{"id":65113,"date":"2024-04-17T21:02:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T21:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/17\/air-guard-changes-in-alaska-could-affect-national-security-rescue-ops\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:22:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:22:47","slug":"air-guard-changes-in-alaska-could-affect-national-security-rescue-ops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2024\/04\/17\/air-guard-changes-in-alaska-could-affect-national-security-rescue-ops\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Guard changes in Alaska could affect national security, rescue ops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANCHORAGE, Alaska \u2014 Kristin Paniptchuk\u2019s water broke on Christmas Eve at her home in the western Alaska Inupiat village of Shaktoolik, and then she began to bleed profusely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The local clinic in the tiny village of 200 people on the Bering Sea couldn\u2019t stop the bleeding or the contractions brought on by a baby that wasn\u2019t due for another two months. With harsh winds grounding an air ambulance from nearby Nome, medical staff called on their only other option: the Alaska Air National Guard. Five days after a military helicopter and then a cargo plane whisked Paniptchuk to an Anchorage hospital, she delivered her daughter Kinley, premature but healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/opinion\/2024\/04\/17\/air-national-guard-transfer-proposal-would-put-america-behind-in-space\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6763714.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air National Guard transfer proposal would put America behind in space<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Air National Guard\u2019s roughly 1,000 space professionals make more than 30% of American space capability.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past year-and-a-half, Paniptchuk, whose daughter is now a toddler, has been thinking about how lucky she was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m just really thankful that they were able to come and get me,\u201d she said. \u201cWho knows what would have happened if they didn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alaska Air National Guard conducted 159 such missions last year in largely roadless Alaska, many during vicious storms. In one instance, a military helicopter flew nearly 660 miles to pick up a <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/alaska-national-guard-russia-rescue-diomede-97df1e99f003191ab732a4d444b44941\">pregnant woman with stomach pains<\/a> from an Alaska island 2 miles from Russia\u2019s waters. Last month, two airmen armed with pints of blood parachuted into another western Alaska community to care for a woman experiencing internal bleeding because it was the fastest way to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, those rescues could be drastically curtailed as personnel changes take an outsize toll in a state more than twice the size of Texas, Guard leaders and members say. A nationwide move to balance the number of the top-earning positions among the Air National Guard across 54 state and territorial units means the Guard will soon convert many of Alaska\u2019s highly paid Active Guard and Reserve members \u2014 who are essentially the equivalent of full-time active-duty military \u2014 to dual-status tech positions, a classification with lower wages, less appealing benefits and different duties. Many say they will quit rather than accept the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The transition, leaders say, could cut the number of the Alaska Guard\u2019s medical rescue missions to about 50 a year and also affect critical national security work in the state, located just across the Bering Strait from Russia. That work includes scanning for missile launches from Russia, North Korea and China; <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/chinese-balloon-military-involvement-e45c759cb00294e83989fa35970935bc\">tracking spy balloons over U.S. airspace<\/a>; and flying a refueling plane for U.S. fighter jets that respond to Russian bombers near American airspace \u2014 something that\u2019s already happened five times this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we\u2019re only watching the skies Monday through Friday and they launch a missile on Saturday, well, that\u2019s failure,\u201d said Alaska Air National Guard boss Brig. Gen. Brian Kile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alaska is slated to convert 80 members, or about 4% of its 2,200 personnel, to tech positions \u2014 the most in the U.S. The problem is that much of the Alaska Guard\u2019s unique role \u2014 missions that require being on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week \u2014 can\u2019t be done by the tech positions, the Guard said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re trying to make all of the units look equal, and the problem with that is they took no consideration of location and of mission into account when they did this,\u201d Kile said. \u201cTo do that for Alaska is incredibly impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Local leaders have met with National Guard leadership, hoping to change their minds about the cuts in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement to The Associated Press, the Air National Guard said the staffing reset was \u201cdriven by the desire to achieve equity across all units resourced by the same program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In past statements, Guard officials have said they attempt to address staffing imbalances where some units have more of the highly paid Active Guard and Reserve members than others. Alaska has spent years adding these personnel to support its work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials did not respond to emailed questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than take a pay cut, more than 80% of the 80 Alaska members whose jobs are being converted to tech positions have indicated they will leave the Guard, some for private sector jobs. Some of those who stay will lose more than 50% of their salaries, which in some cases translates to more than $50,000 a year plus benefits, making living in expensive Alaska a huge challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou\u2019re living in fear for the future,\u201d said Sgt. Sharon Queenie, a Yup\u2019ik Eskimo and Guard member who monitors the skies for errant aircraft or spy balloons. The single mother of three will see her $104,000 annual salary cut in half, which she said could force her to sell her house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maj. Mark Dellaquila lives in North Pole, a small community near Fairbanks, with his wife and five children. He said he would lose $60,000 a year when his job \u2014 already unfunded \u2014 is converted to a tech position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pennsylvania native said he and his wife decided early on that Alaska would be their forever home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re in Alaska trying to grow roots and raise our kids here and now have this seemingly arbitrary decision just yank all of those roots right out of the ground,\u201d he said, choking back tears. \u201cIt\u2019s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Staffing changes in the Alaska Air National Guard may hurt the organization&#8217;s ability to secure America&#8217;s western airspace and carry out rescue 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