In July 2023, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) partnered with the 144th Airlift Squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard to deploy five different types of weather buoys across more than 1,000 nautical miles of the Arctic Ocean. Such deployments are critical for maintaining the Arctic Observing Network (AON), which provides observations for weather and ice forecasting and related research.
The 144th Airlift Squadron (the “Arctic Wolves”) and part of the 176th Wing (the “Arctic Guardians”) conducted the flights on a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. In addition to personnel from the 176th Wing, participants included PSC’s Ignatius Rigor along with professors and scientists from the University of Maryland as well as ONR reservists.