through a
change in the environment, vegetation starts to grow back and
environmental issues are rediscovered. At that time, the
service or agency that owned and controlled the facility is
located and a brand new environmental project is conducted.
1:45:22 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 21, titled
"JBER - 3rd Wing" and stated the 673d Air Base Wing continues to
lead the finest joint base in the Department of Defense due to
various reasons such as, sharing a common fence line, they have
very good synchronization of operational missions between what
the Army does on JBER and what the Air Force does. Frankly, he
advised, they had decided to go joint long before being told by
the Department of Defense. During the early 2000s, they joined
fire and rescue, took the gate down between the two
installations, had a good start to joining, and are continuing
to improve upon that success. Colonel Brian Bruckbauer, during
the past year has taken the community relations program to
another level in working with the Municipality of Anchorage.
They are engaged in a seven step process that brought Air Force
Headquarters into the loop based upon a new law making it easier
for them to partner with the local community on projects, and
things they could do to benefit the community, and vice versa.
He noted that thirteen agreements were started last year and
they are looking forward to that continued great partnership.
1:46:37 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY pointed to the [JBER Buckner Fitness
Center], a $22 million project, and advised it was completed on
January 16, to allow airmen and soldiers living on base to use a
state-of-the-art fitness facility and maintain readiness. The
$53 million barracks will be completed in April 2016, and there
are 197 other ongoing projects.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY reiterated that joint basing has been a
success in a number of ways such that in almost no other
installation would a load master live next door to a jump
master, and they are proud of the airmen and soldiers and how
well they've worked together. Last year, the military men and
women from JBER supported the sockeye fire during a horrible
fire season. The base played a big part in supporting Northern
Edge, the President of the United States (POTUS) visit, and a
large success story with regard to its Fisher House last year.
Fisher House, he explained, is a place where military men,
women, and their families who need medical care can stay without
paying the high cost of a hotel room downtown, and Fisher House
has been full or overfull for a long time. Another success was
working with Army Medical Command wherein an annex was
established by taking 13 underutilized rooms from the Warrior
Transition Unit, and turned them into Fisher House rooms. The
president of the Fisher House Foundation committed to building a
second house, he advised, and they look forward to that project
in 2017.
1:48:52 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 22, titled
"Eielson AFB - 354 FW" and advised the 3d Wing Warriors continue
to represent the cutting edge of air dominance global mobility
and command and control. He pointed out they are all over the
world and it would be an entirely different briefing to advise
the committee of everything the 3d Wing and their airmen have
done over the past years. He noted there was fairly high
attention brought because "we were very involved in both the
Ebola response and the Nepal earthquake from a mobility and
command and control perspective." The 3d Wing Warriors are
involved all year long in exercises such as, Northern Edge and
Red Flag, and engaged across the community of all opportunities
listed at the bottom of the slide. He noted the word "Norcom"
is not seen on many DoD slides because they do not receive a lot
of military construction money. President Barack Obama's budget
is coming out today and is expected to include the AWACS
facility because, he explained, the 962d Airborne Air Control
Squadron has a severely out-of-date building. An updated AWACS
facility will address the following problems: a modified
aircraft is arriving soon; improving the E-3s requires an
expansion in the facility; and the fact they have had no alert
facility in that building since its existence even though these
airmen sit alert. The airmen have to sit in a quarters where
they are closer to their airplane and double up in there, and it
still does not offer the necessary response time.
1:50:15 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 23, titled
"DoD Wide Initiative" and advised that the ice men of the 354th
continue to pioneer an incredible training platform by running
their Red Flag series of exercises from [the far] north
supporting the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) and
its aggressor squadron. As discussed last year, he reiterated
they are the preferred alternative to the first overseas base
for F-35s, and the environment impact statement (EIS) is ongoing
with no significant obstacles. The Record of Decision is
expected in April, 2016, at which point they can start saying F-
35s are coming, as opposed to "it's the preferred alternative."
He advised that many lessons were learned from previous F-35 and
F-22 bed down, and are capitalizing on those imperatives. The
request for a slightly larger amount of money was granted to
build a few newer facilities that were better optimized.
Essentially, he related, an approximate $500 million Milcon
Construction and O&N Construction project is about to roll in up
there, assuming favorable approval of the EIS.
1:51:31 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY remarked that modernization of the 64
year old treasure, called the "Combined Heat and Power Plant" is
ongoing and military construction money is continually put in to
replace the boilers, which explains the large hole in the plant
as that is the only way to get the old boiler out and the new
boiler in. He described them as the cleanest six burner boilers
in the state and it continues to be a national asset to keep
that base warm, and noted they beat EPA standards by 100 percent
when boiler six was finished. Boiler five is currently being
replaced, and boiler four will be replaced in FY2017, he
explained.
1:54:20 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL interjected that not long ago that was on
critical status.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY agreed, and commented that it is a
large success story. In the event a particular amount of that
capacity is lost, the base will be evacuated because when
buildings start freezing in Interior Alaska they freeze hard.
The Air Force made a cost decision when it installed new housing
units in Alaska and put the utilities underground, many without
utilidors. Quite frankly, he offered, the Air Force is paying
for that now. Infrastructure damage is discovered every year
and there is an ongoing seven phase project to replace it with
state-of-the-art utility infrastructure during Alaska's short
construction season, he said.
1:53:46 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY reminded the committee of the P-Frost
fluorocarbon contamination discovered within the aquifer in the
underground water system, possibly due to an old KC-135 crash
and the fire retardant used to put it out. The community of
Moose Creek is downstream from the crash site, where the
majority of the contamination was discovered, and it is believed
contaminants sunk into the ground and into the water system.
There are no federal EPA standards on what level is too high for
P-frost, and it hasn't been classified. He advised that bottled
water was immediately delivered to everyone and began putting
filtration systems in the wells, which is going very well. He
advised there have been discussions of undertaking a North Pole
Municipal water connection to Moose Creek and the base, and the
cost comparisons are being prepared.
1:54:55 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY continued discussing successes in the
354th and noted they continue to operate the state-of-the-art
Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) adversaries for
across the Pacific Air Forces. He advised his aggressors from
Eielson Air Force Base are on Okinawa Island at the Kadena Air
Base currently training with the 525th Fighter Squadron who was
based at JBER, and operate Red Flag.
1:55:22 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 24, titled
"Force and Family" and advised that Secretary of Defense Ashton
"Ash" Carter has been very aggressive at tackling "people
issues" which can be hard and challenging issues. The "Force
of the Future" is a large series of initiatives with much of it
contained within the "President's Budget (PB)" PB17 rolling out
today. He explained the categories include: taking care of the
people they have; and recognizing survey data and feedback
information received from the service men and women departing
the service. Service members have pointed out that they must
leave the service because they can't meet all of their duties as
an airman or soldier and also take care of their families.
Therefore, he said, the initiatives include: increasing
maternity and paternity leave; giving folks the capability to
leave the service for a period of time to pursue a civilian
education, professional opportunities, or have a family, and
without penalty return to the service; addressing transgender
issues; defining gender dysphoria; and what is a disqualifying
event versus an event that should not disqualify someone from
service.
1:56:55 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY turned to the issue of arming of
service members and he advised that the policy is out there and
it does allow commanders to augment security forces if
necessary. He related that the commanders are taking that very
slowly, and commented that certainly the commanders have the
capacity and legal authority to do such, but there are
challenging use of force issues. He explained their security
forces are police officers who go through intense training and
certification to understand the mechanics of that, and they are
moving carefully and slowly in that regard.
