Archives February 2025

When 70 Airmen from 37 Air National Guard wings participated in a Cold Weather Operations Course at Camp Ripley, Minn., three aerospace medical technicians, or medics, and a physician assistant assigned to the Minnesota National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing were on hand, 24/7, to provide mobile medical support.

The two-week course featured a combination of classroom academics, outdoor skills practice, and an intense field training in Minnesota’s harsh winter conditions.

During the first week of classroom training, medical personnel provided students a medical-specific briefing to prepare students on Camp Ripley’s terrain, personal protective gear use, and the most common injuries seen in such a course. Medical staff and instructors also provided tips for avoiding cold injury, camp safety, and treating feet kindly.

The second week of training featured a six-day, five-night field training exercise where students rucked, worked, lived, and slept outdoors in 10-man arctic tents or shelters made with materials found in nature. Temperatures dipped below zero every night. Students also experienced high winds and snow during the field training.

Lt. Col. Casey Morris, a physician assistant assigned to the 148th Medical Group was part of the medical team who served the inaugural course in 2024, served as a planner and student in the 2025 course. “In an effort to reduce participant injury or failure, we worked closely with the security forces course planner to establish fitness standards for the students,” said Morris.

Master Sgt. Sean Prouty, an aerospace medical specialist assigned to the 148th Fighter Wing, attended the inaugural course last year as a student. This year he returned to support and treat course participants. “Knowing what these students are going through helped us prepare for this year’s larger course,” said Prouty. “Last year medics worked out of a van. This year, we set up a mobile medical unit in a generator-powered, 16-foot enclosed trailer.”

In addition to staffing the mobile medical unit trailer, medics also followed students, on foot, carrying a 40-pound Warrior Aid and Litter Kit (WALK) during all ruck marches to ensure students could be treated immediately.

“Education is critical for training in extreme conditions,” said Master Sgt. Alex Caturia, an aerospace medical specialist assigned to the 148th Fighter Wing. “Nine cases of frostnip, a less severe precursor to frostbite, were identified which were treatable in the mobile medial unit. One case of frostbite was also identified; that student was not allowed to complete the course”

Students also endured blisters, some severe, and musculoskeletal problems commonly related to rucking long-distances in snowshoes, carrying packs, in snowshoes, while harnessed to a 300-pound Ahkio Sled.

The course was comprised of mostly security forces personnel, but also included a maintenance group commander, a cybercommunications specialists, a public affairs specialist, and medical personnel. 70 students started the course on Jan. 26, 2025 and 68 graduated on Feb.8, 2025.

The Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy states the Joint Forces should be able to conduct mission-essential tasks at extremely cold temperatures. “If the mission requires us to fight in the Arctic; we must all be ready to brawl… and winning is non-negotiable,” said Col. Brian Cooper, 177th Maintenance Group Commander, who completed the course.

“Without question, CWOC is preparing us, in realistic conditions, to be ready for that combat environment and the Medics ensured we spent our time training in the field, as opposed to being sidelined by cold-weather injuries,” said Cooper.

The CWOC serves as a CONUS-based center of excellence for training airmen cold weather military skills. The course, planned and hosted by the Minnesota National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing, was designed to prepare service members for deployments to cold weather regions, and assist in planning missions with the goal of mitigating cold weather injuries.

Story by Audra Flanagan

148th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

CAMP RIPLEY, Minn. – Another year has passed, and like many others, Soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard are creating goals and New Year’s resolutions for 2025. The Holistic Health and Fitness, or H2F, program provided some advice on how to keep up with those New Year’s resolutions so that Soldiers can achieve their goals and improve their overall health through one of their monthly Microsoft Teams Live events.

“It’s important to be honest with yourself when creating goals,” said Army Chaplain Michael Rivera. “Creating changes may lead you to new paths, deeper connections, and transformative experiences. As Maya Angelou beautifully stated, nothing will work unless you do. The quote reminds us that while chance may offer us opportunities, our effort and willingness to engage, learn, adapt, and persist ultimately lead to meaningful change.”

Rivera said that creating specific, measurable, attainable, revisable, and timely goals is important and valuable in ensuring that change is achievable and that New Year’s resolutions don’t fizzle out. These goals are also known as SMART Goals, and one of the first steps to reaching them is to reword them to be more positive while also including the five domains of holistic health: physical, mental, nutrition, sleep, and spiritual.

