Air Guardsmen fly critical equipment to wildlife refuge

  • Published
  • By Capt. Alyson Teeter
  • 129th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
MOFFETT FEDERAL AIRFIELD, Calif. (AFPN) --  California Air National Guardsmen from the 129th Rescue Wing assisted U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials Feb. 17 and 18 by transporting critically needed facility batteries to the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, located approximately 30 miles off the shore of San Francisco in the Pacific ocean.

Two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, aircrews and logistics personnel were part of the operation to transport 48 photovoltaic batteries, each weighing 300 pounds, for the Fish and Wildlife Service.  Photovoltaic batteries collect light energy from the sun and convert it into an electrical current.

"The batteries power all of the facilities on the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge because it's an isolated island," said Mendel Stewart, manager of the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

Created in 1909 by President Theodore Roosevelt, the refuge was established to protect seabirds and marine mammals. Researchers from a private organization who work in conjunction with the FWS collect bird and marine mammal data that are part of a 40-year data set.

"This research is important for monitoring climate change as well," Mr. Stewart said. "There are resident researchers on the island collecting data on the island around the clock."

In the past, island residents received power from diesel generators. FWS officials realized that this power source wasn't practical or environmentally sound, so in the mid-1990s photovoltaic batteries and solar panels were installed as the primary power source. The original batteries had a shelf life of 10 years and were about to expire.

Securing a private contractor helicopter to swap out the batteries wasn't feasible due to the cost of airlifting such a heavy load, Mr. Stewart said. The island also isn't accessible by boat. 

When Maj. Rhys Hunt, 129th Rescue Squadron operations officer, heard about the FWS need for transportation, he pulled together operations and logistics personnel and came up with a plan to transport the new batteries to the Farallon Islands. They coordinated with the agency and fit the missions into the flight schedule. 

Airman in the 129th RQW are accustomed to complex missions such as water bucket drops over wildland fires and combat search and rescue operations in the mountains of Afghanistan.

"The 129th excels when performing operations like this one...a mission that required some out-of-the-box thinking, and took us out of our normal training mode," Major Hunt said. 

Over the two days, as the new batteries were delivered to the Farallon Islands, the used batteries were transported back to Treasure Island near San Francisco for disposal. In total, the helicopters transported more than 14,000 pounds of batteries to power the lighthouse and Fish and Wildlife Service research facility workshop. 

"We are very happy to have the new system in place," Mr. Stewart said. "I thank the 129th team for their professionalism and flexibility. I was very impressed!"  

Equipped with MC-130P Combat Shadow tankers and HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters, the 129th RQW aircrews have performed a wide variety of civilian search-and-rescue missions, including distressed persons aboard ships, lost or injured hikers and medical evacuations. The total number of people saved by the unit is 599.

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