1:57:31 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY directed attention to slide 25, titled
"Thank You for Your Support" and suggested the committee members
visit bases and speak with the men and women in uniform and
asking the members what is on their minds, such as, how are
things in the military, what's keeping them up at night, and
what can the committee address for them. He advised that the
service members are concerned about retirement, they want to be
certain their family is taken care of, they want to serve but
"these big strategic trades that we are having to make," how
much money will be spent on modernization versus medical and
retirement benefits, and how will all of that fit together and
still have an O&M budget to operate. Those questions are on the
minds of military men and women across the board. There was an
issue with the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) with an
unexpected and dramatic drop. They addressed the Department of
Defense (DoD) on that and received an immediate re-evaluation
and re-survey that brought that COLA back up. Although, not to
the level it was, but in many areas it came up almost to that
level. The feedback on housing and the privatized housing
projects revealed that folks are happy with the housing they are
living in. He related they have a close partnership with the
Veterans Affairs to ensure that the VA's trauma doesn't impact
their men and women, and noted there have been no issues with
medical. He related that the PB17 includes the new blended
retirement system, and so far the feedback has been good but
there is a long way to go for that.
1:59:13 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY advised that the "Blue Star Families"
organization conducted a survey last year, and he compared the
concerns of the men and women in uniform in Alaska's to those of
the national responses. He remarked that the highest concerns
include: uncertainty with military life style; uncertainty about
job security due to the force structure adjustments and changes
in the types of people the nation need to serve in uniform to
meet tomorrow's challenges; retirement and whether they will be
financially secure; child care is a concern because military
families want to take care of their children's mental, physical,
and educational, wellbeing; concern, for the second year in a
row, over housing costs being higher than at their previous
station; 73 percent of active duty families reported incurring
unexpected expenses primarily due to the military lifestyle,
such as packing up and moving; and 7 percent of respondents
reported home schooling which, he commented, is greater than
double the rate in the U.S. general population because folks are
concerned about re-establishing in a new school, understanding
the curriculum, and to somehow find the way in. He reported
that military home schooling has prompted a number of
organizations and programs to help home schoolers who are
grateful to interact with the public school system.
2:01:57 PM
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY expressed his appreciation for the
committee's time and the ability to discuss what the fantastic
men and women in uniform are doing. In the event someone feels
a bit discouraged about the future of the nation, he suggested
going to one of his flight lines, into a shop, or hanging out
with some of Brian's Soldiers, and he guaranteed people will
have a new feeling about the nation's future. The men and women
of the Air Force today are developing new and innovative ways of
taking on the list of challenges with new innovative ways of
defending our nation.
2:02:45 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL noted that the members of the committee
appreciate the Air Force's investment in Alaska which it is part
of the economy, and that he intends to ensure the legislature
keeps that in focus when discussing the economy and that most
legislators are trying to make it work. Due to the 24 hour news
cycles, the things that go on in the world, the public may have
a tendency to be a bit downhearted, and he agreed that America
is in good hands.
2:03:53 PM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX commented that Lieutenant General Handy said he
would be bragging about the men and women in uniform, and she
pointed out it is not bragging when a person is just telling the
truth.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY responded that he completely agrees.
CO-CHAIR COGHILL asked Lieutenant General Handy to let his
superiors know the committee appreciates allowing him to brief
the committee as they are joined at the hip with the Pacific
Command. The committee needs to continually remind itself that
Alaska, both an Arctic State and a Pacific State, is a North
American bulwark in many ways. He complimented him on his
presentation.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL HANDY said he will pass along his message.
2:04:54 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 2:04 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.
2:10:40 PM
MAJOR GENERAL BRYAN OWENS, Commanding General, U.S. Army Alaska,
advised his briefing would present the United States Army Alaska
(USARAK) "America's Arctic Warriors," but first would present a
five minute command video of the Joint Pacific Alaska Range
Complex (JPARC) put together by soldiers as seen through their
eyes.
2:11:15 PM
[Video of the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC).]
2:16:54 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS remarked that if that video didn't get the
members' heart strings tugged or their blood flowing, nothing
will. He has been in the Army over 32 years and, he expressed
that as a short-timer and first-timer in Alaska he has never
seen such support the Alaskan communities offer, and thanked the
committee for its support.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 1, titled
"Mission Command" of the PowerPoint presentation and advised the
picture was taken two weeks ago during their Arctic Winter
Games. It is one squad of twenty-one squads that competed to
show their skills, commitment, and endurance, throughout the
Winter Games which, he pointed out is what Alaskan soldiers do
every day. Major General Owens said he is aware this committee
fully understands the details and he will go over some of the
changes that have occurred since the briefing last year.
2:18:06 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 2, titled
"Mission Command" and the Mission read as follows:
USARAK provides trained and ready forces in support of
worldwide unified land operation; supports theater
engagement in the Pacific/Arctic and military
operations in the AK-JOA, in order to contribute to a
stable and secure operational environment.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS explained it is a threefold mission, and the
primary mission portion is providing trained and ready forces.
General Mark Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army, advised several
times that the Army's purpose is to fight and win our nation's
wars in a complex environment, and that is what they do. The
United States Army Alaska (USARAK) provides trained and ready
forces, supports the theater engagement in the Pacific and
Arctic, and military operations in Alaska, including everything
from humanitarian assistance disaster relief to any actual other
military operation that may occur. Last year, he said he was
the Commanding General for the United States Army Alaska, and
Deputy Commander for Alaska Command, and advised he is no longer
the Deputy Commander for Alaska Command but assured the
committee USARAK is on the preferred sourcing solution.
Although, USARAK does not have a formal relationship with
NORTHCOM and ALCOM, he reiterated they are the preferred
sourcing solution, and he remains in close collaboration with
Lieutenant General Handy and his staff.
2:19:37 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS pointed to the left side of slide 2, and
advised that his boss is United States Army Pacific Commander
General Vincent Brooks who works for Admiral Harry Harris, the
PACOM Commander. A relationship was also established with 1st
Corps, a training readiness authority's relationship, and he
takes guidance and gives semi-annual training briefs to
Lieutenant General Stephen Lanza on their readiness.
Restructuring has taken place since the last briefing and he
does not have any general officers other than himself in the
United States Army Alaska (USARAK). He does have two deputy
commanders, Canadian Army Colonel Martin Frank on the operations
side, who is on loan from Canada and he has performed great
work. Colonel Sean Reed is to be the deputy commander for
sustainment across the entire United States Army Alaska (USARAK)
enterprise as opposed to only watching over Fort Wainwright.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS advised that no changes have been made to
the 1st Stryker Brigades, "still 333 hard charging Strykers,"
with maintenance issues due to the environment, but they are
trained and ready and always out and on the go and the committee
is aware. There have been several changes within the USARAK
Aviation Task Force. He highlighted that they are building an
attack reconnaissance battalion of AH-64 Apache helicopters,
they have 20 of the 24 helicopters in, and will be fully
operational in September.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS advised that the establishment date for Gray
Eagle Company is next week, with an upgraded MQ-1 Predator with
enhanced capabilities to the Aviation Task Force. Training will
begin in April and its first flight should be early April, he
said.
2:22:43 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL pointed out to the general public that it is an
unmanned aerial vehicle.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS agreed.
CO-CHAIR COGHILL said he appreciates the work that has been done
both there and with the University of Alaska on that very issue.
2:23:02 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 3, titled
"Trained and Ready Forces" and advised that Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) is starting to feel the effects of
the 25 percent reduction at headquarters and most of that is on
range operations, but they are watching it closely, making
adjustments and mitigating that.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS turned to the restructure of the 425 and
related that United States Senator Dan Sullivan asked the Chief
of Staff of the Army to reconsider the decision announced on the
9th of July, 2015. He remarked, they do not know what that will
look like, but one-half of the unit has deployed to the Joint
Readiness Training Center (JRTC), Fort Polk, Louisiana. They
will be training for the next three weeks at Ft. Polk in a
validation exercise of the Airborne Task Force. They will
provide observations, and it will inform a decision for the
Chief of Staff of the Army which is expected within the April
timeframe. He explained that the Northern Warfare Training
Center (NWTC) is a United States Army Alaska installation
located in Black Rapids, Alaska, and described it as the Active
Army's only Cold Region Training Proponent. It provides an
opportunity to train the American Arctic Warriors on extreme
cold weather, military mountaineering, and partnering by
exchanges of instructors, he related.
