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The 123rd Contingency Response Group, Kentucky Air National Guard, sent a team of Airmen to support Exercise Arctic Eagle-Patriot 22 by opening airfields for the exercise participants. The 123rd’s primary mission is to take existing airfields and make them operational through teams of 12-15 personnel from multiple different career fields through the Air Force.
“We show up, we unload our stuff, and even within 30 minutes of establishing an open airfield, we will call back to the rear and say start bringing aircraft to us,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Esterle, the CRT Command and Control Operations Specialist.
Exercise Arctic Eagle-Patriot 22 provides extreme cold-weather training opportunities to a multitude of state, local and national partners and components of the Department of Defense. The exercise allows individuals to operate in adverse conditions. The 123rd CRG conducted extensive training to prepare arctic weather since 2020, including sending multiple members to Arctic Survival Schools, ensuring others in the unit continued to share the information learned with the rest of the team, and improving the readiness of all personnel.
“The cold is an entirely different ballgame,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Yuri Motamedi, security forces element with the 123rd CRG. “But it’s good. We’re lucky enough to have been given a lot of great gear. A lot of the stuff we have we’re testing out and seeing what layers work.”
There are six CRG units throughout the United States, only two of which are National Guard. The 123rd’s centrally based location in Kentucky allows for quick travel to anywhere in the U.S. when mobilized.
There are known and unknown adversities in every training exercise, but the CRG came to Nome, Alaska, prepared to overcome all challenges that came their way. Esterle further explained a Contingency Response Team (a subordinate team of the overall CRG) contains multi-capable airmen who are prepared to face any obstacle. These Kentucky Air National Guard members bring their military experience and their civilian experiences and education to pitch in wherever the unit needs.
“That’s the biggest thing,” Esterle explained. “We were prepared for those contingencies but adapting to the new terrain. We were prepared for the cold weather but had to adapt to the geography.”
Exercise Arctic Eagle-Patriot 2022 is an opportunity for units to experience arctic conditions while training and operating. In extreme cold, equipment may work differently than during normal conditions. The exercise also allows other branches to work together as a cohesive team.
“I can communicate with both branches, kind of be a liaison in between, and to me, that’s been very helpful,” said Esterle. “It’s been interesting for me to work both dynamics being prior Army and current Air force.”
| Date Taken: | 03.02.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2022 21:12 |
| Story ID: | 415837 |
| Location: | NOME, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 123rd CRG Participates in Exercise Arctic Eagle-Patriot 2022, by SGT Kierra Harris, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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