{"id":432850,"date":"2025-05-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=432850"},"modified":"2025-05-02T13:32:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T13:32:37","slug":"in-alaska-nordhaus-sees-national-guardsmen-defending-the-homeland-enabling-global-power-projection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=432850","title":{"rendered":"In Alaska, Nordhaus Sees National Guardsmen Defending the Homeland, Enabling Global Power Projection"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, visits the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, Alaska National Guard, on Fort Greely, Alaska, April 28, 2025. Soldiers of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion operate and secure the ground-based midcourse defense system and are an integral piece of the homeland defense mission to protect the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles using ground-based interceptors.
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\n Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, visits the 168th Wing, Alaska National Guard, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, April, 29, 2025. The 168th Wing\u00a0provides the U.S. Air Force with global reach and vigilance\u00a0through the combined operations of air refueling, missile warning and\u00a0space surveillance.
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\n Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, visits the 168th Wing, Alaska National Guard, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, April, 29, 2025. The 168th Wing\u00a0provides the U.S. Air Force with global reach and vigilance\u00a0through the combined operations of air refueling, missile warning and\u00a0space surveillance.
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\n Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, visits the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, Alaska National Guard, on Fort Greely, Alaska, April 28, 2025. Soldiers of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion operate and secure the ground-based midcourse defense system and are an integral piece of the homeland defense mission to protect the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles using ground-based interceptors.
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\n Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, visits the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, Alaska National Guard, on Fort Greely, Alaska, April 28, 2025. Soldiers of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion operate and secure the ground-based midcourse defense system and are an integral piece of the homeland defense mission to protect the U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missiles using ground-based interceptors.
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EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska \u2013 From within Alaska\u2019s vast Interior, Alaska National Guardsmen defend the homeland from long-range missile attacks and enable global power projection.<\/p>\n

Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, visited Fort Greely and Eielson Air Force Base this week to meet with the Soldiers and Airmen charged with these missions and to receive in-depth operations updates.<\/p>\n

While at Fort Greely\u2014situated about 90 miles southeast of Fairbanks\u2014Nordhaus visited the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, the only military unit that executes ICBM defense using ground-based interceptor, or GBI, missiles. 49th Battalion Soldiers operate and secure the ground-based midcourse defense system as part of America\u2019s ballistic missile defense enterprise under the authority of U.S. Northern Command. Most of the nation\u2019s operational GBIs are emplaced there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI highlight your unit and mission with every group I talk to to outline the critical and unique mission sets in the National Guard,\u201d Nordhaus said to a group of 49th Missile Defense Battalion Soldiers. \u201cDefense of the homeland starts right here at Fort Greely. What you do here to protect our nation, and our fellow citizens is commendable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 49th is a subordinate battalion of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, a multi-component Colorado Army National Guard unit in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 49th Battalion is manned exclusively by National Guardsmen, earning the unit the unofficial moniker: \u201cthe 300 defending 300 million\u201d\u2014an ode to Sparta\u2019s citizen-warriors who fearlessly held off the much larger Persian Army in the Battle at Thermopylae.<\/p>\n

Though those numbers no longer fit because the unit has grown, as has the U.S. population, Army Lt. Col. Jorge Lorenzana, the 49th Missile Defense Battalion commander, said the sentiment remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mission is a cornerstone of everything the National Guard is about,\u201d he said. \u201cThese Soldiers up here fully grasp the significance of this mission, and many embrace the Alaska lifestyle and make long-term homes here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the Missile Defense Complex has expanded to accommodate future capabilities, in 2020, National Guard military police units from the Lower 48 began to rotate through Greely to augment the organic Alaska Guard MP company.<\/p>\n

Nordhaus met with many military police who work around the clock to secure the complex in some of the most unique and austere conditions on any Army post. Winter temperatures routinely drop well into the negative degrees.<\/p>\n

Because of Alaska\u2019s unique geographic location and the post\u2019s remoteness, the MPs must be prepared to leverage capabilities against complex next-generation threats, including rapid advancements in low-cost enemy air and missile technologies.<\/p>\n

Lorenzana said as the mission continues to grow and evolve as threats change, so too, must the unit.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized to the CNGB the high state of unit readiness, both in missile defense and site security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a presidentially directed mission,\u201d he said, \u201cwe can\u2019t fail because America is counting on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Eielson, Nordhaus received updates on the strategic viewpoint from the Air Force\u2019s 354th Fighter Wing leadership. The 354th Wing is the northernmost U.S. fighter wing and is the host wing on Eielson, which also supports the Alaska Air National Guard\u2019s 168th Wing.<\/p>\n

The 354th Wing performs battlefield air interdiction and close air support. The base is also equipped with F-35A squadrons for combat readiness in the Northern Hemisphere. Specifically, Eielson is equipped with the 355th Fighter Squadron and the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, which play a key role in air defense and offensive operations.<\/p>\n

Airmen of the 168th work closely with Air Force units here to provide prompt and sustained combat and homeland defense capabilities across multiple domains through the combined operations of air refueling, missile warning and space surveillance, which Nordhaus called an impressive display of Total Force Integration.<\/p>\n

Nordhaus said Alaska is \u201cthe most strategic place on the planet.” It straddles the two Department of Defense priority theaters: the homeland and the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese Guardsmen here are enabling global air power, by fueling fighters and bombers, to help our nation achieve peace through strength,\u201d Nordhaus said.<\/p>\n

Tech. Sgt. Tyler Winterton, the 168th Operations Support Squadron KC-135 weapons and tactics NCOIC, said he joined the National Guard because he wanted to serve close to home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned what the KC-135 mission set is,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a true weapons system platform that enables global air power anytime, anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.nationalguard.mil<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/USNationalGuard<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief, National Guard Bureau, visits the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, Alaska National Guard, on Fort Greely, Alaska, April 28, 2025. Soldiers of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion operate and secure the ground-based midcourse defense system and are an integral piece of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432852,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-432850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=432850"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":432858,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432850\/revisions\/432858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/432852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=432850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=432850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=432850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}