Dear Members and Friends,
Alaska, on top of the world, is the vanguard for all of North America, and where 600 National Guardsmen serve to defend over 335 million from air and space threats coming across the North Pole. For the vital importance of our national security in the current world we live in, we took time to honor and recognize the very best of the National Guardsmen serving in Alaska for 2016. For the first time we combined the best security forces of the Alaskan Air Force National Guard and the best Alaskan Military Police of the Army National Guard with the best Ground Based Missile Defense firing crews from Fort Greely and the best Sensor Crews from Clear Air Station that they protect, 24/7, 365 days-a-year in austere arctic conditions.
Click here to visit MDAA’s event page for the 2016 Alaska Missile Defender of the Year Award Ceremony, which includes pictures from the event.
We singled out the very best Missile Defender in Alaska for 2016, presenting the Senator Ted Stevens Memorial award for his excellence in service in Alaska to our nation in the Missile Defense mission. Senator Ted Stevens (1923-2010) led the United States Government in securing, developing and deploying our Nation’s Missile Defense on top of the world in Alaska to defend all 50 United States. 1st Lt Steven Havens from the Alaskan Air National Guard became the first ever Air Force winner of this prestigious award as the previous winners have all come from the Alaskan Army National Guard.
In due respect to these 12 honored men and women from the Alaskan National Guard and their achievements of leadership excellence, the United States Senator for Alaska Dan Sullivan and National Guard Major General Gerry Ketchum were present and spoke to their importance and relevance for our nation. To acknowledge the achievements of 12 recognized winners from Alaskan to Alaskan, from Solider to Solider and from Airmen to Airmen, we had the 97th man in the world to successfully climb the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents, climbing Mt. Everest at 53 years of age, a United States Military Veteran that flew 1,200 hours in combat in the Vietnam War for the United States Army and has 35,000 flying hours in Alaska, Mr. Cleve McDonald, a great friend of the cause and patriot of our nation.
This year of 2016 is one of the most productive years for adding capacity to our nation’s missile defense system in Alaska. Our nation is in the process of adding 14 additional new Ground Based Interceptors to silos in Fort Greely, Alaska to increase our total inventory to 40 GBIs in Alaska by the end of next year. Our nation has made the decision to build the biggest and best discriminating long range radar in the world at Clear Air Station, Alaska. The construction begins this summer and is scheduled to be completed by 2020. Once completed, the LRDR (Long-Range Discrimination Radar) will exponentially increase the capability of the missile defense system for North America. Additionally, the soon-to-be-completed direct linkage between the Upgraded Early Warning Radar at Clear Air Base to the 40 GBIs around 90 miles southeast at Fort Greely will provide redundancy for Missile Defense in Alaska and a capability to operate independently from Colorado Springs.
Click here to read the MDAA Alaska White Paper.
All of these powerful technologies we have in Alaska at the top of the world to defend North America could not do their vital mission without the operators and defenders of those operators of the combined Air and Army National Guard from Alaska.
Introducing the 2016 Alaska Missile Defenders of the Year:
The Ted Stevens Memorial Award:
Lieutenant Steven Havens, US Air National Guard
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The Sensor Crew:
Major Joseph Garner, US Air National Guard
Master Sergeant Carleas Parsons, US Air National Guard
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Base Defenders at Clear AFS:
Senior Airman Jezabelle O’Neil Roulette, US Air National Guard
Staff Sergeant Anthony Deppe, US Air National Guard
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Fort Greely Firing Crew:
Captain Peter Browning, US Army National Guard
Captain Kevin Fulmer, US Army National Guard
First Lieutenant Mindy Cason, US Army National Guard
Staff Sergeant Javier Solla, US Army National Guard
Sergeant Bensian Correa, US Army National Guard
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Base Defenders at Fort Greely:
Sergeant Robert Stamper, US Army National Guard
Staff Sergeant Derrick Butler, US Army National Guard
