SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT GLACIER CONFERENCE IN ALASKA

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement, and Resilience (GLACIER) Conference Opening Plenary
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Anchorage, Alaska
August 31, 2015

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good morning, everybody. Thank you very, very much, Admiral Papp, for a very generous introduction. I have to tell you that I’m surprised that on an Irish ship in St. Petersburg any sailors were able to talk at all. (Laughter.) I mean, sailors are sailors, and when you get to port, you don’t talk.

But I really want to thank Admiral Papp. I have to tell you, he’s been a blessing to this enterprise. And over the last year as the U.S. Special Representative to the Arctic, he has already seized the reins and done a rather remarkable job of helping us to set, yes, an ambitious agenda, but one that is, after listening to each of the speakers thus far, I think everybody here would agree is necessary to the challenge. And the challenge is real.

Admiral Papp was literally one night away from retirement as commandant of the United States Coast Guard after a brilliant career in the Coast Guard when I telephoned him and I said – I’d met him in the course of our work, me in the Senate and work we did on fisheries and narcotics trafficking and other things. And I knew this was the man for the job, and I asked him to continue his service to our country and indeed to mankind. And believe me, without hesitancy, the next day he was in the office, we met, and he picked up this baton and he has been running with it ever since. And he has a deep, deep commitment to the Arctic, to the challenge of climate change, and I think we are all blessed to have somebody who is prepared to give up the emoluments of the private sector and of retirement to continue in this role. And I’m very grateful to you, Admiral, for being willing to do that. And maybe someday I can make up to you the thwarting of your retirement plans. (Laughter.)

I want to congratulate each of the other speakers that we heard her today. I sat there, as I think most of you I’m sure did, and when I listened to Chief Stephan talk about 10,000 years, and I think of the Industrial Revolution since the late 1800s, which is, after all, at the heart of sort of how we produce things and how we live and how we travel that is creating this challenge of climate change. You see the contrast pretty starkly. And it struck me that this is the right place to be. This was the right site to come and discuss this issue. Because just by being here, just by listening to Mayor Berkowitz, to Mayor Joule, to the Lieutenant Governor and his tunic and his tribute to his mother, we all have a better sense of the human dimension and of the history, and indeed, even the moral challenge that we face as leaders in our countries and as leaders in the world with respect to this challenge of climate change.

So I’m particularly grateful to all of them and I’m grateful to John Holdren, a resident of my state, somebody I worked with for years as a senator, who helped me early on to come to understand the science of climate change. And we very much look forward – all of you here – to participating today and building, we hope, a record, an agenda, a roadmap, if you will, for how we go out of here to lead into Paris, where we have a critical negotiation in December, but which is not, as the video said, the end of the road. It’s really the beginning of the most important part of our responsibility to meet this challenge.

I particularly want to thank my coterie of colleagues, my counterparts who have come here from each of their countries, my distinguished colleagues who work so brilliantly on this issue and on others to help us to find common ground. The foreign minister of Iceland, Gunnar Sveinsson; the foreign minister of Norway, Borge Brende, who has been a great partner in so many efforts. Margot Wallstrom, the foreign minister of Sweden. Bert Koenders, the foreign minister of The Netherlands. Timo Soini, the foreign minister of Finland. Kristian Jensen, the foreign minister of Denmark. And finally, Yun Byung-se, the foreign minister of South Korea. And we’re very grateful to each of them for having traveled so far at a time that is particularly busy leading into September and the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

I’m grateful to the other heads of delegations, all of you sitting here around this table. The European Union, the United Kingdom, Spain, Singapore, Russia, Poland, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China – all of you who are part of this – Canada. Canada is part, obviously, of the Arctic Council, and the foreign minister is not here, but we’re grateful for all of your participation here and for all of the other delegations. Many of you have traveled very, very far to the largest state in our country, as you heard, and certainly one of the most beautiful states in our country, as you can see for yourselves.

The motto of Alaska is “North to the Future.” So I think it’s particularly fitting today that men and women from every corner of the globe have come north for the future. Because what we can decide here – and not just here but what we make real in Paris and beyond – will profoundly impact the future of life on this planet.

I have struggled for years, as I’m sure many of you have, with how you adequately take an issue of this magnitude, this kind of challenge, and put it in terms that average folks can really grab onto, where it isn’t so intimidating that people walk away and say, “Well, there’s no way I can deal with that.” Where people somehow feel that there are individual steps you can take even as countries, states decide to come together and stake – and take the larger steps.

But what we discuss here today is important not just for the Arctic, it is important for the rest of this planet. Everywhere I travel, leaders and average folks talk to me about the impacts of climate change and what they feel and see is happening to their lives in one particular part of the world or another. And the Arctic is so important for us to visit and understand because the Arctic is in many ways a thermostat, a computerized system, if you will, where we don’t even understand fully what the algorithm is, and yet we already see is having a profound impact on the rest of the planet. The temperature patterns, the weather patterns, what happens in the ocean in the Arctic can, in fact, we know – though we don’t completely understand the ways in which it will happen – but we know it has this profound impact on habitat everywhere, on breeding grounds everywhere, on the ecosystem itself.

And one of the beauties of what we heard today from each of the speakers who spoke a few minutes ago is this notion of balance. The balance between our activities – we, having the power of reasoning and choice over all of these other living species, what we choose has this profound downstream impact. Dr. Holdren just painted a very straightforward, purely scientific, actually absolutely factual picture. And it’s hard for people to digest that fully. Some people just want to write it off as a natural change, notwithstanding that at the end of the 19th century a Swedish scientist actually first described the impact of global heating and of the greenhouse effect itself. And we all know that were it not for the existence of the greenhouse itself, life itself would not exist on this planet because it is the greenhouse effect that has held the temperature at a steady average of about 57 degrees for life to be able to exist.

Now we know the Arctic is warming at this pace that was described today, twice as fast, four times in certain places, glaciers now melting three times faster than the rate observed in the last century, and as they melt into the seas the level of sea level rises. But in the figures that we saw regarding Greenland there is cause for greater concern, because the ice sheet on Greenland sits on rock, not in the ocean. Therefore it doesn’t displace water, it only adds to it. And as that level of ice melts, that is a magnitude greater of increase in the rate of sea level rise. And as we saw from Dr. Holdren’s presentation, in the most recent days the gigatonnage, billions of level of meltdown, is significantly greater than it has been at any time in the past, giving greater cause for concern.