 “When we’re only giving things up, it can make it feel like an exercise in deprivation and punishment, and instead, we should set our goals as something that we’re adding in,” said Amber Boyens, an H2F dietitian. “For example, in nutrition, we eventually run out of room for the negative language. Overall, we will have a more positive, encouraging, enjoyable experience as we set these goals if we shift away from them being small punishments.”

Brandon Saude, an H2F consultant, said that SMART goals can start small but should create a clear path to a desired outcome. A Soldier can go through the process of creating specific behavior-oriented outcomes which include the five domains of holistic health. This process can assist with any New Year’s resolution.

“The letter ‘R’ in SMART stands for revisable. Revisable goals allow you to adjust them along the way. Before we get into it, just think for a minute how many times have you set a goal for yourself and the main reason why you stopped pursuing that goal,” said Saude. “Revising your goals enables you to daily align what’s happening in real time to what your objectives are. Rather than pulling the plug altogether.”

During the event, Rivera shared the word of the day, ‘change’ with participants, to help summarize the support of a SMART goal and holistic health. By accepting change in a positive way and applying holistic health within a SMART goal, Soldiers can achieve their New Year’s resolutions and any other goals they have.

“Embracing change can mean opening yourself up to life’s possibilities and recognizing that every moment presents an opportunity for growth and discovery,” said Rivera. “It encourages us to take risks, step outside our comfort zones, and welcome the unexpected. Trusting that great things can emerge from taking a chance.”

Soldiers who are interested in learning more about how Holistic Health and Fitness helps Service Members reach their goals can contact DessaRae Smith or Corey Gregor with the H2F team through their emails, here: dessarae.n.smith.nfg@army.mil and corey.j.gregor.mil@army.mil.

Story by Staff Sgt. Jorden Newbanks

Minnesota National Guard Public Affairs

Nearly 100 Minnesota National Guard medical professionals recently gathered at the 133rd Airlift Wing, Saint Paul, Minn., for the 2025 Joint Military Medical Summit, Feb. 15-16, 2025.

“The main objective of the JMMS is to strengthen relationships, enhance medical readiness and support the evolving missions of military medical operations,” said Army Lt. Col. Jolene Carlson, deputy commander of administration for the Minnesota Medical Detachment.

The biennial event provides a platform for Army and Air National Guard medical personnel to collaborate, share best practices and enhance readiness for future missions. Leaders also hope to expand joint medical training opportunities to strengthen partnerships between the components further.

“Another big part of this is to mingle and share ideas and experiences,” said the Minnesota National Guard’s State Air Surgeon, Col. David Nelson. “We have a lot of potential here to conduct real-world training if we mix Army and Air.”

This year’s summit marked a milestone as the first time the Air National Guard hosted and the first time Croatia, one of the Minnesota National Guard’s state partners, took part.

The two-day event featured presentations from subject matter experts on critical military medicine topics such as bioweapons, mental health and responding to unexpected situations. The JMMS enhanced technical proficiency and fostered collaboration between Army and Air medical professionals.

“It’s about developing better standards of care and working together to provide better treatment to our Soldiers and Airmen,” said Sgt. 1st Class Shane Kaplan, a treatment platoon sergeant assigned to Charlie Company, 134th Brigade Support Battalion. “Units should prioritize this [conference]. If they have any medical assets in their formations, get them here to see what it’s about from the lowest level to the highest level.”

As military medicine continues to evolve, events like the JMMS ensure that Minnesota National Guard medical personnel stay ahead of new training and innovation. The knowledge gained will be returned to units across the state, strengthening the Guard’s ability to respond to state and federal missions.

“Thank you all for the work that you do to take care of our Airmen and our Soldiers,” said the Minnesota National Guard’s State Army Surgeon Col. Conrad Ross. “It’s critically important. Without you, without your participation here, we would not be successful.”

Story by Staff Sgt. Mahsima Alkamooneh
Minnesota National Guard

70 Air National Guard airmen gathered at Camp Ripley Training Center, Minn., from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8, 2025, to train and conduct mission-essential tasks in extremely cold temperatures, during the Air National Guard’s Cold Weather Operations Course (CWOC).

The class comprised of mostly security forces personnel from 37 wings representing 27 states, also hosted a maintenance group commander, medical personnel, a cyber communications specialist, and a public affairs specialist. Two participants and one instructor from the 3rd Canadian Division’s Lake Superior Scottish Regiment, 38th Brigade Group also attended the course.