2:24:44 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 4, titled
"Supporting Unified Land Operations" and advised "our primary
function." He advised they have been involved in Afghanistan,
Kuwait, and Iraq, with troops in both Kuwait and Afghanistan for
Operation Freedom Sentinel. Recently, the 4th Brigade Combat
Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division (425) returned from
their Kosovo deployment. The slide points out that they are
globally responsive and regionally engaged.
2:25:33 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 5, "Supporting
Unified Land Operations" and advised they support theater
engagements through two lenses, Asia-Pacific and the Arctic
Lens. They focus on countries with high altitude, military
mountaineering, or extreme cold weather regions such as, Japan,
Nepal, Chile, India, Mongolia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland,
and Denmark. He explained that under the Arctic Lens they work
primarily with the Arctic 8, minus Russia and Iceland, who does
not have an army. The army maintains strong ties with these
countries and partners to deter aggression and ensure peace and
stability in the region. Last year, he highlighted, they
conducted a cold region military mountaineering collaborative
training event at the USARAK Northern Worker Training Center
[based at Fort Wainwright] with 12 nations attending. This year
27 nations and other U.S. agencies have been invited to attend
in March, 2016.
2:26:52 PM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX noted that Chile is included under the Asia-
Pacific listing and it appears misplaced.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS explained that Chile has a ski school, high
altitude, extreme cold weather, mountainous terrain, and it sees
itself Western-looking into the Pacific. Chile asked General
Brooks and Admiral Harris to be part of the Pacific equation,
and "we have sent some instructors" over to Chile's ski school
and it will send instructors to the United States to jointly
collaborate on best practices.
2:28:13 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 6, "Military Ops
in the Alaska JOA" and highlighted that the Arctic Anvil is
multi-national. The three-fold exercise begins at the end of
July 2016, just before Red Flag. The first exercise is a train
up for First Stryker Brigade, with a National Training Center
(NTC) rotation January 2017, and a Full Operational Capability
(FOC) for the operational construct for the Joint Pacific Multi-
National Readiness Capability. He described it as basically a
Combat Training Center Directorate (CTCD) in a box providing
higher control, observer/controller trainers, and providing
instrumentation throughout. They are being put to the test in
Hawaii with the 25th Infantry Division, and "we will take them
to their final exercise" before they are fully operational in
July-August.
2:29:54 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS explained that is part of Pacific Pathways
and; therefore, Arctic Anvil will be part of a trifecta of other
exercises ongoing throughout the U.S. Army Pacific. In March,
2015, the Stryker Brigade was sent to Korea, Japan. This year
they will be in Alaska. He turned to "Wildfire Suppression" and
reminded the committee there were quite a few fires last year,
not one fire was set by the U.S. Army or the U.S. military,
which was a big deal because they were up in the 700s in July
when he took over. He said they worked closely with Alaska Fire
Service, the army's L&O team has gone from two to eight, and
they provide incredible science behind the art of keeping the
fires from occurring as the army continues to increase its
training in its training areas. It allows them to train year
around and not set fire and mitigate the fires they do set, he
remarked.
2:31:20 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL offered his appreciation of less smoke because
the Interior has the Park Training Area, and the Fort Wainwright
Bombing Area, and the Interior had enough fires without the army
setting fires. Seriously, he noted, the state is grateful that
the army's benefit of training is also the state's benefit to
fire suppression.
2:31:58 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS related that they lost 21 training days last
year due to smoke in the Interior, and they want to get as far
left of fires as possible, whether inside or outside of the
training areas. There were eleven search and rescue missions
[last year], nine were Alaska State Trooper assists, and two
were downed aircraft and, he related they flew approximately
43.2 hours in search and rescue and assisting inside Alaska. As
to mutual aid, they responded to the Explosive Safety Guide
(EOD) and the fire department's response to Fort Wainwright.
2:33:02 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 7, "Vision," and
advised the new vision statement captures the essence of who
they are, which read as follows:
America's Arctic warriors ready to fight and win.
Forged in Alaska, ready and resilient, strengthened by
Civilians and Families. Strategically located,
globally responsive, and regionally engaged.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS related that the army's sole purpose is to
fight and win our nation's wars in complex environments.
2:33:33 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 8, "America's
Arctic Warriors Ready to Fight and Win Anywhere" and pointed out
that they do not just train in cold weather, they live in cold
weather in cold weather regions. America's Arctic Warriors are
postured to fight and win anywhere on the globe, and 31 percent
of the world are cold climates, with 27 percent considered
mountainous, he pointed out.
2:34:36 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 9, "Arctic
Region Relationships" and reiterated they collaborate with the
Arctic 8 minus Russia and Iceland, which includes exchanging
instructors and, he commented, all of the countries intend to
attend the collaborative training event in March, at Black
Rapids, Alaska.
2:35:13 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 10, "Arctic
Presence" and the Air Force Pegasus series, and explained it is
an operation in Deadhorse, Alaska that will take place next
March. The expectation is that along with the maneuver, either
Stryker or Airborne, will introduce the Apache Helicopters and
"do a FARC operation forward area, arming and resupply
position." They will move from there up to Deadhorse, perform a
downed aircraft search and rescue with one of those aircraft,
and then work through some of the communications pieces [Co-
Chair Coghill] mentioned earlier. He pointed to the picture on
the right of slide 10, and said they partner with DoD partners
in academia, and also have a strong tie with (indisc.) labs and
PEO soldiers to improve the survivability of our soldiers in the
Arctic region.
2:36:19 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 11, "Forged in
Alaska" and expressed pride in the Joint Pacific-Alaska Range
Complex (JPARC). The ground maneuver training area is 2.5 times
the size of the National Training Center (NTC), and the
relationship between the National Guard and the U.S. Air Force
here is extraordinary. He expressed pride that this type of
relationship cannot be found in any other area in the world. He
noted the training areas are close to the Arctic Circle and
Fairbanks is only 120 miles from the Arctic Circle.
2:37:09 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 12, "Ready and
Resilient" and pointed out that they build resiliency into the
troops with numerous programs, and they work closely with the
communities. He stressed that Lieutenant General Handy and he
are amazed and humbled by their soldiers these days and are very
proud of them. Alaska builds resiliency just by being here, and
Alaska's soldiers are definitely resilient. He said, "We don't
just have soldiers in the army; our soldiers are the Army," and
it is important to focus on the soldiers.
2:38:01 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 13,
"Strategically Located" and reminded the committee that
Lieutenant General Handy discussed the issue of being
strategically located. He explained that in order to launch
from the East Coast, the flight is over Alaska to get anywhere
in the world, and it's only a nine hour flight into Germany. He
reiterated Lieutenant General Handy by saying that many people
look at the map in a flat fashion rather than the manner in
which it is designed, and Alaska is definitely strategically
located. He pointed to the bottom on the slide which read as
follows: "Alaska is the most strategic place on earth" -
Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, Testimony to Congress 1935.
2:38:46 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slide 14, "Globally
Responsive & Regionally Engaged" and related that he is not
going to go through this busy slide. He said his intention was
to show they are globally responsive and regionally engaged.
The slide depicts the many places they are located, and the many
things the soldiers have been doing since FY14, which covers the
entire globe, he said.
2:39:16 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS directed attention to slides 15-16, "USARAK
is a Community of Excellence" and described the slide as a short
list of our soldier's accomplishments, and he discussed a few of
the accomplishments listed on the slide.
2:40:56 PM
LIEUTENANT COLONEL TIM JONES, U.S. Army, Retired, referred to
the statement that the JRTC rotation is a validation of the
Airborne Task Force, and asked whether they are organized and
manned at the same level they would be if the reduction in force
directive occurs.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS responded no, they are not manned at 1,046,
they have manned at 1,600 and the intent is to be able to see
possible weaknesses in the formation. He explained they chose
1,600 because they believe the 1,046 is an Airborne Task Force
but not joint forcible entry capable. Commanding General
Vincent Brooks and the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mark
Milley asked them to look at a joint forcible entry capable
formation that is autonomous for 72 hours. He explained "you've
got to be able to jump in, expand (indisc.), and bring in
(indisc.) air land aircraft." In order to accomplish that,
1,600 is the correct level to do the validation, he opined.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS offered that the entire 4th Brigade Combat
Team, 25th Infantry Division (425), Brigade Combat Team (BCT)
will be at JRTC. The first part is a joint forcible entry
operation on the evening of February 16, and Senator Dan
Sullivan intends to attend and be there for the jump.
