JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Members of the Alaska Air National Guard’s 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons rescued a hiker in the vicinity of Ship Creek Valley early this morning.
According to the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, the hiker was not in the area she thought she was in and was exhausted from moving through alder trees.
At the request of the Alaska State Troopers, Air National Guard assets were deployed for the mission, including an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter from the 210th Rescue Squadron. A two-man Guardian Angel team from the 212th Rescue Squadron was on board.
Guardian Angels are a two-person team comprised of a highly trained pararescueman and a combat rescue officer. These elite warriors are experts in water and land rescue, and are all nationally registered paramedics who specialize in conducting high-risk rescue missions.
The distressed individual was hoisted from the ground, delivered and released to Providence Medical Center in Anchorage.
For this mission, the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons were awarded with one save.