Class participants spent the first phase of the course in a classroom where they studied troop movements, risk management, cold weather injury care, and specialized equipment use.

The second phase sent students outdoors to practice over snow movement, Ahkio sled hauling techniques, land navigation, and thermal structure building.

The final phase was a six-day, five-night field training exercise where students traversed snow-covered terrain, reacted to leadership challenges, established a patrol base, constructed and slept in thermal or arctic shelters, and provided hypothermia care while enduring Minnesota’s winter weather.

The class was divided into six teams who navigated the field training as a group. The teams rucked long distances, while pulling Ahkio sleds filled with equipment, the first two days, then built self-sustaining camps, and slept in a10-man arctic tents with a small stove for heat.

Thermal shelters were constructed on the third and fourth nights using only supplies in an airmen’s pack or found in nature. While some teams created two or three-person “lean to” or A-frame style thermal structures, other teams created 10-person shelters to capitalize on body heat. Class attendees used fire as their only heat source while temperatures dipped below zero and wind gusts reached 30-miles per hour. It also snowed on the days they slept in thermal shelters.

Despite the challenging conditions, most of the class expressed building and sleeping in thermal shelters was their favorite part of the field training exercise. “Students enjoy thermal shelters because it tests their resilience, mental fortitude, and newly learned skills,” said course planner, 148th Security Forces Squadron Master Sgt. Heath Parks. “Sleeping in a thermal shelter in negative temperatures after days of exhausting ruck movements is not for the faint-hearted. Completing multiple nights in extreme field conditions demonstrates our airmen can do anything they put their minds to.”

The final day of the field training consisted of one last ruck to Lake Farrell. Upon arriving, teams set up and heated their 10-man artic tents then participated in a cold-water immersion supervised by the United States Coast Guard’s Training and Rescue Station from Duluth, Minn.

During the cold-water immersion, one individual from each team was transported after his or her jump, via Ahkio sled, to their arctic shelter to allow teams to conduct thermal rescue techniques and prevent hypothermia.

During the field training, airmen ate arctic versions of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE). Many of the students experienced bumps, bruises, and blisters commonly found when navigating rough terrain. Students were supported by three Aerospace Medical Services Technicians from the 148th Fighter Wing.

“Training courses like the CWOC enhance lethality and increase our airmen’s combat capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Rios, Chief, Air National Guard Security Forces Operations Branch, who participated as a student in the course. “The CWOC allows personnel to employ these skills in extreme weather conditions so they can secure and defend U.S. national interests and support our allies and partners anytime, anywhere, around the world.”

This was the second annual CWOC planned and hosted by the Minnesota National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing. Camp Ripley is a 53,000-acrew regional training center located near Little Falls, Minn., which features diverse landscapes from heavily forested areas to prairies to lakes and ponds.

Story by Audra Flanagan

148th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

For the first time since 1992, the Minnesota National Guard will have Air Force warrant officers back in the force. Warrant officers serve as technical experts, trainers, and leaders, primarily focusing on one specific, complex specialty. Minnesota’s 133rd Airlift Wing is one of only five National Guard air units selected to receive Air Force warrant officer positions.

“It’s remarkable that we’re bringing warrant officers back into the Air Force after such a huge gap,” said then Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall at the first warrant officer graduation ceremony on Friday, December 6, 2024. “It’s time to bring this back.”

Air Force Lt. Col. Brian Henke, commander of Minnesota’s 210th Engineering Installation Squadron of the 133rd Airlift Wing, the unit that will gain the Warrant Officer, shares Kendall’s enthusiasm.

“I’m excited that the Air Force has decided to provide these valuable experts an opportunity to continue their career through a path of technical leadership,” said Henke. “We intend to leverage this new capability in a way that best delivers the evolving cyberspace infrastructure needs of the Air Force.”

The 210th held selection boards in mid-December, with an announcement of the selection expected before the end of January.

According to the National Guard Bureau, the National Guard “will select an additional 71 warrant officers in [the fiscal year 2025], bringing the total to 83 Warrant Officers across 27 States, Territories, and 29 Wings.”

The four other wings selected to receive positions are Texas’ 136th Airlift Wing, Rhode Island’s 143rd Airlift Wing, North Carolina’s 145th Airlift Wing, and Delaware’s 166th Airlift Wing.