Subsequent to the joint forcible entry operation, they will
reset, introduce the rest of the brigade, and continue the
rotation with a defense and offensive operation. Thereby, the
entire 425 will be trained and ready coming out of this CTC, and
will also be able to provide input to inform the Chief of Staff
of the Army's decision on the first portion of this, which is
the Airborne Task Force. He opined it could be anything from
1,046 to the entire brigade combat team (BCT) remaining as it
is. The decision is unknown, but the Department of the Army
staff said the decision was made. He said, "So, 1,046 is the
decision." General Mark Milley promised three things to Senator
Sullivan, such that he would visit Alaska, he would maintain the
BCT at 85 percent strength until he makes his decision, and he
would relook at the decision, and he is doing all three of
those. A decision is expected sometime after the JRTC rotation,
he said.
2:44:48 PM
SENATOR BISHOP noted the Gray Eagles will be first flight in
early April, and asked how many aircraft total in that package.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS related that the full package is 12, and
they are receiving 6 aircraft due to slowdowns in production.
They will maintain 6 until there is a decision to send 3 more,
making their total compliment 9 aircraft at Fort Wainwright.
SENATOR BISHOP asked where they will be bedded down.
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS reiterated, Fort Wainwright. Currently, it
will be in Hanger 1 in Fort Wainwright, but they are hopeful the
MILCON piece will be approved for a new hanger, he added.
SENATOR BISHOP commented that Alaska is bragging proud of its
military, and opined some people at the table may be army brats.
He related a story about his father while in the service.
2:47:04 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL remarked the Interior sees the Strykers move on
a fairly regular basis, and it is to be commended that they move
well and allow traffic to flow on some of Alaska's small and
congested areas, such as Richardson Highway. The army has set
out to move fairly freely between the Fairbanks area and the
Black Rapids area. When he sees a convoy moving he tries to
make sure he is on a double-lane road, but they have allowed
traffic to move fairly well and have kept the complaints low.
He asked that Major General Owens pass his appreciation on to
the organizer.
2:48:11 PM
MAJOR GENERAL OWENS extended his appreciation and commented that
much thought goes into [moving], such as everything from Moose
hunting season to traffic on the roadways. He said they want to
be able to train and be prepared to fight and win our nation's
wars, and at the same time be good neighbors and good citizens
of the communities.
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX said she is glad to have Major General Owens
here.
2:48:58 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL advised this briefing was the time to hear from
him on his mission and that the committee wants to join in on
the mission with America. Geography is a big deal, he related,
and the committee wants to be supportive as much as possible but
the only way they can be supportive is to get these high level
briefings, he advised.
2:49:50 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 2:49 p.m. to 2:54 p.m.
2:54:47 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL invited the next presenter to come forward, and
noted the committee packet includes the Code of Military Justice
[version] the House of Representatives passed, and the Senate
has not yet taken it up.
2:55:38 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL LAURIE HUMMEL, Commissioner, Department of
Military & Veterans Affairs, Alaska National Guard, Adjutant
General, said she would like to offer the military side of the
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA) and its
accomplishments in the past year, and discuss current
initiatives and future plans. She related this is her 36th year
in uniform and noted that Lieutenant General Handy said the
airmen and soldiers serving in Alaska are happy here because it
feels like home. She related that "this is our home and we are
Alaskans."
2:58:09 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 2, "DMVA
Mission" and advised it is in statute, which read:
To provide military forces to accomplish military
missions in the state or around the world; provide
homeland security and defense; emergency preparedness,
response, and recovery; veterans services; and youth
military style training and education.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 3, "Core
Services" and explained they have reinterpreted their DMVA
mission into four core services to the state, which read:
Defend and Protect Alaska and the United States
Disaster Preparedness/Response and Recovery
Outreach to Veterans and Military Families
Youth Intervention
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL noted there are strong linkages between
the first two. Yet, she explained, linking all four together
takes a bit of creative thinking but that is exactly what they
are doing within the department to breakdown silos of
independent activity and to work together synergistically.
2:58:07 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 4, "DMVA
Vision and Core Values" and offered that to assist with
synchronizing the efforts in the department, she did developed
departmental vision and core values to help integrate its
diverse missions and activities, which read:
Vision: Through constant collaboration internally and
with external partners, DMVA implements a viable
Arctic strategy, increases emergency management
capacity, and expands engagement with Alaskan
communities, all while achieving federal mission
assurance.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL noted that when reviewing the Vision
statement, there are essentially three major objectives. The
first is executing viable Arctic strategy. She pointed out,
there are 53 other National Guards in 49 other states, but
Alaska is the only state that makes the United States an Arctic
Nation, and it makes sense to follow the lead of Governor Bill
Walker and the legislature to be at the forefront of developing
and executing an arctic policy. The second effort is to
increase emergency management capacity and, she said, they
deliberately chose the words "increase" and "capacity" because
words mean things. It is known that the Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Management within the Department of
Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA) is filled with professionals
but they can't do it alone. That is where increasing capacity
comes in and she commented that they can increase their capacity
through refining processes, developing mission partners, or
improving their own individual resilience. For example, by
building a seven day emergency kit, available for free on the
department's web site. The department knows that in order to
increase capacity they must conduct outreach which leads to
engagement with Alaskan communities. Typically, the word
"community" denotes a geographic area but there are other types
of Alaskan communities, such as the community of the military,
veterans, emergency managers, and pet owners. The outreach is
focused on physical areas and the people living in those areas
who come together to create communities of commonality of
purpose.
3:00:51 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL pointed to the words "federal mission
assurance" within the vision statement, and advised that all of
the divisions within DMVA and especially the National Guard,
have federal requirements and federal funding. The Alaska
National Guard must maintain appropriate readiness to fight and
win our nation's wars, which is why they exist and are funded.
The Division of Administrative Services must account and
document expenditures accurately to generate federal receipts,
and each division within the department has a primary task. She
related it is her job to integrate those efforts and stretch
[federal] dollars, and to especially stretch the Alaskan
dollars, and to best serve Alaskans at the same time. She
pointed to the Rural Engagement Initiative on slide 4, and said
it alludes to the department-wide outreach efforts to assist
rural communities in being stronger and more resilient. On the
other hand, the Rural Engagement Initiative is a specific
initiative in the governor's budget as an increment aiming to
seed detachments of the Alaska State Defense Force throughout
rural Alaska. Initially, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta to
ultimately set enhanced conditions for establishment and
retention in the National Guard and other service components.
She then pointed to their Core Values, which includes
professionalism, commitment, and teamwork, and how they plan to
continue improving the National Guard and the department.
3:02:34 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 5, "DMVA
Commissioner's Goals" and explained these are the goals she
developed and presented to Governor Walker fairly early on.
While the goals may appear simplistic upon first read, they are
actually complex goals requiring the entire department to work
together to achieve, she explained. A theme within the
department is the breaking down of walls and integration of one
division with the other as, she noted, they are truly in the
business of making one plus one equals three.
3:03:04 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 6, "DMVA
Strategy" and advised in order to reach those goals, they
recently created an integrated strategy with four major lines of
effort which lead to the goal of integrated DMVA activities to
create a more secure and resilient Alaska. The four lines of
effort from the vision statement, and the cross-functional
objectives listed across the bottom of the slide, are what helps
them to focus and integrate their efforts.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 7,
"Kivalina" and advised in January they took an Air Guard C-130
on a training mission with personnel from the National Guard,
Homeland Security and Management Division, a couple of staffers
from the Office of the Governor, and Lieutenant Governor Byron
Mallott. They traveled to Kotzebue where they transferred to
the Army Guard Black Hawk Helicopters and flew on to Kivalina.
