Alaska Air Guard squadron that watches the state's skies gets a new name

The Alaska Air National Guard squadron that keeps watch on the skies around Alaska has a new name. The 176th Air Defense Squadron became the 176th Battle Management Control Squadron on Nov. 7 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The Guard said the change reflects a shift beyond traditional air surveillance. The squadron's primary focus is defending the homeland against air and missile attacks, said Lt. Col. Jon Blenkush, the commander.

"Today, we face a threat landscape where the lines between peacetime surveillance and wartime engagement have completely blurred," he said at the ceremony.

The Guard said adversaries now use hypersonic glide vehicles, advanced cruise missiles and low-flying drones that are hard to see on radar. Battle management control, it said, connects "the sensor directly to the shooter."

Known as "Top Rock," the squadron pulls in radar and other sensor data around the clock and directs weapons systems, including fighter jets, for the North American Aerospace Defense Command and two other U.S. military commands, according to the Guard. Its airmen work alongside active-duty 11th Air Force personnel and Canadian Armed Forces members.

The Guard pointed to recent examples. In early 2023, squadron controllers tracked a high-altitude surveillance balloon crossing North America, and that February they directed intercepts of two unidentified objects over northern Alaska and western Canada, the Guard said.

In July 2024, Russian and Chinese bombers entered the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone together for the first time, according to the Guard. The zone is a band of airspace around Alaska where the U.S. expects aircraft to identify themselves. Squadron airmen built the air picture and guided U.S. and Canadian fighters to intercept the bombers 500 miles off the coast, the Guard said. The 176th Wing has said it was also the first time Chinese warplanes had entered a U.S. air defense zone.

"Calling this unit the 176th Battle Management Control Squadron aligns our title with the reality of our mission," Blenkush said.

The unit's roots go back to 1953, when an aircraft control and warning squadron stood up at Murphy Dome outside Fairbanks. The mission began moving to the Guard in 2001, and the unit took the 176th Air Defense Squadron name in 2013.