We see the permafrost melting, which is releasing methane, and methane we all know is anywhere from – it’s about 30 times on average more damaging than CO2. And sometimes, in the short term it’s 86 times more damaging, but over an average of about a hundred years 30 times more damaging. But 30 times more damaging than something that we’re already having trouble getting control of is a threat to everybody.

We’ve seen 5 million acres of fires in Alaska alone, equal to the size of my state of Massachusetts, in this last year. And on top of that, we see significant challenges to life itself as it invades the communities that have been built, not just in Alaska, but in other parts of the world – low-lying nation-states in the Pacific and others that are increasingly facing this challenge.

The bottom line is that climate is not a distant threat for our children and their children to worry about. It is now. It is happening now. And I think anybody running for any high office in any nation in the word should come to Alaska or to any other place where it is happening and inform themselves about this. It is a seismic challenge that is affecting millions of people today.

Villages in Alaska are already being battered by the storms and some have had to move, or will. As the permafrost continues to thaw, the infrastructure is beginning to be challenged. Houses and other buildings are literally collapsing into rubble. Already this is happening.

There’s a village a few hours northwest of Anchorage called Galena. In 2013, Galena and a number of other villages in the state faced terrible hardships after an ice jam caused the Yukon River to flood. And because natural defenses had melted away, 90 percent of Galena’s buildings were completely destroyed.

The Arctic has never been, we know, an easy place to survive let alone to raise a family or make a living. The story of Arctic communities is inherently one of resilience, adaptation, and survival from one generation to the next. But global climate change now threatens life in this region in a way that it hasn’t been threatened for all of those 10,000 years that Chief Stephan talked about. And unless the global community comes together to address this challenge, the dramatic climate impacts that we’re seeing in this part of the world will be a harbinger for every part of the world.

And we as leaders of countries will begin to witness what we call climate refugees moving – you think migration is a challenge to Europe today because of extremism, wait until you see what happens when there’s an absence of water, an absence of food, or one tribe fighting against another for mere survival.

So over the course of this conference, we will discuss all of this. And the many opportunities that are actually staring us in the face right now to be able to respond to this challenge and, ironically, respond to it in a way that creates millions of jobs, improves our economy, improves health, improves our ability to respond to the environment, does all of the plus-ups that you search for in public policy without the long-term damage and costs that we’re witnessing by not taking those actions.

The energy market, because energy policy is the solution to climate change – and the energy market, if people make the right choices, is the largest market the world has ever seen. The market that drove the great wealth creation in the United States of the 1990s was a $1 trillion market with 1 billion users: technology, computers, personal computers, et cetera. The market that’s staring at us today is already a $6 trillion market with 4 to 5 billion users, and it will grow to 9 billion users as the population of the planet increases in the next 30, 40 years. It is the biggest market ever, and it’s waiting to be grabbed.

So we need to move to reducing carbon pollution, including emissions of short-lived climate drivers like soot and methane, and begin to factor carbon dioxide and its cost into the actual accounting of business and of our economies. We need to explore the need for greater collaboration to develop affordable and reliable renewable energy options in the Arctic communities. And let me underscore we have a number of impressive case studies from which to draw inspiration.

For instance, a small Alaskan village, Igiugig, men and women are using clean energy now, wind turbines in particular, that helps to feed their community. And through a partnership with the Ocean Renewable Energy Company they’re generating a third of their energy needs using a river-based hydrokinetic power technology.

These are the kinds of creative solutions that will enable Arctic communities to endure and to thrive in the future without having to rely on dirtier and ultimately destructive sources of power. And more broadly, today we can discuss what we can pull off in Paris, looking ahead to December when we’ll try to come up with a truly ambitious and truly global climate agreement.

Now our hope is that everyone can leave this conference today with a heightened sense of urgency and a better understanding of our collective responsibility to do everything we can to deal with the harmful impacts of climate change.

Over the course of the day we’re going to discuss efforts to expand resiliency in the region and to provide effective stewardship of wildlife and ecosystems that make the Arctic such an extraordinary place. We’re going to talk through ways that we can better prepare for the spike in human activity that is taking place in the increasingly open Arctic seas that were described earlier. Commercial fishing operations, which are not yet taking place in the central Arctic Ocean but they may begin to ramp up soon, and we’re not going to be able to manage fishing in that area effectively unless we gather more scientific information.

That’s why the United States is proposing an international agreement to prevent unregulated fishing for the time being. In addition, as more and more people begin to take advantage of the new shipping lanes and the potential of exploration of resources, there is obviously a heightened need to be able to expand open water search and rescue responsibilities and capabilities and also to define the rules of the road.

So we have a lot to cover today, and there is no question that the stakes could frankly not be much higher. And that’s why I’m so grateful for such a display of interest by so many countries coming here today to be part of this discussion. I know that when you consider the enormity of what we’re up against and the serious risks and overwhelming uncertainty that people are already experiencing, this seems like a pretty high mountain to climb. Well, I can assure you, as I have described, in fact, if you step back and look at it, it is not.

We are hardly the first generation in human history to face uncertainty about the future. Seventy-five years ago, our predecessors faced a world that was literally engulfed by strife, where seemingly all of Europe was overrun by evil, and civilization itself seemed to be in peril. We had leaders then who rose to that occasion, and we have all seen a world that is better for what came out of it with the United Nations and multilateralism and commitments to humanitarian and other missions.

The threat posed by climate change is obviously entirely different in character. But it is not different in its global reach or its potential to do harm. And the urgent need for global cooperation, for global commitment, for global choices is exactly the same as it was in the 1930s and ’40s and ’50s. If only we fully grasp that, if we commit ourselves to climbing this mountain together, then I am absolutely convinced that we will meet the obligation that we have to future generations, we will meet it here in the Arctic, and we will meet it for the rest of the world.