While in Kivalina, Lieutenant Governor Mallott and those in
uniform visited the local school and met with school children
and leadership. They were able to present information to the
community on the National Guard, the Alaska Military Youth
Academy, and Alaska's veteran's services. While this occurred,
Mike O'Hare, Division Director of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management, and a team of his emergency managers met
with the local emergency planning committee and leadership to
update Kivalina's disaster plans. She pointed out that this one
trip demonstrates the ability of DMVA to provide all of its core
services at a tremendous cost savings to Alaska.
3:04:55 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 8, "State
General Fund Dollars Spent - DMVA" and advised it is the
"becoming famous DMVA iceberg slide." The slide shows that for
a contribution in this year's governor's budget of $18.4 million
of state money the state receives over $500 [million] in federal
receipts, the above-water portion of the iceberg.
3:05:32 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 9, and
advised one of her primary jobs as adjutant general is to ensure
that the Alaska National Guard is a relevant force for the state
and federal governments. To that end, they have hosted a number
of strategic leader engagements this year. She then explained
the various events and attendees. She noted she never misses an
opportunity to gain more voice for Alaska, and usually when she
travels to Washington D.C. meets with the Alaska congressional
delegation. She noted she has discussed with Senator Dan
Sullivan everything from keeping army active duty force
structure in Alaska to the F-35 basing schedule to combat rescue
helicopter fielding. Recently, Representative Don Young
introduced the "Rural Guard and Reserve Act of 2016" removing a
cap on reimbursement for travel to attend training drills. As
written in the joint travel regulation now, this cap is a
disincentive because when a service member lives off the road
network, many soldiers have to pay more just to get to drill
than they are paid for drilling. Senator Lisa Murkowski has
worked diligently with DMVA to ensure the previous National
Guard bad actors have been administratively processed in the
most just and expeditious way possible. Working in partnership
with the congressional delegation has created new opportunities
for the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA) it
would not have been able to create on its own. [Slide 9,
photographs of: former U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia, Piper
Campbell; Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter; 38th Chief of Staff
of the U.S. Army General Ray Odierno; Lieutenant General Timothy
J. Kadavy Director, Army National Guard Bureau; Admiral Harry B.
Harris Jr., Commander, US Pacific Command.]
3:08:28 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL directed attention to slide 10,
"Initiatives" and noted they have created initiatives with some
of the people in the room. House Bill 126, the Alaska Code of
Military Justice passed the House of Representatives with a 39
to 0 vote, and asked that the Senators at the table assist by
moving the bill as swiftly as possible. She pointed out
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Weaver is available to answer
questions about the Code of Military Justice, the non-judicial
punishment regulation that it will enable, and how it will be
implemented within the force.
3:09:18 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL advised that Command Chief Master
Sergeant Paul Nelson recently became the command senior enlisted
leader of the Alaska National Guard, and a hand selected team
are spearheading an initiative to improve the ethical fitness of
the Alaska force. They will be working with the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD) Office of Military Professionalism Office
headed by Navy Rear Admiral Margaret "Peg" Klein, pictured on
slide 10, to help design and teach an "exportable living
curriculum" on this subject. Adjutant General Hummel offered
that she intends to take full advantage of DoD assistance as the
next steps are taken to re-boot, re-fit, and reform the National
Guard.
3:10:04 PM
CHIEF MASTER SERGEANT PAUL NELSON, Alaska National Guard, said
the Alaska National Guard under the direction of Adjutant
General Hummel, has begun a grass roots initiative to research,
develop, and implement a program of ethical fitness into the
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs (DMVA). This
initiative will begin in the National Guard and eventually
spread throughout the department led by the non-commissioned
officer corps. It will encompass not only ethics but also a re-
education in the profession of arms with an emphasis on military
corps values to include character, physical courage, moral
courage, and selflessness. He listed the members of the team
and advised the team is to work directly with the Department of
Defense of the Senior Advisor for Military Professionalism. The
objective is to build a comprehensive plan to begin implementing
the art of ethical fitness into the DMVA, and to first define
ethical fitness. Military ethics is a subset of professional
ethics and it exists to be of service to professionals who are
not themselves specialists in ethics, but have to carry out the
task entrusted to the profession as honorably and consciously as
possible. Military ethics is to enable and motivate them to act
appropriately in the discharge of their professional
obligations. Fitness refers to those things the members of the
National Guard are to maintain themselves in an active and ready
state, they consist of the four pillars of resiliency, such as
physical, emotional, social, and spiritual fitness. He related
this is an ongoing process that never reaches an end state. For
example, a person never reaches a point of physical fitness
wherein they no longer need to exercise. It becomes an enduring
and positive lifestyle change. Therefore, ethical fitness,
following this definition and positive lifestyle example
dictates that an attitude of ethical fitness is incorporated
into the fiber of both personal and professional lives, and
strengthening bonds with each other in the uniform services and
civilian divisions of the Alaska DMVA. He explained that the
Alaska team is enhancing the professional development programs
by incorporating ethical fitness into existing curriculum while
also implementing ethical fitness and a review of common
organizational practices in order to educate the professionals
and re-enforce ethical fitness in practice. In turn, this will
improve the working environment of soldiers, airmen, and
civilian workforce, and consequently increase efficiency of the
DMVA operations.
3:13:02 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL described the initiative as exciting to
help improve not just the professionalism, but everyone in the
force. She advised that Command Sergeant Major Richard Hildreth
will be the first ever Alaska National Guard liaison to rural
and tribal communities. She related that he will be key for the
success of their rural engagement efforts, having grown up in
Bethel and being a former recruiter, he is uniquely talented to
understand the challenges Alaska's rural population faces to
participate in the Alaska National Guard and military service.
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL noted that in the interest of time she
would skip [slides 11-13] a discussion about the state side of
the department, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency
Management, the Office of Veterans Affairs who serves Alaska's
75,000 veterans and their families, and the Alaska Military
Youth Academy.
3:15:34 PM
COLONEL KAREN MANSFIELD, Commander, Alaska Air National Guard,
directed attention to slide 14, "Air National Guard" and said it
represents how the Air National Guard has evolved over the
nation over the last decade.
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 15, "Air National
Guard (ANG)" and advised that air guardsmen represent
approximately 30 percent of the total air force and are used as
an operational reserve, and the strategic reserve is well
established. The Air National Guard is expected to fill
approximately 30 percent of the air force deployment taskings
for FY16.
3:16:50 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 16, "Dual Roles of
the Alaska Air National Guard" and highlighted that the Air
National Guard supports both the federal missions and the state
missions. The Alaska Air National Guard has forces continually
training, exercise, and deploying for the Commander of Air
Pacific Forces as well as Air Combat Command and Mobility
Command, and North Command. Concurrently, it performs state
missions on an as-needed or as-requested basis, most notably and
frequently in the form of search and rescue.
COLONEL MANSFIELD referred to slide 8, and pointed out that the
Alaska Air National Guard executes approximately $2.9 million in
state general funds while bringing into the state over $166
million in federal dollars for the federal missions it supports.
3:17:48 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 17, "Locations &
Primary Missions" and advised the Alaska Air National Guard
supports missions with over 2,100 air guard members in three
locations. Eielson Air Force Base (Eielson AFB) is the 168th
Wing which previously was the 168th Air Fueling Wing. She
explained it was officially re-designated to reflect the
inclusion of the 213th Space Warning Squadron at Clear Air Force
Station (Clear AS). South at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
(JBER) is the 176th Wing, one of the most complex organizations
in the Air Guard, with four primary mission sets to include:
strategic and tactical airlift, air defense squadron, and the
rescue triad which includes the Guardian Angels, Rescue
Helicopters, and HC-130s that provide the refueling capability
to those rescue helicopters. Both means also have the standard
supporting units typical to an air force wing which includes:
civil engineering, security forces, logistics, medical support,
and communications squadrons. The diverse primary mission sets,
as well as the supporting organizations, can be leveraged for
state domestic operational needs.
