Paratroopers from the US Army participate in exercise Arctic Pegasus. Photo, Sgt. Edward Eagerton/US Army National Guard.
The US Army has activated its aviation command in the Arctic amid the proliferation of security threats in the region.
Stationed at Fort Wainwright in Alaska, the Arctic Aviation Command will be home to two active-duty battalions, which are both the first battalions of the 25th and 52nd Aviation Regiments.
These units, which are already in Alaska, previously reported to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington and Fort Shafter in Hawaii.
With the recent development, the two battalions will directly and exclusively report to the new local command while continuing to support operations in the region.
“The Arctic is obviously a strategically important region for the US,” command head Col. Russ Vanderlugt said. “You have to be in the Arctic to understand the Arctic.”
Last month, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced that American and Canadian warplanes intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers near Alaska.
Moscow and Beijing then confirmed that they were staging a joint patrol over the north Pacific Ocean during the intercept but insisted that they stayed in international airspace.
The Pentagon also sounded the alarm on the increasing Russian-Chinese collaboration in the region, both militarily and commercially.
“We’ve seen growing cooperation between [China] and Russia in the Arctic commercially, with [China] being a major funder of Russian energy exploitation in the Arctic,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said.
With the new Arctic Aviation Command, the US Army is expected to have a better Arctic posture by stationing its leaders in Alaska to facilitate improved training.
It would also allow for more equipment to provide a direct line of support to Arctic units.
