HEADQUARTERS, U.S. ARMY ALASKA, JOINT BASE
ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - U.S. Army Alaska paratroopers made the 2nd Engineer
Brigade's first airborne operation north of the Arctic Circle May 1 to hone their
arctic mobility
skills in an exercise called Arctic Pegasus. This
exercise expanded U.S. Army Alaska's arctic airborne capability.
Paratroopers from the 6th Engineer Battalion jumped into
a landing zone near
Deadhorse, 495 miles north of Fairbanks in the North
Slope Borough and added a follow-on air movement to conduct a site orientation
visit 60 miles south
along the Dalton Highway. The exercise was intended to
help the unit's soldiers build proficiency in their arctic mobility and
survivability
skills, while collaborating closely with the Air Force
and the Alaska Army National Guard.
A dozen arctic-equipped jumpers and a Small Unit Support
Vehicle parachuted
from an Air Force C-17 aircraft for the exercise. The Small Unit Support Vehicle, commonly referred to as a SUSV (pronounced
"suss-vee"), weighs more
than 10,000 pounds fully equipped and is essential to
small unit arctic mobility. The
Alaska Army National Guard provided two UH-60 Black Hawk
helicopters for air mobility during the mission.
While primarily aimed at arctic mobility and
survivability in an austere
arctic environment, Arctic Pegasus also served as a
rehearsal for U.S. Army Alaska, should it be requested to rapidly deploy a small
arctic force in
support of a variety of missions including fixed site
security, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief or support to civil
authorities.
Video and still photos from the U.S. Army Alaska arctic
airborne mission can be found at the following links: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/334519/arctic-pegasus-with-interviews