A 7-person team of Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) Airmen assigned to the 1st Air Support Operations Group conducted command and control (C2) operations near remote Utqiagvik, Alaska, and Point Barrow, Alaska, on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in support of Exercise Polar Quake Jan. 10-14.
The exercise was designed to test the capabilities and limitations of current TACP training and equipment in an austere Arctic environment. With support from the 673rd Communications Squadron and 212th Rescue Squadron at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the team was tasked with establishing and maintaining multiple C2 nodes capable of supporting the Agile Combat Employment construct, including one at Point Barrow, the northernmost point in the United States. More