After Army Alaska’s alleged suicides, one battalion gets ‘sensing sessions’ Soldiers board CH-47 Chinooks during training in Alaska. (John Pennell/U.S. Army) A command team from the Hawaii-based 25th Combat Aviation Brigade visited one of their battalions at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, in January to hold sensing sessions in which troops discussed their opinions on mental health, loss and grief. The trip came after two soldiers from 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, died by suicide in late December and January, and a third soldier attempted suicide in that same time period, according to two people and an email from a unit official obtained by Army Times that describes the three incidents.
Army Alaska wants to recruit cold-weather lovers and have them train with Norwegians, Indians in Himalayas December 15, 2020 Paratroopers participate in U.S. Northern Command s Exercise Arctic Edge at the Donnelly drop zone on Fort Greely, Alaska, Feb. 29, 2020. (Staff Sgt. Diana Cossaboom/Army)
U.S. Army Alaska has struggled to be the service’s proponent for cold weather warfare amid two decades of missions that push it’s units out to far different environments, namely the Middle East, according to Army Alaska commander Maj. Gen. Peter Andrysiak. “The Army went through a massive transformation and it went to a [brigade combat team]-centric Army to standardize the equipment and organizational structure,” Andrysiak said Friday. “So the equipment was largely very similar across the force and we no longer had niche capabilities to operate in very unique environments.”