The chosen career fields: cyber and IT

“This came right from the Secretary of the Air Force; he wanted Cyber and IT,” said the Wisconsin National Guard’s Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bradley Dahl, who serves as an Army Warrant Officer Senior Advisor at the Air Force Warrant Officer Training School. Dahl was previously the commander of a National Guard Warrant Officer Candidate School at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

The first Air Force warrant officers will reside in one of two career fields, better known as AFSCs, an Air Force Specialty Code. The first AFSC, 17W, will be known as Warfighter Communications & IT Systems Operations. The second AFSC, 17Y, will be known as Cyber Effects & Warfare Operations.

The rationale for these two particular AFSCs was explained by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin at the Air Force Association’s February 2024 Warfare Symposium.

“There’s something specific about this career field, why it’s attractive, and it’s a nice match for a warrant officer program,” said Allvin. “The pace of change of the cyber world, the coding world, the software world — it is so rapidly advancing, we need those Airmen to be on the cutting edge and stay on the cutting edge.”

Allvin added that retention is also a motivator, “Developing that warrant officer track for this narrow career field, we anticipate it will drive that talent in and help us to keep that talent.”

“When it comes to cyber and IT, there are more jobs on the civilian side,” said the Minnesota National Guard’s Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jeremiah Miller, an Army Warrant Officer Senior Advisor at the school. Miller added, “We’re losing top talent.”

The urgency to reestablish the warrant officer rank was evident. Within a year of announcing the decision to resurrect the Air Force warrant officer corps, Air Force leaders cut the ribbon and opened the doors at the newly established Warrant Officer Training School, known as WOTS. Two weeks later, the first warrant officer candidates began their training.

A path of technical leadership

The plan is for the new warrant officers to focus more on the technical aspects of their jobs apart from the enlisted ranks. Such a singular focus will allow the new warrant officers to maintain their specialized skills, knowledge, and expertise.

“The Air Force has decided to provide these valuable experts an opportunity to continue their career through a path of technical leadership,” said Henke. “This new warrant officer will be responsible for shaping and delivering a vison on the technology and training.”

The Air Force had warrant officers in its early days in the late 1940s and ’50s. However, within a decade, the Air Force phased out the warrant officer ranks in favor of the senior noncommissioned officer ranks, adopting the duties and responsibilities of the warrant officers.

Once an Airman attains a senior noncommissioned officer rank, “they’re more focused on the leadership side of things, and sometimes that can lead to a loss of some technical skills and proficiencies,” said Miller. “The Warrant Officers will be focused on one thing. It’s going to be great; everyone here [at the school] is excited about the concept – it will also be a culture change and maybe a little culture shock.”

At Minnesota’s 210th Engineering Installation Squadron

How the new Warrant Officers will operate and their specific duties are still being developed.

“We are still working with the broader engineering installation community to shape the role,” said Henke. Regardless, the new warrant officers are a new tool in the 210th’s arsenal, which he fully intends to employ.

“We intend to leverage this new capability in a way that best delivers the evolving cyberspace infrastructure needs of the Air Force,” Henke said.

Warrant Officer Training School

The first course began in early October 2024 and included 30 warrant officer candidates. The first new group graduated on December 7, 2024.

During 40 days of training and education, candidates learn how to serve Air Force Leaders as technical advisors.

Of the most recent class of 30 candidates, one-fifth were National Guard Airmen. Two were from the Air Force Reserves, and the remaining 22 Airmen were from the active-duty Air Force.

“The class ranged in rank from staff sergeant to chief master sergeant,” said Miller.

“The warrant officers we develop here will step right in and join their joint partners on combatant commanders’ teams and give us the tactical, operational, and strategic advantages that our force needs, anytime and anywhere,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrea D. Tullos, commander and president of Air University, in a September article.

The following 30 Airmen selected as candidates will begin their training in January 2025.

The optimism is high for the new Air Force’s new technical leaders, the Warrant Officer.

“The Air Force’s newest warrant officers are ready to make an impact as technical leaders in the force,” said Air Force Maj. Nathaniel Roesler, the school’s commandant.

“The 210th is excited to be part of the revitalization on the leading edge of the warrant officer ranks,” said Henke. “We are excited to bring this new capability to the State of Minnesota, the 133rd Airlift Wing, and the 210th.”

By Maj. Nathan Wallin
Minnesota National Guard
Public Affairs