So I thank you very, very much for being part of this. I hope we have an extremely productive and rewarding day here at GLACIER, and I hope that GLACIER is a stepping stone to our meetings in New York around UNGA, and then afterwards in Paris, and afterwards to getting the job done. Thank you all. (Applause.)

ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD FIGHTING WILDFIRES IN ALASKA

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Army Sgt. Sonny Cooper looks back into the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter after dropping water from a bambi bucket to support firefighting efforts at Russian Lake near Willow, Alaska, June 15, 2015. Cooper is a crew chief assigned to the Alaska National Guard's 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment. Alaska National Guard photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Kevan Katkus.

An Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter drops gallons of water from a bambi bucket onto the Stetson Creek fire near Cooper Landing in Alaska, June 17, 2015. Alaska National Guard photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Balinda O'Neal.

OLI SEES PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOM NEAR ALASKAN ISLANDS

FROM:  NASA 

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this view of a phytoplankton bloom near Alaska’s Pribilof Islands on Sept. 22, 2014. The Pribilofs are surrounded by nutrient-rich waters in the Bering Sea. The milky green and light blue shading of the water indicates the presence of vast populations of microscopic phytoplankton—mostly coccolithophores, which have calcite scales that appear white in satellite images. Such phytoplankton form the foundation of a tremendously productive habitat for fish and birds. Blooms in the Bering Sea increase significantly in springtime, after winter ice cover retreats and nutrients and freshened water are abundant near the ocean surface. Phytoplankton populations plummet in summertime as the water warms, surface nutrients are depleted by blooms, and the plant-like organisms are depleted by grazing fish, zooplankton, and other marine life. By autumn, storms can stir nutrients back to the surface and cooler waters make better bloom conditions.  Image Credit: NASA/Landsat 8.

DOJ ANNOUNCES CHARGES AGAINST DRILLING COMPANY WITH ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES IN ALASKA

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Monday, December 8, 2014

Drilling Company Charged with Environmental and Maritime Crimes in Alaska
Noble Drilling (U.S.) LLC was charged with environmental and maritime crimes for operating the drill ship Noble Discoverer and the drilling unit Kulluk in violation of federal law in Alaska in 2012, the Department of Justice announced.

Under the terms of a plea agreement filed in federal court today, Noble will plead guilty to eight felony offenses, pay $12.2 million dollars in fines and community service payments, implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan, and will be placed on probation for four years. In addition, Noble’s parent corporation, Noble Corporation plc, headquartered in London, England, will implement an Environmental Management System for all Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODUs) owned or operated by Noble Corporation plc and its direct and indirect subsidiaries worldwide.

Noble Drilling (U.S.) LLC was charged in an eight-count Information with knowingly failing to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book and an accurate International Oil Pollution Prevention certificate, knowingly failing to maintain a ballast water record book, and knowingly and willfully failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of hazardous conditions aboard the drill ship Noble Discoverer. At the time of the offenses, the Noble Discoverer was operating under contract with Shell Offshore, Inc. and Shell Development, Ltd. for the purpose of drilling in the arctic in Alaska.

During the 2012 drilling season, Noble was the operator and bare boat charterer of the motor vessel Noble Discoverer and the drilling operator of the MODU Kulluk. The Kulluk was a conical-shaped vessel, weighing 27,968 gross tons, and measuring 265.7 feet in diameter. The Kulluk was not self-propelled, but rather had to be towed. The Noble Discoverer, a mobile drill ship, weighed approximately 15,296 gross tons, measured 572 feet long, and was propelled by a single main engine. In 2012, the Kulluk and the Noble Discoverer made several U.S. port calls in Washington and Alaska on their way to the Shell drilling site off the coast of Alaska. After leaving the drill site, the Kulluk ultimately ran aground off the coast of Unalaska when it broke free from its tow in bad weather, and the Noble Discoverer was dead-ship towed from Dutch Harbor to Seward due to failures with its main engine and other equipment.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Noble admits that it knowingly made false entries and failed to record its collection, transfer, storage, and disposal of oil in the Noble Discoverer’s and the Kulluk’s oil record books in 2012. Oil record book entries falsely reflected that the Noble Discoverer’s Oil Water Separator (OWS) was used during periods of time when in fact the OWS was inoperable. Under the International MARPOL protocol and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, all overboard discharges must pass through an operating OWS to insure that water pumped overboard does not contain more than 15ppm of oil.

Noble also admits that it failed to log numerous transfers and storage of machinery space bilge water and waste oil and failed to log that the Noble Discoverer’s oil content meter audible alarm was nonfunctional. Noble also made modifications to the Noble Discoverer’s new OWS system after the OWS system passed inspections by the Classification Society and the U.S. Coast Guard. Noble did not inform the U.S. Coast Guard or the Classification Society of the modifications and did not receive an International Oil Pollution Prevention certificate that documented the unapproved decanting system, the increased storage, or the new OWS piping arrangement.

Noble had problems managing the bilge and wastewater that was accumulating in the engine room spaces of the Noble Discoverer. This and other conditions led to a number of problems. Noble devised a makeshift barrel and pump system to discharge water that had entered the vessel’s engine room machinery spaces directly overboard from the Noble Discoverer without processing it through the required pollution prevention equipment as required by law. Noble failed to notify the Coast Guard about this system, and took steps to actively hide the fact that it was being used. These false and missing record entries and the use of the illegal overboard discharge system all violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

In the factual basis of the plea agreement, Noble also admits that it negligently discharged machinery space bilge water from the Noble Discoverer into Broad Bay, Unalaska, on July 22, 2012. While anchored in Dutch Harbor, the Noble Discoverer’s bilge holding tank 27S overflowed and went overboard, creating a sheen in Broad Bay.

The Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act requires vessels to maintain accurate ballast records reflecting the source of ballast water in the ballast water tanks, discharges from the tanks, and the total volume of ballast water onboard. By design, water ballast tanks should only contain uncontaminated seawater. Noble pumped oily skimmer tank fluids and deck water with a sheen into several ballast tanks on the Noble Discoverer. Noble then discharged those ballast tanks directly overboard instead of properly discharging the water through the OWS or transferring to a shore-side facility. Noble failed to record the transfers to the ballast tanks and the subsequent discharges in the ballast log.

The Ports and Waterways Safety Act regulations require that the owner, operator, or person in charge of a vessel must immediately notify the nearest Coast Guard office whenever there is a hazardous condition, either aboard a vessel or caused by the vessel or its operation. Noble knowingly and willfully failed on several occasions in 2012 to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of hazardous conditions aboard the Noble Discoverer. There were conditions aboard the Noble Discoverer that may have adversely affected the safety of the Noble Discoverer, other vessels, and the environmental quality of ports, harbors, and navigable waterways of the United States. During 2012, the Noble Discoverer experienced numerous problems with its main propulsion system, including its main engine and its propeller shaft, resulting in engine shut-downs, equipment failures, and unsafe conditions. At times, the condition of the Noble Discoverer’s main engine also created high levels of exhaust in the engine room, multiple sources of fuel and oil leaks, and backfires. Noble acknowledges that it failed to report any of these hazardous conditions to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Noble Discoverer was initially detained in Seward by the Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection for the Western Alaska zone, following a Coast Guard Port State Control examination on November 29, 2012. This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and is being prosecuted by the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska.

U.S. DOD PHOTOS: LIVE-FIRE NIGHT EXERCISE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Soldiers coordinate their attack during a live-fire exercise on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Nov. 4, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher.

An Army sniper, left, and his spotter acquire targets during a live-fire exercise on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Nov. 4, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher.

RECENT U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE 

A C-130 Hercules performs aerial spraying of mosquitos Sept. 6, 2014, over Joint Base Charleston, S.C. The insecticide the unit uses is mixed with water to dilute the product. The C-130 and Air Force Reserve aircrew are assigned to the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Dennis Sloan)

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor flies over clouds during RED FLAG-Alaska 14-3 Aug. 20, 2014, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The F-22, assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jim Araos)

PARATROOPERS TRAIN UNDER ARCTIC CONDITIONS IN ALASKA

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Right:  Army paratroopers jump from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft above the Arctic Circle as part of Arctic Pegasus near Deadhorse, Alaska, May 1, 2014. The paratroopers are assigned to the 2nd Engineer Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mylinda DuRousseau.

Left:  Army paratroopers provide security after exiting a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter during Arctic Pegasus near Deadhorse, Alaska, May 2, 2014. National Guard photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Edward Eagerto.

DOD PROVIDES VETERINARY CARE IN REMOTE LOCATIONS ON KODIAK ISLAND

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

An Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter prepares to land at Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak in Alaska, April 6, 2014. The helicopter transported military medical and veterinary professionals to remote locations on Kodiak Island for Operation Arctic Care, a Defense Department training program to provide free medical, dental, vision and veterinary care to underserved communities. DOD photo by EJ Hersom.

Army Capt. Andrew Ciccolini, left, performs surgery on a dog with his assistant, Army Spc. Carla Rodulfo, during Operation Arctic Care at a military veterinary clinic on Kodiak Island, Alaska, April 7, 2014. Ciccolini is a veterinarian and Rodulfo is an animal care specialist assigned to the 218th Medical Detachment, Veterinary Services, Fort Lewis, Wash. DOD photo by EJ Hersom.

2 MEN PLEAD GUILTY FOR ROLES IN NARWHAL TUSKS TRAFFICKING SCHEME

FROM:  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Tennessee Men Plead Guilty to Illegally Trafficking Narwhal Tusks

Jay G. Conrad, of Lakeland, Tenn., pleaded guilty today in the District of Maine to conspiring to illegally import and traffic narwhal tusks, conspiring to launder money, and illegally trafficking narwhal tusks, announced Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division .   A plea agreement was also unsealed today in which Eddie T. Dunn, of Eads, Tenn., pleaded guilty in the District of Alaska to conspiring to illegally traffic, and trafficking, narwhal tusks.

According to the plea agreements, beginning in approximately 2003, Dunn and Conrad partnered to buy more than 100 narwhal tusks from a Canadian resident who each knew had illegally imported the tusks from Canada into Maine.   After receiving the tusks in Tennessee, Dunn and Conrad marketed and sold the tusks using a combination of internet sales via the “Ebay” auction website and direct sales to known buyers and collectors of ivory.   Buyers were located throughout the United States, including in Alaska and Washington.   Throughout the conspiracy, Dunn and Conrad made payments to the Canadian supplier for the narwhal tusks by sending the payment to a mailing address in Bangor, Maine, or directly to the supplier in Canada.   The payments allowed the Canadian supplier to purchase and re-supply Dunn and Conrad with more narwhal tusks that they could then re-sell.   Dunn sold approximately $1.1 million worth of narwhal tusks and Conrad sold between $400,000 and $1 million worth of narwhal tusks as members of the conspiracy.

“In this conspiracy, Dunn and Conrad flouted U.S. law and international agreements that protect marine mammals like the narwhal from commercial exploitation,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher.  “If left unchecked, this illegal trade has the potential to irreparably harm the species.  The Justice Department will continue to investigate and prosecute wildlife traffickers in order to protect these species for future generations to enjoy.”

“The cooperation between Service and NOAA investigators and between the United States and Canada that led to these prosecutions reflects the type of partnerships needed to protect narwhals and other species worldwide from wildlife trafficking,” said William C. Woody, Assistant Director for Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“NOAA OLE takes the unlawful importation of protected marine mammals very seriously,” said NOAA-Office of Law Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Logan Gregory.  “NOAA OLE will continue to investigate those who unlawfully import marine mammal products and profit from marine protected species such as the narwhal.”

“This investigation uncovered and dismantled a wildlife trafficking network that spanned from New Brunswick to Tennessee and reached as far as Alaska,” said Karen Loeffler, U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska.  “The results reached demonstrate the close cooperation between the United States and Canada and their law enforcement officers whose duty it is to investigate, stop and deter those who illegally target diminishing wildlife resources and do so for commercial gain.”

A narwhal is a medium-sized whale with an extremely long tusk that projects from its upper left jaw.   Narwhals are marine mammals protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).   It is illegal to import parts of marine mammals into the United States without the requisite permits/certifications, and without declaring the merchandise at the time of importation to U.S. Customs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Narwhal tusks are commonly collected for display purposes and can fetch large sums of money.

Dunn is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Beistline in the District of Alaska on March 20, 2014.   The maximum penalty Dunn faces for conspiring to illegally traffic, and trafficking, narwhal tusks is five years of incarceration and a fine of $250,000.   The maximum penalty Conrad faces for conspiring to illegally import and illegally traffic narwhal tusks, conspiring to commit money laundering crimes and illegally trafficking narwhal tusks is twenty years of incarceration and a fine of $250,000.  The trial of Co-defendant Andrew J. Zarauskas is set to begin in Bangor, Maine, on February 4, 2014.   Co-defendant Gregory R. Logan is pending extradition from Canada to the District of Maine.

These cases are part of Operation Nanook, a multi-agency effort to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the unlawful trafficking of narwhal tusks.  The cases were investigated by agents from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Office of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Office of Law Enforcement, with extensive support and collaboration from Environment Canada, Wildlife Enforcement. The cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Todd S. Mikolop of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven E. Skrocki of the District of Alaska.

RECENT FEMA PHOTOS OF THE FLOODING IN GELENA, ALASKA

 

FROM: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADMINISTRATION

Gelena, Alaska, July 1, 2013 -- Houses were moved off their foundations by ice and water in the flooding, leaving piles of debris to be removed. FEMA can assist with debris removal and structural advice. Photo by Ed Edahl/FEMA

Galena, Alaska, June 29, 2013 -- A lake of stranded water still covers the baseball fields hatching a bumper crop of mosquitoes which further stresses the disaster survivors and emergency managers. The major federal disaster, signed by President Obama on June 25, authorizes assistance to individuals and households in Alaska Gateway Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA), Lower Yukon REAA, Yukon Flats REAA, and the Yukon-Koyukuk REAA. Adam DuBrowa/ FEMA

ASSUMING THE COBRA DANE RADAR MISSION

The 21st Operations Group assumed the Cobra Dane Radar mission at Eareckson Air Station, Shemya Island, Alaska, April 1. Eareckson AS is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian islands. The radar has the ability to detect objects about 2,000 miles away, and provides data for the Space Surveillance Network and the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Cobra Dane will continue to be operated by a contract workforce, and no military personnel will be assigned to the unit at Eareckson AS. (U.S. Air Force photo)

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND
Wing adopts new (again) space surveillance mission
by Steve Brady
21st Space Wing Public Affairs

4/5/2013 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The 21st Operations Group assumed the Cobra Dane radar mission at Eareckson Air Station, Shemya Island, Alaska, April 1, and takes responsibility for contract and program management Oct. 1.

Eareckson Air Station is located on the western tip of Alaska's Aleutian Islands near the larger island of Attu, and is approximately 1,500 miles southwest of Anchorage. The airport lies on the south side of the two-mile by four-mile island.

The radar is about 120 feet tall, the face is about 95 feet in diameter, and with its ability to detect objects about 2,000 miles away, it provides data for the Space Surveillance Network and the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

"The Cobra Dane radar will support the 21st Space Wing missile defense and space situational awareness missions," said Lt. Col. Paul Tombarge, 21st Operations Group commander. The radar will fall under the oversight of the 13th Space Warning Squadron at Clear AFS, Alaska, and will be designated as 13th SWS, Operating Location-Cobra Dane, he said.

The Cobra Dane radar began operations in 1977. Its space surveillance mission was suspended by the Air Force in 1994 due to budget constraints, but was reinstated as a limited duty contractor operation in 1999 with renewed emphasis on the radar's unique space tracking capabilities for protection of the International Space Station and shuttle orbiter flights, Tombarge said. The radar resumed full-duty operation in 2002 to support increased spacetrack demands. The radar began its missile defense mission as a result of the Cobra Dane Upgrade program in 2004.

In 2012, the deputy secretary of defense directed the Air Force to assume responsibility for Cobra Dane. Given the similarities between Cobra Dane and the wing's upgraded early warning radars, Air Force Space Command directed the 21st SW to assume the Cobra Dane mission, Tombarge said.

Cobra Dane will continue to be operated by a contract workforce, and no military personnel will be assigned to the unit at Eareckson AS.

　

PENTAGON SAYS THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA NOT HELPFUL

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
North Korean Threats Help No One, Pentagon Official Says
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2013 - The newest threats by North Korea follow a well-worn pattern designed to raise tensions and intimidate others, Pentagon Press Secretary George E. Little said today.

According to news reports out of North Korea this week, long-range artillery and strategic rocket units have been ordered to prepare to deploy.

The United States is concerned by any activities on the Korean Peninsula that could raise tensions, Little said in a meeting with reporters. "It's not just artillery," he noted. "North Korea has nuclear capabilities, so the full range of their arsenal is of concern to the United States and to our South Korean allies."

North Korea's threats help no one, Little said, and serve only to further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region.

The decision earlier this month to place 14 additional ground-based interceptors at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., was based in large part on growing threats from North Korea, Little said.

In addition to the recent mobilization order, in recent months North Korea has conducted nuclear testing, placed a satellite into orbit and continued development of its intercontinental missile program. "The facts are that the North Koreans are developing their missile capabilities in violation of international law and norms of international behavior," Little said, "and they need to stop."

The chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. general who commands the U.S.-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command announced March 24 that they had signed a combined plan to counter threats from North Korea. The classified agreement is led by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff and supported by U.S. Forces Korea, Little said. The agreement is part of a robust architecture supporting a larger joint planning effort that has been under way for some time, he added.

"We are moving forward to take new steps on a combined command and control structure for the [U.S.-South Korea] alliance," Little said. The counter-provocation plan serves as a representation of the continued development of strategic, operational and tactical cooperation, he said.

"It improves our combined readiness posture and allows immediate and decisive response to any North Korean provocation," Little added.

"It's very important that we do everything we can to stabilize the peninsula and not take rhetoric to where it shouldn't go," he said, "and that's what the North Koreans are doing right now, and that should cease."

The United States takes everything the North Korean government says and does seriously, Little said.

"We continue to urge North Korean leadership to heed the president's call to choose a path of peace and to come into compliance with North Korea's international obligations," he added

EVALUATING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BASE CHANGES IN ALASKA

U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE
Air Force to hold meetings on proposed F-16 transfer

2/1/2013 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- The U.S. Air Force is holding a series of public meetings in the Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, communities to invite public comment on potential environmental impacts of a proposed transfer of an F-16 aircraft squadron.

The Air Force is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement on a proposal to relocate the 18th Aggressor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, near Fairbanks, Alaska, to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska. Under the proposal, the Air Force would plan to re-size the remaining wing overhead and base operating support functions at Eielson in fiscal year 2015. The EIS will also consider a No Action alternative, which is to keep the squadron at Eielson. No decision has been made on the proposed move. The EIS is part of a process required of federal agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Air Force is proposing the move to reduce defense spending and support congressionally mandated deficit reductions, as outlined in the Budget Control Act, and as part of its priority to prepare for future challenges and protect the broad range of U.S. national security interests.

The 18th Aggressor Squadron consists of 18 assigned F-16 aircraft, three back-up F-16s, and associated support and maintenance Airmen. The proposed relocation includes removing 623 military personnel from EAFB in fiscal year 2014, transferring approximately 542 positions to JBER, and eliminating 81 positions. Beginning in fiscal year 2015, the Air Force proposes an additional reduction of approximately 749 military and 179 civilian authorizations at EAFB appropriate to the command structure required for the remaining operations. Current planning estimates call for a proposed end state of approximately 769 appropriated funds personnel at EAFB after FY15 (559 military members and 210 civilians).

If the proposal is ultimately approved, Eielson will continue to host the Red Flag and Distant Frontier training exercises with the 18th Aggressor Squadron operating out of JBER under one of two possible alternatives. Under Alternative A, the F-16 aircraft would fly to and from exercises using aerial refueling. The participating F-16 aircraft would not routinely land at Eielson for refueling. Under Alternative B, the 18th Aggressor Squadron would deploy to Eielson for the duration of the exercises.

Under either alternative, the aircraft would operate in the same air space as currently used for Red Flag and Distant Frontier exercises. Transient aircraft and personnel from outside of Alaska participating in these exercises would continue to deploy to and operate out of Eielson.

To effectively define the full range of issues to be evaluated in the EIS, the Air Force will determine the scope of the analysis by soliciting comments from interested local, state and federal agencies, as well as members of the public. The Air Force's public scoping meetings will provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the proposal and participate in the process by providing input. Public input supports the Air Force in making informed decisions.

During the scoping meetings which are open to the public, the Air Force will describe the NEPA process and outline opportunities for public involvement throughout the process. Scoping meetings and the dates and times for each meeting are provided below.

AIR FORCE MOVE IN ALASKA SAVES MONEY IN MANPOWER AND EFFICIENCY

Photos F16 Right and F22 Below.  Credit:  U.S. Air Force 
FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
Pacific Air Forces releases report on Alaska F-16 squadron move 


5/31/2012 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii  -- Pacific Air Forces today released a report on the Air Force's plan to move people and aircraft associated with the 18th Aggressor Squadron from Eielson AFB near Fairbanks, Alaska, to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, near Anchorage, 
Alaska.

Pacific Air Forces led a 26-member Site Activation Task Force (SATAF) team which traveled to both installations in April to study the overall impact of the F-16 squadron move scheduled for FY13. The team validated that, after an initial outlay of $5.6 million in FY13, the move will result in manpower savings of 81 military positions and cost savings of $14.6 million over the next five years, through a combination of manpower and efficiency savings generated by consolidating operations and maintenance supervision overhead and base support functions.


The relocation is one part of the Air Force's fiscal year 2013 force structure adjustments, which are designed to save approximately $8.7 billion of the Air Force's $54 billion share of savings across the Future Years Defense Plan. The SATAF report specifically details actions needed to move the Aggressors in FY13 and details planning and incidental costs associated with this action.


Eielson hosts the only wing in the active duty Air Force that has only a single operational squadron. In addition to expected cost savings, this move would lead to more efficient operations by locating the F-16 Aggressor aircraft with their primary customers, the F-22 Raptors at JBER. The F-16 Aggressors will retain the capability to operate from Eielson during exercises and as otherwise needed.


"Eielson Air Force Base is, and will continue to be, a valuable strategic location as part of the Total Force," said Brig. Gen. Mark McLeod, Director of Logistics, Pacific Air Forces, and SATAF team lead. "The base will remain the home station for the Alaska Air National Guard's 168th Air Refueling Wing and will provide critical training through the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex supporting major joint training exercises such as Red Flag, Distant Frontier and Northern Edge." 


In addition to the savings generated from the F-16 squadron move, the Air Force expects there will be additional savings based on proposed base operating support manpower adjustments in FY15. The estimated follow-on cost savings are projected to be approximately $90 million per year beginning in FY16, and $227 million across the FYDP. These savings are based on eliminating 749 military and 179 civilian manpower authorizations that analysis determined would no longer be needed at Eielson once the remaining infrastructure and support functions are adjusted after the Aggressor Squadron's relocation. Savings resulting from the base operating support adjustments in FY15 will be further refined in future SATAFs. 

SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE DONLEY VISITS THE FAR NORTH

FROM:  U.S. NAVY
Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley addresses Airmen May 21, 2012, inside Hangar 21 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Donley visited Elmendorf to speak to Airmen about the direction of the Air Force, visit them on the job and find out their concerns. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Zachary Wolf)  

SecAF visits 'Arctic Warriors'
by Chris McCann
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Public Affairs

5/23/2012 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AFNS) -- Airmen from around Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson gathered at Hangar 20 here May 21, where Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley addressed the assemblage.

"This is a great opportunity to thank you for your recent service and the service of your families," Donley said.

The secretary said visiting with the Arctic Warriors was a special treat, due to the awards and recognitions Elmendorf Airmen have won recently, including an Outstanding Unit Award and numerous Air Force-level and major command-level awards.

He also noted the vital missions and strategically important locale that Alaska presents.
In 2011, approximately 1,000 Elmendorf Airmen were deployed. Around a third of those went to Afghanistan; the rest deployed to the Horn of Africa and other areas in the Central Command area of operations.

The Department of Defense has been emphasizing the importance and continued focus on the Pacific region.

"Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Korea and Japan are critical to U.S. interests," Donley said, emphasizing "close relationships with allies and emerging powers."

The secretary also highlighted the Air Force's efforts to continue to modernize and protect a high-quality, ready force that's able to grow more capable in the future.

"We're redoubling our efforts to eliminate waste and maintain an effective acquisition process," Donley said, although he noted that the current $33 billion in efficiencies found is not enough.

"In short, the best course of action is to trade size for quality," he said. "We will get smaller, but we'll continue to modernize ... to be a superb force."

Some areas will be protected from coming budget cuts, he said - special operations forces, space and cyber in particular.

"But as we get smaller, we cannot protect everything," Donley explained.

He said that as part of its Fiscal Year 2013 budget request, the Air Force is looking to cut 3,900 active-duty personnel, 5,100 Air National Guard personnel and 900 Air Force Reserve personnel to balance force structure changes with manpower requirements. In addition, some programs will be restructured or terminated to protect key Air Force priorities.

One of the changes proposed in the FY13 budget is to move the squadron of F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters from Eielson Air Force Base to JBER, which would mean approximately 540 Airmen relocating to Elmendorf.

"That move does not close Eielson," Donley emphasized.

The secretary also underscored the vital role that Airmen play in making today's Air Force the best in the world.

"Airmen are the living engine that powers the Air Force," Donley said. "It's all just a static display until you add Airmen.

"Our U.S. Air Force is the envy of the world," he said. "You and all members of the Total Force are up to the challenge, and you deserve to be proud of your work here in Alaska."

AIR FORCE RESERVE HELP TO RESCUE CLIMBER WHO FELL 150 FEET IN DANALI NATIONAL PARK

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
Photo: Denali National Park - Mt. McKinley.  U.S. Park Service 
PJ's rescue fallen ice climber in Denali National Park
by 2nd Lt. Leslie Forshaw
920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs

4/25/2012 - CAMP DENALI, Alaska -- Two Air Force Reserve pararescuemen from the 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., assisted in the rescue of a climber who fell more than 150 feet while climbing Moose's Tooth in Denali National Park April 21.

The 11th Air Force Rescue Coordination Center received  the rescue call at 2:20 a.m.

The National Park Service was not able to launch a rescue aircraft until 6 a.m. the next morning - so the RCC coordinator notified the Alaska Air National Guard's 210th, 211th and 212th Rescue Squadrons.

"The climber needed immediate assistance," said Capt. Gregg Laird, RCC senior controller, Alaska ANG.

The Guardian Angel Weapon system launched with an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter and an HC-130P/N King aircraft from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, to make the 120-mile flight northwest of Anchorage.

"The patient was described as going in and out of conscientiousness and we didn't know if he was still on the rock or down at the base," said Staff Sgt. Nate Greene, pararescuemen, ANG.

After flying low, slow patterns over the area - the crew spotted a group of people by a tent in an area up the hill from the landing strip used to access the 10,300-foot peak.

The rescue helicopter pilots found a safe place to land. Greene, along with Senior Master Sgt. Jonathon Davis, ANG, and Tech Sgt.'s Daniel Warren and William Posch, Air Force Reserve PJs from Patrick AFB, made their way to the patient.

"Getting off the helicopter we had a stokes litter and medical bag, "said Warren. "Every step in that deep snow at high altitude and carrying gear was a challenge."

At the tent, the PJ team went to work examining the patient and assessing the situation.

PJs are considered special operators skilled in trauma medicine and conditioned athletes trained in extreme sports, such as mountain climbing and skydiving, to quickly get to combatants wounded on the battlefield and administer life-saving medical treatment. The battlefield, however, is only one of the many places on earth PJs are able to save lives. Any terrain where someone needs rescued, PJs are able to get there.

"Upon initial assessment, the patient was amazingly coherent for falling 150 feet," said Warren.

We took spinal injury precautions and focused on packaging the patient and getting him ready for transport, said Warren.

According to the state of Alaska public affairs office, the climber made it to the top of the climb and was on his way back down when one of his anchors came out of the rock.

"The patient was climbing at night, when the ice is the hardest. His last anchor failed which caused the fall," said Warren. "He hit his head or helmet at least once on the way down and was still suspended in the air after the fall."

The patient's fellow climbers were able to get him to the ground and then place him in a sleeping bag while awaiting rescue, said Warren.

The PJs moved the injured climber onto a spinal board and into a hypothermic bag-equipped litter to keep him warm and secure.

It took three PJs and four members of the climbing party to carry the small patient on a stokes litter through the deep snow to the helicopter, said Warren.

"That's just an example of how extreme the altitude and snow affects a person," said Warren.

The patient was onboard the helicopter by 6:55 a.m. and transported to Providence Hospital by 7:55 a.m.

"Here is an example of more good actions by Guardian Angel Airmen supporting the Alaska ANG," said Col. Mark Blalock, 920th RQW Operations Group commander. "The Alaska alert augmentation has been yielding some great missions and super training and experience we don't normally get."

The Florida reservists have been supplementing the ANG rescue forces for the experience and training only the Alaska mountains can provide.

"Training with the Alaska Air National Guard PJs and working with them on alert is a welcome challenge," said Warren. "It gives us exposure to their unique alert requirement. It's an honor, if only for a short time, to be a part of helping them do what they do best." Warren also took part in another Alaska rescue earlier this year.

The three-week rotations for the Florida Reserve GA Airmen started in January and will continue through September.

Since the start of the Alaska rotations, the 920th RQW GAs have parachuted into a remote village during a snow storm to provide medical help to a villager, been drug through snow by a helicopter while saving an avalanche victim.

"It's a lot like any injured Soldier, Sailor or Marine we see [on the battlefield]. They are just normal people doing amazing things...just having a really bad day. It's our job to make the worst days of their lives just a little better," said Warren.

The motto, "These things we do, that others may live," continues to be a way of life for the GA.

