Members of the California Air National Guard will are scheduled to train with Ukraine's air force frombetween April to and June, Guard officials tell Air Force Times.
The scheduled deployments which will only send "a dozen or so airmen to mentor their counterparts in ," will provide mentorship and instruction on basic battlefield medical procedures for the country's counterparts in KievKyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
Airmen with the The various deployments will include members from the 144th Fighter Wing out of Fresno will provide "air-space defense and alert training," according to the Guard. , and pPararescuemen from the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View will provide instruction on basic battlefield medical procedures and conduct . The fighter wing will provide "air-space defense and alert training and...the pararescue unit [members] will do a lot of air-medical" coaching, the official said.
Ukraine will be leading the training events; it is unlikely that aircraft from the fighter wing will participate, the official said.
"A lot of the Air Guard's focus in Ukraine is on domestic missions and internal security," said Capt. Will Martin, spokesman for the California ANG. "Our Cal Guard personnel work alongside Ukraine's search-and-rescue teams and exchange best practices on defending their nation's airspace."
The California National Guard has a longstanding relationship with the Ukrainian military, and has been paired with the Eastern European country since its state partnership program, or SPP, united the two in 1993.
In December, Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, California Air National Guard commander, and some of his guardsmen and air Guardsmen traveled to Kiev Kyiv to donate helmets, masks and other gear to Ukraine's forces.
"We have delivered to them 100 helmets, and these helmets are current helmets that we use in our Air National Guard," Baldwin told reporters. "We have also delivered harnesses that are used to help the pilot sit and fit in the ejection seat of his aircraft. So the purpose of this equipment is to allow the pilots of the Ukrainian air force to operate their aircraft more safely and effectively."
"We have delivered to them 100 helmets, and these helmets are current helmets that we use in our Air National Guard," Baldwin, commander of the California National Guard, told reporters. "We have also delivered harnesses that are used to help the pilot sit and fit in the ejection seat of his aircraft. So the purpose of this equipment is to allow the pilots of the Ukrainian air force to operate their aircraft more safely and effectively."
The visit came one month after troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade began the second phase of exercise Fearless Guardian. The training, which has been taken over by soldiers from the California National Guard, simulates ground training under "increasingly complex conditions" for Ukraine's security forces, Lt. Col. Michael Kloepper, commander of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, told Army Times last fall.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced its plan to deploy an armored brigade combat team to Eastern Europe next February as part of the ongoing effort to rotate troops through the region. The goal of the increase is to reassure allies like Estonia and Lithuania, feeling uneasy due to heightened Russian aggression in the region.the pressures from a resurgent Russia.
"This is bigger than Ukraine and the Cal Guard. It's about contributing to the security of the Black Sea region and Europe as a whole," Martin said of the upcoming deployments. "A stronger, democratic Ukraine makes for a more stable, peaceful Europe."
Oriana Pawlyk covers deployments, cyber, Guard/Reserve, uniforms, physical training, crime and operations in the Middle East, Europe and Pacific for Air Force Times. She was the Early Bird Brief editor in 2015. Email her at opawlyk@airforcetimes.com.
