A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a stripped down 1989 Chevrolet Camaro to a mountainside area target location March 4, 2014 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) to a mountainside location where Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4t...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) to a mountainside location where Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4t...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) to a mountainside location where Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4t...

U.S. Army paratroopers with Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, gather sling load equipment that was used to transport a stripped down 1989 Camaro, pictured, to...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) trailer section to a mountainside location where Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infan...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) trailer section to a mountainside location where Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infan...

A U.S. Army paratrooper with Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, works to gather sling load equipment used to carry a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) to its m...

U.S. Army paratroopers with Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, stand by consolidated sling load equipment that was used to transport a stripped down 1989 Camar...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter flies over a bivouac site on a mountainside occupied by U.S. Army cavalry scouts assigned to Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regim...

Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, prepare to board a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter piloted and crewed by service members with the 1st Battalion, 20...

A U.S. Army paratrooper with Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, fires an M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System from an aerial platform March 7, 2014, at Joint Base...

U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Riegel, assigned to Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, prepares an M107 sniper rifle for an aerial platform firing range March 7, 2014 ,...

Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, fire sniper rifles aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter piloted and crewed by service members with the 1st Batt...

Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, fire sniper rifles aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter piloted and crewed by service members with the 1st Batt...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a stripped down 1989 Chevrolet Camaro to its target location where Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th ...

A 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter sling loads a stripped down 1989 Chevrolet Camaro to its target location where paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th ...

Alaska Army National Guard Capt. Brendon Holbrook (left) and Warrant Officer One Cody Bjorklund, both with the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, pilot a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter as they move to an aerial targeting range where paratro...

U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Riegel, assigned to Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, prepares an M107 sniper rifle for an aerial platform firing range March 7, 2014, ...

Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, review targeting notes aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter piloted and crewed by members of the 1st Battalion,...

U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Riegel, assigned to Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, loads a magazine into an M107 sniper rifle for an aerial platform firing range Ma...

A paratrooper with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, fires an M107 sniper rifle aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter piloted and crewed by members of the 1st Batta...

A paratrooper with the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, fires an M107 sniper rifle aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter piloted and crewed by members of the 1st Batta...

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter transports a car during a sling load operation at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, March 3, 2014. The car was stripped of all potentially environmental-contaminating components before bein...

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - U.S. Army paratroopers with Hatchet Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division carried out a weeklong, arctic field training exercise designed to hone skills in mountaineering, arctic survival, sling load and air assault operations, and sniper precision fire from high angle and aerial platforms March 3-6, 2014, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

The purpose of the training was to provide immediate, safe, accurate, and lethal sniper fire in support of ground commanders. Scouts sharpened individual and collective skills while planning and executing missions with enabling partners from the Alaska Army National Guard allowed for improved interoperability.

Hatchet Company's scout platoon leader, 1st Lt. Matthew Mitchell, said the training will help his platoon provide sniper support capabilities at the battalion's upcoming Joint Forcible Entry Exercise at Fort Greely, while also improving their arctic operational abilities.

"At the end of this training, we will be better at basic skills, such as PCCs and PCIs [pre-combat checks and pre-combat inspections], and planning and preparation for a mission, and also following through with growing capabilities," said Mitchell.

Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters with the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, sling loaded a small unit support vehicle (SUSV) and a completely gutted 1989 Chevrolet Camaro to the scouts' mountainside location.

Spc. Kyle Lupenski, an infantryman who was on the mountain to receive the equipment, said, "We are training in arctic proficiency, and this is a good experience for us to get out and shoot. We will be climbing these mountains with a lot of weight, and shooting down at the Camaro."

The Camaro spent the week on the mountainside as a target for high-angle fire. On Friday, it was airlifted to JBER's Malemute Drop Zone for use as a target for the aerial firing range.

The training mutually benefitted both Army components. The Alaska National Guard pilots got invaluable flight time, and the paratroopers received the unique aerial platform precision fire training.

Alaska Army National Guard Capt. Brendon Holbrook, a pilot with the 1-207th said, "We don't get to do this every day. It was really good to be able to support the ground element, and do some great training."

Other key training events during the week included operating the SUSV in a mountainous, arctic environment, and conducting long distance and night fire ranges.