3:18:54 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 18, "Total Force"
said that the Alaska Air Guard performs many federal mission
tasks on a day-to-day basis. In keeping with the DoD's focus
and prioritizations on total force integration, the Alaska Air
Guard is a committed total force participant seamlessly
deploying active duty airmen to overseas missions and committed
to integrating to high levels here at home. It provides a
classic guard association of operators and maintainers to the
active duty C-17 strategic air lift mission on JBER through the
249th Air Lift Squadron. The Alaska Air Guard is unique in the
number of ongoing federal missions being funded and executed,
essentially deployed in place 24 hours per day, seven days per
week, and 365 days per year. The Alaska Air Guard tankers sit
alert at Eielson AFB in support of the Alaska NORAD Region (ANR)
while the rescue forces provide alert capability to the 11th Air
Force [JBER} active duty fighters enabling the NORAD response
and extended training capacity. The defense squadron on JBER is
on duty 24/7, 365 days per year, maintaining continuous air
defense threat watch over the Alaskan area of responsibility.
The 213th Space Warning Squadron also executes 24/7, 365 days
per year, with air guard providing 90 percent of the space
operators and 100 percent of the Clear Defense Forces for the
Air Force Space Mission.
3:20:23 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 19, "At Home" and
related that it is also busy at home with its domestic response
and community support. The Alaska Air National Guard is manned
with a higher percentage of full time guardsmen due to its
expanded federal mission set. It gives the Alaska Air Guard the
capacity to leverage both skill sets and functional response in
support of state needs. For example, in 2015, the 168th Medical
Group participated in a Mission of Mercy for the Fairbanks
region treating over 886 patients and providing approximately
$850,000 in medical care. Veterans Stand Down, in the same
region, assisted 570 veterans with medical services, hygiene
supplies, food donations, and clothing. The 176th Wing
supported the largest recurring innovative readiness training
operation in the nation, Operation Arctic Care, visiting 16
villages, delivering medical and dental care to over 3,000
Alaskans and transporting personnel and over 67 tons of cargo.
In conjunction with the Federal Mission Set, Alaska's guardsmen
man the rescue coordination center that scrambles the forces
that go out to take care of Alaska's civil SAR within the state.
3:21:46 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 20, "Deployed" and
remarked that the deployments keep coming. The Alaska Air
National Guard's tankers have one of the highest operational
tempos with 67 percent of their missions being operational, not
training. In 2015, they deployed over 150 members to Central
Command, and off-loaded 2.6 million pounds of fuel and over 328
combat missions. The 176th Wing, the Guardian Angels teams were
deployed over 13 months of the last 24 months. The C-17
expeditionary crews support multiple rotations logging almost
4,000 hours while delivering over 29 million pounds of cargo,
and moving over 7,000 passengers. The Civilian Engineering and
Security Force Warriors only recently returned from their
operation Enduring Freedom commitments. She described the
Alaska Air Guardsmen as very busy and "will be just as busy in
2016."
3:22:38 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 21, "Current and
Future" and related that the Air National Guard's eyes are on
the future ensuring that it stays vital and relevant to the
state and the nation. She reiterated the re-designation of the
168th Wing, while recognizing the inclusion of the Space Mission
expanding its organizational construct, the Air National Guard
is looking for ways to help meet the total force tanker
requirements in Alaska, as there is more refueling need than
capacity in this state. The goal is to establish an active duty
association placing operators and maintainers against its
National Guard tankers in conjunction with its current squadron
in helping to find a viable solution to that deficit in tanker
capacity, she said.
3:23:17 PM
COLONEL MANSFIELD directed attention to slide 22, "Health of the
Force" and said the professional and personal development of
every airman in the Alaska Air National Guard is a top priority
of the organization to ensure members have skills necessary to
be successful. Towards that goal it has implemented
standardized written performance evaluations for its traditional
guardsmen to give them the feedback they need for future
development. In addition, it developed a chief master sergeant
development panel to highlight future senior leaders, enlisted
leaders, in the organization and groom them for advanced
leadership opportunities. Concurrently, it knows that airmen
care is always at the forefront of its mission set and should be
one of its primary priorities. To that effort, over the past
year it has funded full time chaplain positions in both wings to
ensure airmen have immediate access to meet their counseling and
spiritual wellness needs. She explained that both wings have
hired directors of psychological health professionals that
provide short and long term counseling as well as serving as
liaisons with other mental health professionals in both military
and civilian sectors.
COLONEL MANSFIELD assured the committee that the Alaska Air
National Guard is filled with highly trained and motivated
airmen. As members of Alaska's communities, they go above and
beyond in their commitment to serve the nation and Alaska, she
remarked.
3:24:52 PM
COLONEL JOE STREFF, Commander, Alaska Army National Guard,
turned to slide 25, "AKARNG Vision and Mission" and advised its
vision and mission statement is relevant to both federal and
state missions, as follows:
VISION
A diverse, trusted, and capable organization ready to
conduct Unified Land Operations for the federal
government and the State of Alaska.
MISSION
Maintain ready units and Soldiers who are available to
support the Governor and fellow Alaskans for domestic
operations while also ready to deploy worldwide in
support of the National Military Strategy.
3:26:06 PM
COLONEL STREFF reminded the committee that the Alaska Army
National Guard (AKARNG) and the Alaska Air National Guard (AK
ANG) are the state's first responders in cases of emergencies in
Alaska, together with the Division of Homeland
Security/Emergency Management.
3:26:26 PM
COLONEL STREFF directed attention to slide 26, "AKARNG
Locations" and advised that the Alaska Army National Guard is
located in 18 locations around the state, with 17 armories, plus
the soldiers located at Fort Greely. Reductions are faced both
in federal and state funds causing the AKARNG to assess its
stationing plan and, subsequently, where it can afford to place
its forces. In the past, it had up to 80 armories around the
state, but with the changes being faced it is reducing its
footprint to 18 locations. The benefit to Alaska is the
reduction in infrastructure costs and the potential to use these
armories and be repurposed into local communities.
3:27:14 PM
COLONEL STREFF directed attention to slide 27, "AKARNG FY15-19
End Strength Authorization" and advised the Army National Guard
mandated a reduction in overall end strength nationally from
358,200 people to 335,000 by FY19. Each state has had to absorb
cuts and Alaska's share is approximately 12 percent of its 2015
manning level. Simultaneously, as it was reducing its force
structure, it also had to convert from a battlefield
surveillance brigade to original support group, which involves
two-fifths of its complete force structure. As the army is
drawing down, the standards for recruits has gone up which
creates challenges in Alaska for those who may consider serving
in the armed forces. Currently, 70 percent of the recruit
population ages 18-25 years do not qualify to join the military,
nationally. This is further exasperating Alaska with some of
the unique challenges that Alaska's youth face, and the AKARNG
is working with the Alaska State Defense Force to afford as many
Alaskans as possible the opportunity to serve this great state.
3:28:28 PM
COLONEL STREFF directed attention to slide 28, "Alaska Army
National Guard 2015 Deployments" and said the Army National
Guard continues to deploy soldiers in support of missions and
training events around the world. Of note, it continued its
deployment relationship with the Country of Mongolia, the
AKARNG's state partnership program country and sent soldiers to
Mongolia to train with 24 other countries in peacekeeping
operations. The AKARNG sent pilots to fly in Afghanistan and
soldiers to serve in Kosovo, and its soldiers also trained in
South Korea, Cambodia, Australia, and the United States. He
advised there are 210 Alaska Army National Guardsmen operating
the Missile Defense Mission at Fort Greely on watch 24/7, 365
day a year, operating as the nation's defenders against
intercontinental ballistic missile attack, and these guardsmen
provide a vital link to the defense of our homeland.
3:29:35 PM
SARGEANT MAJOR MARC PETERSEN, State Command, Alaska Army
National Guard (AKNRNG), directed attention to slide 29,
"Defense Support to Civil Authorities" and advised that its
state missions include emergency response, caring for and
responding to requests by civil authorities for support ranging
from flood relief, search and rescue, and emergency housing for
citizens in its armories. The Alaska Army National Guard
helicopters supported the Department of Forestry with 131 hours
on the Mat-Su and Kenai fires last season, and was also involved
in Operation Colony Glacier with support and recovery. There is
a civil support team with 22 specially trained army and air
guardsmen to assist civil authorities in the case of chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive events. The
team stands ready to provide non-emergency assistance to local
and federal authorities. For example, in support of the Glacier
Summit it provided military police support to the Anchorage
Police Department and State Troopers, aviation support to the
United States Secret Service, and refueling support to the
President's helicopter Marine One. He advised the guard has
helped deliver medical care, build structures and parks, and
supply veterinary care throughout Alaska. The innovative
readiness training program combines the efforts and skills of
all of the branches of the armed forces to train in their career
fields while benefiting citizens throughout the United States,
he said.
