During the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command-led joint exercise Northern Edge 2025, crews from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 14 demonstrated the Navy's advanced search and rescue capabilities, establishing an expeditionary advanced base in Alaska's Aleutian Islands.
Operating out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, from Aug. 17-22, the squadron staged MH-60S Sea Hawks on land to provide extended SAR coverage in support of maritime strike scenarios over the Gulf of Alaska, enabling the aircrew and pilots to practice their skills in environments and conditions far from their usual operating area in Southern California.
Fixed-wing flight operations can take pilots and aircraft hundreds of miles from the aircraft carriers they are based. In the cold Alaskan waters, rapid SAR response times become critical, necessitating the need for a quick launch and recovery from nearby assets. By establishing an expeditionary base in nearby Dutch Harbor, HSC-14 provided advanced SAR coverage across the remote region.
"With the extreme distance, we realized months ago that it was going to be necessary to have search and rescue coverage well outside what HSC-14 could provide from the aircraft carrier," said Navy Cmdr. Robin Dirickson, commanding officer of HSC-14. "We identified a few locations where we'd be able to forward stage our helicopters to ensure that in the event anything happened to any of the fixed-wing aircraft, our helicopters were properly positioned to make sure they got out [to] the water quickly."
During the exercise, the squadron collaborated closely with the Air Force, Coast Guard and Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center personnel recovery experts to coordinate SAR coverage throughout the Aleutian Islands. This ensured smooth integration across commands and enabled HSC-14 to streamline logistics and adapt to Alaska's unique operational challenges, including extreme weather and limited infrastructure.
"The opportunity to integrate with the joint force is a phenomenal experience," Dirickson said. "Working with the Air Force and Coast Guard to accomplish challenging missions and refine procedures is critical, so if the high-end fight comes and we need to rely on each other, it's not the first time."
A key component of an aircraft carrier strike group's versatility lies in its ability to send assets ashore, while maintaining mission readiness on land and at sea. Detached from the USS Abraham Lincoln and with limited means of communication ashore, the expeditionary teams provided remote SAR capabilities while the shipboard team maintained coverage from the carrier.
"This was proof that the carrier strike group could execute this event organically with our own assets, a big win, especially the interoperability between Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron 30's CMV-22B Osprey and really fleshing out the tactics, techniques and procedures for this [expeditionary base] operation," said Navy Lt. Anthony Vidal, the assistant officer in charge of the training evolution. "Ospreys can carry enough fuel to meet us at an austere location where we can link up, get gas, and then we can continue on, kind of like a pit stop along the island chain."
A highlight of the mission, a simulated medical emergency, demonstrated how the joint force could execute a full rescue and medical evacuation sequence. Crew members from HSC-14 simulated recovering a patient and transferred them to a CMV-22B Osprey, which simultaneously refueled the helicopters.
By working together during this exercise, crews were able to validate new tactics, techniques and procedures.
Dirickson stressed the importance the entire crew played, contributing to the success of the mission, particularly in being able to maintain multiple assets both at sea and ashore.
"I am unbelievably proud of our maintenance folks," Dirickson said. "We sent more than 20 personnel, and the amount of work it took to have five mission capable aircraft up for a week is incredible."