Hatcher Pass provides ideal location for National Guard training

HATCHER PASS — Sgt. Jim Blyler may have pretended to be Superman as a kid, but it’s as an adult that he’s getting a taste of what it’s like to have super powers.

Blyler was one of more than 20 Alaska National Guard reconnaissance and surveillance troop members training Saturday at Hatcher Pass. Along with practicing techniques for recovering stuck or broken-down Humvees, the soldiers erected a field expedient antenna and practiced using $500,000 state-of-the-art optics.

The LRAS3 long-range surveillance system “is about as close to having vision like Superman as you can,” Blyler said. “It’s pretty cool. You can’t really see through walls, but they display in both white and black hot, thermal and have an amazing range.”

That range, up to 30,000 meters, is only part of what makes the LRAS3 a vital technology for a reconnaissance unit, said Sgt. Rufus King, who said he disagrees with Blyler’s assessment that the unit is close to having Superman-like vision.

“It’s better than what Superman has,” King said. “Superman sees in everyday colors, but when you’re looking through the thermals, you’re looking at body heat. If it’s a plant, you can see through it, if it’s a wall, you can see the heat through that, too.”

Along with being a very cool piece of equipment, the LRAS3 is a breakthrough for military surveillance and reconnaissance, said Maj. Mark Binggeli. Not only does the equipment save time and effort from having to gather intelligence on the ground from advance scouting, it digitizes that information in ways the military couldn’t before, he said.

For example, someone looking through the LRAS3 can, with the click of a button, transmit nearly exact coordinates or plot points to create a new map, Binggeli said.

“These are being used more and more,” he said. “With our type of unit, recon and surveillance, it allows us to sit on a spot like this or even lower, and he can keep an eye on this whole valley all the way out to Willow if he wanted to.”

Although the equipment is exciting to use, the Alaska National Guard takes trainings like Saturday’s very seriously, said Capt. Douglas Smith, who commands the troop.

“We’re not really doing combat-related operations out here, we’re just basically learning how to use our equipment,” he said. “We’re trying to work in as realistic environment as possible, as opposed to just hanging out at Fort Richardson.”

Which is what brought the soldiers to Hatcher Pass around and below Summit Lake, where the terrain is remarkably similar to what troops are faced with in Afghanistan, Smith said.

“The roads get pretty narrow with some good inclines and declines,” he said.

Although more than 90 percent of the National Guard is made up of part-time soldiers, they’re still expected to be as familiar with training and equipment as their full-time counterparts, Smith said.

“They’re always training, always going to schools, they’re always trying to get better at it,” he said. “They have full-time jobs, they have families, they have all sorts of things going on. But they also spend the time, effort and energy to learn how to use the things that we’re using right now.”

What that means for 2nd Lt. Joel Heath is a lot of intense learning in a limited time. He was also impressed with the optics training.

“It was really cool, pretty high-tech,” he said. If he had to describe it to someone who hasn’t used the LRAS3 before, “It’s like combat speed and moose hunting.”

For 2nd Lt. Robert Schneden, the training is just part of the job. A student at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Schneden said he plans to go full-time military after graduation.

“When I’m done here, I’m going to go active duty, so this is just leading up to that,” he said while eating his lunch — an MRE (meal ready to eat) consumed on the hood of a Humvee.

Asked what he thought about his college counterparts enjoying a Saturday off barbecuing and having fun, Schneden said he prefers training and an MRE.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.

And apparently he’s not alone. During a break in the afternoon training, several take the opportunity to grab a quick bite and debate the merits of the MRE varieties.

“I like beef patty,” one exclaims. “It’s like flavored cardboard.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.