3:31:09 PM
SARGEANT MAJOR PETERSEN directed attention to slide 30, "State
Partnership Program Alaska - Mongolia" and reiterated that the
Alaska State Partnership Program country is Mongolia, and the
program links the National Guard with the armed forces of a
partner country in a cooperative, mutually beneficial
relationship. He advised that this program is administered by
the National Guard Bureau and guided by the State Department
Foreign Policy Goals, and is executed by the Adjutant General in
support of the Combatant Commander and U.S. Chief, National
Guard Mission Security Cooperation objectives and Department of
the Defense Policy Goals. The National Guard conducts military
to military engagements and also leverages relationships and
capabilities to facilitate broader inter-agency and corollary
engagements spanning military, government, economic,
educational, and social spheres, he advised. Additionally, an
Alaska Army National Guard soldier has served as the bilateral
affairs and security operations officer, and he lived in
Ulaanbaator, Mongolia for the past two years serving in the
United States Embassy, helping facilitate international affairs
between the United States and Mongolia.
3:32:21 PM
SARGEANT MAJOR PETERSEN directed attention to slide 31, "AKARNG
Rural Engagement" and explained that the Alaska Army National
Guard has invited elements of the Command and staff of the Army
National Guard to rural Alaska to witness the challenges faced
in Alaska's communities in order to grow its ranks in those
areas. He related that some of the initiatives include: changes
to the Federal Joint Travel Regulation which allows guardsmen to
be reimbursed for travel to drill; and waivers for Alaskans from
its rural areas to allow them to serve in formations. He
described the Alaska Army National Guard as filled with highly
trained and motivated soldiers who volunteer to protect and
defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of
Alaska. It is united in its resolve to be a diverse, trusted,
and capable organization ready to accomplish the mission set
before them. They hold true to the army values and uphold the
laws of the state, nation, and military, he said.
3:33:30 PM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX asked Colonel Streff whether he said that 70
percent of folk's ages 17-25 years were not qualified to serve
in the army.
COLONEL STREFF responded that in the military at large, 70
percent of the population of the United States ages 17-25 [are
not qualified to serve in the army].
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX questioned whether the reason was because
they are not physically in shape or other reasons.
COLONEL STREFF answered that the major factors include physical
fitness, but then there are moral issues associated with that,
educational problems, such as drop out problems in various
locations. He noted the standards have been raised in the
military as its force structure has dropped so things are
becoming competitive for the recruiters.
3:34:31 PM
ADJUTANT GENERAL HUMMEL remarked that not one of the five
witnesses today have been in their positions longer than one
year, she opined that the committee can share her optimism in
their expertise, energy, and leadership, and expressed that the
Alaska National Guard is on the rise.
3:35:07 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL pointed out that the committee gets to work
with budgetary issues and the experiential issues, but the
partnerships she has built with the United States Army, Air
Force, Navy, and Coast Guard have been significant. Clearly, he
commented, not only from deployment but to the 24/7 operations
of Clear Air Force Base or the Missile Defense, Alaska is now
full on partners both in fighting on the ground and watching
through these devises. He thanked her for taking on the
responsibility, sharing the new command structure, and that the
committee is looking forward to rubbing shoulders more with her.
3:36:06 PM
The committee took an at-ease from 3:36 p.m. to *3:41 p.m.
3:41:47 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL called the committee back to order.
3:42:36 PM
REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL ABEL, Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard
District, United States Coast Guard, said that in 37 years of
being in uniform, he has never seen collaboration between the
other military services, the Coast Guard, the National Guard,
and the state, as efficient as it is in Alaska. He described it
as phenomenal. For example, he said, it takes a lot to keep two
MH-60s going for four months in the North Slope and he had to
get "all that stuff has to go back to Kodiak." He asked the
National Guard whether its load masters would like to practice
with some odd shaped gear. Adjutant General Hummel agreed, and
requested that Lieutenant General Handy submit a memo, of which
he did. Thereby, the Coast Guard saved five C-130 trips by
using one of the National Guard's C-17s to get the equipment
back to Kodiak. He described that as collaboration and noted
that the costs for the Coast Guard C-130s, as well as tax
payer's money, were saved.
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL offered that some things have not changed for
the Coast Guard in Alaska, and its mission remains the same
which is: to protect man from the sea - life saving mission;
protect the sea from man - environmental stewardship mission;
and to deny the sea to anyone who would use it as an avenue to
cause harm for the nation. There are 44,000 miles of coastline
and over 3.8 million square miles of dangerous and hostile
Alaskan waters. He advised that of the Coast Guard's 11
statutory missions, probably the biggest mission it tends to is
search and rescue, domestic and international fisheries - making
sure it is a fair playing field, aids to navigation, military
readiness, environmental response, maritime safety, and homeland
security. On an average day, the Alaska Coast Guard will save
or assist two people, and those two people will be home with
their family due to what the men and women of the Coast Guard
are doing in Alaska every single day. On a given month, 150
recreational or commercial boats will be inspected to perform
the prevention side; will service 98 aids to navigation;
investigate 11 pollution incidents; and will monitor in the safe
shipping of 700 million gallons of fuel out of Alaska. He
offered that Alaska is blessed with the fact it has a new ocean
emerging for the first time in 10,000 years, and the Coast Guard
wants to be sure it is done in a safe and environmentally
responsible manner.
3:45:24 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL stated that since 2007, the number of vessels
in the Coast Guard's area of responsibility in the Arctic have
doubled, and the number of transits through the Bering Strait
have doubled as well. Thankfully, he noted, the Arctic is not
new to the Coast Guard, in that since 1967 in the days of
Captain "Hell Roaring Mike" Healy the Coast Guard has been in
Alaska. The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (USRCS), the Coast
Guard's predecessors were the first federal presence in Alaska
after Alaska became a U.S. Territory, and those missions have
continued. Since 2008, the Coast Guard has made a push to the
Arctic, since 2012 it has been called "Arctic Shield." Arctic
Shield pushes a number of assets to the North Slope and the
missions for 2015 were to perform Coast Guard mission activities
in the Arctic to enhance Arctic domain awareness. He referred
to Lieutenant General Handy's discussion of Arctic domain
awareness and maritime domain awareness, and noted he is blessed
that Lieutenant General Handy views him as his maritime
component commander. Rear Admiral Abel's view of the Arctic and
view of the maritime is what he provides Lieutenant General
Handy, and there is no formal DoD line between them because it
is all about partnerships here. He pointed out that
"Partnerships" was the third goal of Arctic Shield 15, to
enhance their abilities for preparedness, prevention, and
response in the Arctic. Last summer they had two helicopters
forward deployed to Deadhorse, Alaska, and had major cutters
with deployed helicopters on board, and expressed that there is
nothing more mobile and reactive than a Coast Guard cutter with
an embarked helicopter because it can move where the action is
every single summer. He turned to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Healy, their medium ice breaker, and pointed out that it
performed a parameter patrol all the way around the edge of "our
exclusive economic zone." The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy also
performed an unescorted lone trip to the North Pole which was
historic because this was the first time a U.S. surface vessel
made that trip. He advised that a C-130 from Kodiak flew all
the way to the North Pole and returned safely to prove it could
be done, testing navigation as well as communication.
3:47:30 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL said their Medium Endurance Cutter (WMEC)
USCGC Alex Haley was working in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort
Sea. They conducted maritime patrols and had a buoy tender in
the Arctic putting down research buoys. The Coast Guard worked
with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
and he related that 5-10 percent of the Arctic is charted to
contemporary standards. He asked the committee to imagine
getting on an Alaska Airlines flight and the captain announcing
that he/she knew where 5-10 percent of the mountains are, and
pointed out that this is what a captain does when he takes a
ship north of the Bering Strait. The Coast Guard is working
closely with NOAA to be certain they can chart and do it safely.
