“We need to make sure we have the training and capability to deal with conflict or competition in the Arctic. With more and more shipping and cruise ships happening in the Arctic, we can supplement search and rescue capabilities if needed. We also have the ability to sustain forward operating locations, refueling points and extend the military range into the Arctic Circle.”-Captain Eric Chan, New York Air National Guard, totally referencing the fact that climate change has greatly increased Russia’s activity in the Arctic
In October 2019 an upgraded LC-130H Ski Bird was loaded with a HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) for the first time. This was in preparation for Arctic Edge-20, held from 24FEB2020 to 06MAR2020 in Alaska.
Allen Army Airfield, Alaska.
New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing flew their LC-130H, with upgraded Rolls-Royce T56 series 3.5 turbines and NP2000 props, to Alaska to link up with U.S. Marine Corps’ 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment.
There they up-loaded a M142 HIMARS and transported it to an Arctic firing range.
A few fun videos for your entertainment:
Vehicle I-D: LC-130 À LA SKIS
From 20FEB2020 to 07MAR2020, Army National Guard units from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, are taking part in Arctic Eagle-20, held in Alaska.
Also taking place about the same time is Arctic Edge-20, running from 24FEB2020 to 06MAR2020. It includes the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian forces.
These U.S. taxpayer funded coastal patrol boats, called Defender, were given to the country of Djibouti on 22FEB2020, for use in patrolling their coastal borders!
U.S. Marine with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, takes part in the U.S. taxpayer co-funded building of a school in Thailand, 23FEB2020.
This pic might look like a happy tour boat, but the reason there are Coast Guard personnel onboard is that it was an illegal operation! It happened near Bahia Hutchinson Island, 23FEB2020, the boat operator was ticketed for three violations of boating regulations.
Yet another abandoned boat found by the U.S. Coast Guard, this time on Tiki Island, 28FEB2020. For the past year it seems the number of abandoned boats found by the Coast Guard has gone up, from Hawaii in the Pacific to Puerto Rico in the Atlantic. It is bad luck for boat owners, or smugglers of drugs/humans?
Over the Atlantic Ocean the U.S. Navy (USN) is paying close attention to the Saharan Air Layer (SAL). The SAL can move 14-million-metric-tons (tonnes) of dust from Africa to the Caribbean every year, and with climate change it’s expected to get worse! The USN has joined with NOAA, NASA, and the National Weather Service to establish a ‘baseline’ in order to study health affects of the massive dust transfer and to create an early warning system for people in and around the Caribbean area.
The USN recently concluded data collection for their study of Monsoon Intra-Seasonal Oscillations (MISO) in the Indian Ocean. Researchers from University of Notre Dame, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, and National Aquatic Research and Resources Agency in Sri Lanka, also took part. The purpose is to better predict rapidly changing weather patterns affecting the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and South China Sea.
On 24 February, NATO forces conducted a bomb search in a smoke filled house during the extreme cold weather training event known as Exercise Cold Response.
Also during Exercise Cold Response, NATO personnel conducted an ice dive, 25 February, to train for port damage repair, and hydrographic surveying in an extreme cold weather/ice environment.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began taking snowpack samples in North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Measuring snowpack allows officials to estimate the amount of water runoff/flooding when the snow melts.
The US Army Corps of Engineers plans to increase releases from Gavins Point Dam in order to “…provide the greatest amount of flood risk reduction across the basin.” The dam affects areas of Nebraska and South Dakota.
New Hampshire Army National Guard flew to Alaska to take part in an extreme cold weather contamination training event. Note the Corona(virus) beer bottles.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that after years of upgrades to the Center Hill Lake Dam the lake is soon to return to ‘normal’ operations, and will allow the Nashville District to handle additional water flows into the reservoir.
A day after the U.S. Coast Guard gave up their search for people reported missing, an abandoned fishing boat was found, 19FEB2020. Human smuggling is a major problem in the area.
In San Diego, 10FEB2020, U.S. Coast Guard off-loaded 20-thousand pounds of cocaine captured at sea.
Falcon Dam has been identified as a major national security concern and as such the U.S. Coast Guard, the International Boundary and Water Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department all agreed to jointly patrol the area during ‘elevated security situations’.
Concerning the global Swine Flu and Bird Flu epidemics, 