Photo By Staff Sgt. Mykaela Martin | Arizona Army National Guard Soldiers with the 2-285th Assault Helicopter Battalion...... read more read more
Subscribe
Soldiers with the Arizona Army National Guard 2-285th Assault Helicopter Battalion attended a life-saving award presentation at Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix, Ariz. in order to recognize three of their fellow service members on May 1, 2021. Aircrew members were tasked by law enforcement to conduct a rescue that required an aircraft with the ability to descend down safely to extract hikers stranded in inclement weather in Sedona, Ariz. on January 25, 2021. They also hoisted up members of a local rescue team in the Haribo Canyon. It was a difficult two-day rescue mission that presented small windows of opportunity for extraction, but the AZ Guard was ready and prepared at a moment’s notice.
“The National Guard has the unique ability to repurpose combat skills in support of civilian life-saving operations,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Stephen Kafton, 98th Troop Command Brigade Sergeant Major.
The AZ National Guard has been able to use their training to assist and support community needs this past year between COVID-19, response to wildfires and everything in between.
“It’s not just ‘be ready if it comes,’ we’ve been actively engaged in performing our missions both in civilian operations and wartime operations and our training missions at the same time,” said Kafton. “It’s a very proud and encouraging feeling to be part of this organization.”
Arizona Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. Kerry L. Muehlenbeck, presented the crew with awards in recognition of their bravery and professionalism and exclaimed how proud she was of the Soldiers’ success during their mission.
“It’s simple for me, you put the right people in the right places and you let them do their job. You let them do what they are trained to do,” said Muehlenbeck, as she addressed the Soldiers. “You’re doing this in addition to COVID and now we’re bringing on troops to state active duty to help with our southern Arizona law enforcement partners. And I think this is the beauty, if we put people in the right places, you get it done … if you put people first, the mission follows.”
There was a small window of time to complete the mission once the National Guard was called upon. Even with non-cooperating weather and last minute adjustments due to the safety of everyone involved, the mission was successful. One of the pilots of the mission, Maj. Shannon Lancaster, recalls how she felt.
“What really got to me is when Staff Sgt. Evans lifted the first person and I heard the crew chief in the back say, ‘Hey! We have our first patient secured.’ That’s when it really kicked in for me, that sigh of relief that we were able to actually pull them out,” said Lancaster. “It was my first real world mission of pulling people to safety but I’ve done a ton of training for this. That’s why we’re in the Guard; it’s what we train for. We’re Citizen-Soldiers and we’re here for the community. There’s nothing that compares to it.”
The AZ National Guard treats every training opportunity as real life scenarios. The AZ Guard has been in an activation status for over a year to support the state and nation with emergency response. They are supporting COVID-19 and wildfire response, logistical needs for food banks and so much more. The AZ Guard will continue to train diligently and be ready to answer the call at a moment’s notice.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2021 16:09 |
| Story ID: | 395396 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 253 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Arizona National Guard Soldiers Awarded for Successful Sedona Rescue Mission, by SSG Mykaela Martin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT