Bryant AHP, Ft Richardson, AK, USA - 11/04/2008

Having landed in Anchorage just before 0800, we headed for breakfast before our meeting time of 0945 at Bryant Field, home of the Sikorsky UH-60L Blackhawks and Shorts C-23B+ Sherpas of 1-207th AVN, AK Army National Guard, the "Arctic Eagles".

A and B Companies operate the UH-60L from Bryant, with E Company operating the C-23B. C Company are permanently deployed to Hawaii with UH-60s. Additionally A Company has two detachments (each of two UH-60s) at both Nome and Bethel, while B Company has a permanent detachment of two UH-60s at Juneau. Finally, D and F Companies also reside at Bryant and are responsible for the maintenance of both the aviation fleets.

The main priorities of the Alaska Army National Guard are given as the following:

1. Deployment of our soldiers to support the global war on terrorism here and abroad.
2. Transformation into 297th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (SCOUT).
3. Recruiting and Retention of highly trained "Army Strong" soldiers.

In relation to point 1, the unit have seen ongoing Company sized deployments to Iraq since 2004.

Our tour started out on the Blackhawk ramp, where one UH-60L was resting. Once we'd filled our boots with that we headed into the hangar where five more were housed, some undergoing maintenance, others just inside out of the cold.

Back outside and down to the C-23 ramp next, where we found two examples, one of which was engines running. It's not very often we get to shoot "The Shed" anymore, let alone military ones!

While we waited for the paperwork for our flight to be completed we took the opportunity to shoot the two preserved airframes on display at the facility; CH-54 Tarhe, or more commonly known as the Sky Crane, named "Penelope", and a UH-1H.

CH-54s were in use with the unit until August 1992, and little did I realise at this stage, but "Penelope" had been the aircraft involved with the recovery of the Catalina we'd seen at the Alaska Aviation Museum on the banks of Lake Hood.

The UH-1s were withdrawn from service with the unit in October 1998.

Before we knew it we were good to go and being strapped into the cab. We were all excited about what lay ahead, but I for one certainly wasn't expecting the ensuing 90 minutes to be quite as impressive as they were.

I don't know how long it took to go from startup to lift-off, but it wasn't very long, and before we knew it we were flying up the Glenn Highway and towards the most stunning scenery I've ever encountered.

.... and before we knew it we were back on the ground at Bryant. What a way to spend a morning!

Just time for a posed shot of our crew before it was time for us to be away.

Sincere thanks go to Sgt Turner, to CWO Bryan Keese and to everyone else who made the morning possible, including crewmembers Brian Stephenson and Sgt Eric Rothery. One of the genuine highlights of an absolutely fantastic trip!