3:48:03 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL explained that mobile, seasonal, and adaptive
are the watch words and the strength of the Coast Guard presence
in the Arctic. He advised that the University of Alaska,
Anchorage (UAA) earned a Center of Excellence grant from the
Department of Homeland Security to work on the Arctic Domain
Awareness Center (ADAC). They will continue work both fusing
science with sensors and satellite imagery with a community
based observer network. He explained that the whole idea is to
tap into the knowledge of those that have lived on the North
Slope, along the Arctic coast for generations to find out that
walruses have just shown up for the first time, which is
unusual. This is unusual, he said. He continued that the
storms are more severe than in the past, there are erosion
problems, and to fuse that information so there is traditional
knowledge as well as science. The Coast Guard has also teamed
with community engagement, and he said not only is a marine
inspector qualified to inspect a tank, they are also qualified
to teach Kids Don't Float, which is an in school program
explaining water safety. He noted that they reached 3,600
children last year with Kids Don't Float and remarked that a
child wearing a lifejacket ended up saving the lives of his
father and his father's friend. Alaskans can be proud of the
fact that the number of teenagers wearing life jackets is much
higher than the Lower 48 because, he pointed out, for 10 years
they have taught 9-10 year olds they have to wear life jackets
when underway on a boat. Those children are now 19-20 year olds
and the return on investment is there, he said.
3:50:23 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL explained that the Coast Guard is doing its
best to harmonize all operations in the Arctic Maritime System
to be certain they are well synchronized with traditional uses
of the Arctic and are cognizant that they do not want to scare
away the whale or walrus or caribou. He described it as more
about food security and cultural security. A beneficial Arctic
Waterway Safety Committee was created, patterned after a Harbor
Safety Committee, which fused subsistence hunters with industry
and communities, and from each group asked its priorities for
the Coast Guard in a maritime transportation system in the
Arctic. He noted a Port Access Route Study proposed a route
that goes from Unimak Pass up around Little Diomede, and an exit
that goes left to right going either to the Russian side or the
U.S. side. The Coast Guard has heavily hydro-graphed it, which
is bottom mapping, and is looking to get that approved by the
International Maritime Organization to then bring some structure
to the extremely narrow pass.
He noted that the distance of the Bering pass is [the same as]
between Washington D.C. and Baltimore. It is 44 miles, shallows
up to 100-150 feet, with 17,000 Bowhead Whales traveling through
there twice per year, and 4 million nesting birds migrating
through there. He described that it has always been a
wilderness superhighway that is becoming a transportation
highway system, and how to harmonize that as well.
3:51:58 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL referred to Polar Code, and advised the
International Maritime Organization, which dictates rules for
all mariners around the world, has passed the Polar Code. He
described it as a "game changer" because this is the first time
ever there is an international standard for ships that operate
in the Arctic." He explained that it will dictate ship
construction, training - because the person must be a qualified
ice pilot, it will dictate discharge restrictions, carriage
requirements, and all of those things. The United States Coast
Guard will enforce the Polar Code, and it is making sure it is
there and ready to perform inspections and be certain everyone
abides by the new rules.
3:52:37 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL referred to the "lure of the Arctic" in that
everyone wants to go to the Arctic. He pointed to the cruise
liner, Crystal Serenity, wherein 1,700 people will travel from
Seward to Anchorage to New York City across the top, which is
the first of its kind. He expressed that the cost will be
$20,000-$120,000 per person, it sold out in two days, and that
this is the wave of the future. Therefore, he noted, the Coast
Guard is making sure it is prepared, together with the
communities and the state, to respond to 1,700 people which may
be in distress in the Arctic. The Coast Guard is also working
with Transport Canada, the cruise industry, the Canadian Coast
Guard to be certain everyone is harmonized and ready to deal
with anything that might occur. Arctic Chinook is a joint U.S.
Coast Guard and U.S. Northern Command sponsored exercise to
conduct a live field training exercise of the Arctic SAR
Agreement that will exercise a response construct applicable
across the Arctic region.
3:53:41 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL noted that closer to home and highly
successful is the "Round Turn," focusing on the safety of
commercial fishing vessel activities in Alaska, and that over 50
percent of the nation's fish are caught in Alaska's waters. In
October 2015, a decal became mandatory, and the decal mandates
that certain safety equipment must be on board. [He held up a
decal during the briefing.] Rear Admiral Abel then commended
the professionalism of the fishermen in Alaska because the
equipment was already on board. He stressed that the Coast
Guard continues to serve Alaska, safeguard the public, and
protect the environment and its resources. He pointed out that
on the quality of life side, Alaskan families are proud to live
here. He turned to the Alaska Marine Highway System and advised
that 80 percent of Coast Guard members use the ferries to get to
their assignments distributed all around the state and maritime.
Interestingly, he remarked, his challenge is getting the folks,
whose tour has ended, to leave Alaska because they want to
continue to serve in Alaska. He extended that he has to give
other folks the chance to stand watch on the Last Frontier.
3:55:36 PM
REAR ADMIRAL ABEL mentioned there was an issue with cancellation
fees with regard to the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS).
Thanks to Captain Mike Neussl, Deputy Commissioner, Marine
Highway System, if a person is military on orders they can book
a reservation with no cancellation fee up to 60 days before the
actual move, which will not be a problem for military members.
He pointed out that the Alaska Marine Highway System Division
was extremely responsive in ascertaining that active duty
members are moved in and out of places they need to be this
summer.
3:56:14 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL commented that for all of Alaska's highway
systems, whether it be marine or plowing the road between
Anchorage and Fairbanks, they are struggling under the economic
pressure, but the committee will keep that in mind. He thanked
the Coast Guard for keeping Alaska's water safe for fishermen
and those traveling in Alaska's waters, and related that it is a
new world to him, but he is learning more about the lives the
Coast Guard saves and the inspections. He described it as
fascinating, from Kids Don't Float all the way to the maritime
issues to the Arctic traversing.
3:57:03 PM
CO-CHAIR LEDOUX commented that as a former resident of Kodiak,
she does not think there is anyone in Kodiak who has not been
touched by the Coast Guard in some respect. She further
commented that legislative time isn't always as prompt as
military time, and she congratulated him because the briefing
may have started out on legislative time, but he finished on
military time.
3:57:46 PM
CO-CHAIR COGHILL thanked all of the briefing witnesses and asked
them to advise those under their command [the committee's]
recognition of gratitude. As a salute to the witnesses as
commanders and for those under their command, for the whole
range of issues the members get to see, there is no doubt it is
a partnership that also extends between the people of Alaska,
the people of America, the Department of Defense, and the many
ways they deal with it, and the committee is grateful. He
acknowledged that the economics of Alaska are somewhat shaky due
to oil, but the future of Alaska is definitely certain that it
has a geographical place in the world. The state does the best
it can to be certain the highways and byways stay open, and that
the men and women serving in the military services are kept
healthy, safe, and productive.
3:59:23 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the Joint
Armed Services Committee meeting was adjourned at 3:59 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| JASC REPORT TO LEGISALTURE FINAL JAN 18, 2016.pdf |
JASC 2/9/2016 1:00:00 PM |
2016 JASC Report |
| Biographies for Feb 9th Meeting.pdf |
JASC 2/9/2016 1:00:00 PM |
Biographies for Feb. 9 Meeting |
| JASC DMVA 2-9-16.pptx |
JASC 2/9/2016 1:00:00 PM |
DMVA Report to JASC |
| ALCOM JASC Final_9 Feb Testimoy.pdf |
JASC 2/9/2016 1:00:00 PM |
ALCOM Report to JASC |
| USARAK JASC Brief_V6.pptx |
JASC 2/9/2016 1:00:00 PM |
USARAK Report to JASC |
| U.S. Army Alaska Command Video-HD.mp4 |
JASC 2/9/2016 1:00:00 PM |
US Army Alaska Command Video |