MARCH 3, 2023 – The New York Air National Guard’s 105th and 109th Airlift Wings partnered with Vermont Army National Guard and Canadian Armed Forces to support Exercise Guerrier Nordique, Feb. 22–March 31 in the Canadian Arctic.
The 109th AW, Stratton Air National Guard base in Scotia, New York, deployed two LC-130 Hercules aircraft and 60 Airmen to Resolute Bay in Canada’s northern Arctic territories to act as tactical airlift support for the Canadian exercise.
Vermont Army National Guard soldiers will be transported to Resolute Bay, Nunavut, on a C-17 Globemaster III from the 105th AW, Stewart ANG base in Newburgh, New York. From there, teams will forward-deploy to establish remote camps.
The LC-130H is the largest ski-equipped aircraft in the world, capable of landing on ice and snow in polar environments. As the only unit to fly the LC-130H, the 109th AW provides support to scientific research stations in Antarctica and Greenland.
Among the 109th deployers are the 109th’s Polar Camp Skiway Team — personnel trained to establish a remote camp in extreme cold — and build a ski landing area supporting the unit’s LC-130H aircraft. The PCST used specially equipped snowmobiles to lay out the landing zone for the larger American LC-130Hs.
The team works with the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 440 Squadron, which flies the Twin Otter ski-equipped aircraft to establish ski landing areas.
In the past, Guerrier Nordique has operated as a training exercise for emergency response and domestic operations in extreme weather in Northern Canada.
The Vermont Army National Guard, which includes a mountain warfare battalion, has participated in the exercise since 2012.
This year, the Guerrier Nordique exercise focuses on combat capability and lethality in temperatures that stay below zero all day during the training period.
“While elements of the Vermont Guard and Canadian Armed forces will be conducting training, the role of the 109th AW is as a real-world tactical airlift,” said Chief Master Sgt. Ron Jemmott, the senior enlisted leader for the wing’s maintenance squadron and a member of the PCST.
“Our job is to establish the ski landing area as a lifeline for the guys out there training,” Jemmott said.
Once established, the remote camp and ski landing area will provide multi-national ground forces with tactical support via the 109th’s LC-130Hs.
This can include flying supplies and personnel to and from the exercise site and aeromedical evacuation if needed, Jemmot said.
“The exercise will culminate in a mock overland assault of an airfield 100 miles away, wherein Canadian and American soldiers will utilize snow machines and vehicles — capable of traversing the arctic terrain — to travel, assault and secure the airfield,” said Lt. Col. Matt Sala, a pilot with the 109th AW and officer in charge of the PCST during Guerrier Nordique.
“Our job is to use skills we have built over years of operating in the Arctic and Antarctic to provide the real-world tactical support to enable citizen-soldiers from Canada and the U.S. to develop similar abilities through exercising their role in possible arctic combat operations,” Sala said.
Canadian Armed Forces and Vermont Army National Guard personnel will deploy to the exercise area, establish their own remote camp and train in arctic combat and survival techniques.
“Exercises like this illustrate the growing strategic importance of developing American and allied capabilities in the Arctic as interest in the region is scaling up around the world,” Jemmott said.
“When adversaries like China and Russia are beginning to operate more often there, it is time for us to work with allies and other agencies to increase our individual capabilities as well as our interoperability so we can compete in the future,” Jemmott said.
By Staff Sgt. Madison Scaringe and Master Sgt. Jamie Spaulding
New York National Guard