U.S. ARMY DOES COLD WEATHER ENVIRONMENTS COMMUNICATIONS TESTING IN ALASKA

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Written on APRIL 7, 2012 AT 8:39 AM by GLENN.SELBY
Passing The Cold Weather Test
An operator wearing the Army-issued Extended Cold Weather Clothing Systems works with a Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, or WIN-T, Increment 2 Tactical Communications Node, Jan. 13, 2012, during the two-week WIN-T Increment 2 Cold Weather Natural Environments Testing at Fort Greely, Alaska. (U.S. Army photo)
By Amy Walker, PEO C3T

Even after being frozen overnight at negative 35-degree temperatures in the severe winter conditions of Alaska, the elements of the Army’s second-generation tactical communications network backbone were up and running.

Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, or WIN-T, Increment 2, successfully completed its Cold Weather Natural Environments Testing in January at Fort Greely, Alaska, receiving positive test results in the execution and in its recently released test report from the Army’s Aberdeen Test Center. The data will be used to support a Full-Rate Production, or FRP, decision for WIN-T Increment 2, with a successful FRP decision providing the green light for the network’s fielding in Fiscal Year 2013.

“This was a very successful test and all of the equipment performed as we would have expected in extreme arctic conditions,” said Lt. Col. Robert Collins, product manager for WIN-T Increments 2 and 3. “Whether in the desert or in adverse cold environments, WIN-T Increment 2 will provide the needed on-the-move tactical network communications for maneuver elements on the battlefield all the way down the company level.”

The cold weather test sets the stage for WIN-T Increment 2's formal operational test, which is the system’s final assessment prior to the full rate production decision.
This strenuous, three-week Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, knows as IOT&E, will take place in May at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in conjunction with the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 12.2. It will allow the Army to assess the suitability and effectiveness of the WIN-T Increment 2 system with an operational unit, while yielding feedback to make any needed doctrinal, material or training improvements before the system is fielded.

WIN-T Increment 2 is the centerpiece of Capability Set 13, the first integrated group of network technologies that will be fielded to up to eight brigade combat teams starting in fiscal year 2013. Capability Set 13 has taken shape through the NIEs, part of the Army’s Agile Process that integrates and will deliver new technologies to soldiers much more quickly than normal acquisition cycles allow.

Similar to a home Internet connection, WIN-T Increment 1 provides soldiers with high-speed, high-capacity voice, data and video communications to units at battalion level at-the-halt. WIN-T Increment 2 is a major upgrade and introduces numerous additional capabilities including an on-the-move communications network that reaches down to the company echelon for the first time.
Among the objectives of the WIN-T Increment 2 Cold Weather Natural Environments Testing, was an assessment and documentation of the impact of icing, high wind, safety, operation of equipment by soldiers in cold gear and other factors associated with extreme cold weather conditions. The team was also required to assess the impacts of extreme cold weather on transmission performance for line-of-sight and satellite links both at-the-halt and on-the-move. Procedures for the operation of the increment’s general configuration items, including raising and lowering antenna masts, also had to be validated.
“There are regions in the world that have these extreme cold weather environments, and it’s imperative for the soldier to know in advance some of the lessons that we have learned up in Alaska so they will be prepared for equipment set up and use when they are deployed,” said Tom Franey, WIN-T Increment 2 Reliability Test Lead. “Validating the technical manual procedures in these conditions is imperative to ensure that soldiers deployed to these extreme environments have the knowledge and information they need to operate the equipment and perform their missions successfully.”

For protection in extreme cold weather, soldiers are issued Extended Cold Weather Clothing Systems, or ECWCS. The test operators for the Cold Weather Natural Environments Testing were able to successfully execute all of the tests wearing this Army-issued equipment.

“The operators wore these cold weather clothing systems so that we could document the human factor when they are operating the equipment, such as how they can use mittens and move around in the clothing system,” Franey said. “It was important for us to have the operators wear exactly what the soldiers would be wearing in the field.”

The cold weather testing included several on-the-move threads, at-the-halt deployments and storage of the communications equipment. At-the-halt tests were performed in low light conditions following a cold soak of the configuration items overnight at temperatures that measured below negative 35 degrees. The next day the operators were able to bring all of the equipment back up to its operating temperature by utilizing the Environmental Control Units, known as ECUs, inside each platform.

“Because a lot of this equipment is commercial-off-the-shelf, you really can’t operate it in negative 35 degrees, but the ECUs bring the equipment back up to operating temperatures,” said Franey. “That was successful and we able to get all of the equipment up and running.”

The PM deployed WIN-T Increment 2's main configuration items for the test including the Tactical Communications Node, or TCN, which is the centerpiece and hub of the WIN-T Increment 2 network; the Point of Presence, which will be installed on tactical combat platforms to enable mobile mission command by providing secret level on-the-move network connectivity; the Soldier Network Extension, which will be installed on tactical combat platforms to extend the network down to the company level; and the Vehicle Wireless Package, which extends the WIN-T network to command post vehicles moving in convoy with the TCN. It also provided the Tactical Relay Tower (TR-T), which provides extended range for the Highband Networking Radio; and the Satellite Transportable Terminal +, which provides satellite communications at-the-quick-halt.

Along with the other tests, the Cold Weather Natural Environments Testing team was also required to test the operation of this equipment in the dark, with Fort Greely having provided the perfect test bed since during the month of January it only sees about four to five hours of sunlight each day. The low light environment tests were needed to document and provide lessons-learned on equipment usage and set-up.

“The TR-T has a 30 meter stand-alone mast and in the dark it’s hard to see the top of that mast as it is going up,” Franey said. “Soldiers in the field are issued a special flashlight and in the dark we were able to successfully bring everything up from ground zero to operating.”

As the Army now makes final preparations for the IOT&E, and for the eventual fielding and training of WIN-T Increment 2, it will leverage knowledge gained during the cold weather test.

“There were several lessons-learned concerning the operation of the WIN-T Increment 2 equipment in this environment, and to soldiers deployed to these extreme cold conditions in some remote location of the world, having those insights and knowledge early is vital to program success and mission execution,” Collins said. “We are pleased with the favorable test results as we move closer to sending Increment 2 to the battlefield.”