North Dakota Air National Guard helps find and rescue people trapped at sea

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - A training exercise for the North Dakota Air National Guard turned into a real-life search and rescue mission.

Members of the National Guard’s 119th Wing were training at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Feb. 8, 2023, when the Coast Guard received a mayday call.

Officials say a Fargo-based MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle was ordered into action, to find a 42-foot boat and the three people on board. The vessel, Senior Dung, was taking on water. The caller reported three people on the vessel and then communication was lost.

Major Nicholas Hanson said the entire mission was flown from Fargo. He added it was the first time they’d ever done that before with the new technology. Officials say four different aircraft from four different militaries were all working together.

The combined team conducted more than 26 search patterns in more than 96 hours, covering more than 7,566 square nautical miles.

Officials say two people from the boat were found and rescued. However, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the active search for the third missing mariner on Feb. 12.

“The ability to be able to brief a different crew, from a different country, in an unfamiliar airframe working a real-world SAR mission is a first,” said U.S. Air Force 119th Wing, Major Nicholas Hanson, the MQ-9 detachment commanding officer, from Fargo, North Dakota. “The quick brief and coordination by the liaison officers and crews stateside led to seamless integration with the Royal Australian Air Force, other assets, and the U.S. Coast Guard. That is the definition of interoperability in a joint environment. It was truly amazing to see other countries working together in such unison supporting the U.S. Coast Guard SAR efforts on such short notice.”

Hanson says on Feb.17, the 119th Wing was called into action again.

This time, they were involved in the search for two lost fishing boats, each with several people aboard. The Fargo-based team provided real-time video to the Coast Guard.

“Within 30 minutes of being on station, we located the canoe and the 15 individuals,” said Capt. Tim Kuhn, an MQ-9 pilot, U.S. Air Force 119th Wing, from Fargo, North Dakota.

Cope North is the largest multilateral U.S. Pacific Air Forces field training focused on trilateral airborne integration for large-force employment, agile combat employment, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training from Feb. 8 to 24.