Volume 6, No. 23 ©SS 2014
FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014
‘Swiss Army knife of the joint force’
Why the military can’t get enough of amphibious ready groups
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COVER STORY
Creating ‘a formidable force’ Amphibious ready groups play critical role in modern-day US military, humanitarian missions
BY H ENDRICK SIMOES Stars and Stripes
ABOARD THE USS GUNSTON HALL IN THE GULF OF ADEN — During a visit to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in 1993, then-President Bill Clinton said, “When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it’s no accident the first question that comes to everyone’s lips is: ‘Where is the nearest carrier?’ ” Twenty-one years later, that question may be slightly modified to include, “Where is the nearest amphibious ready group?” While the sight of cranes moving equipment or the well deck slowly filling up with water aboard an amphibious dock-landing ship may not be as thrilling as catapults hurtling jets across a bustling flight deck, amphibious ready groups — known as ARGs — are playing a critical role in modern-day operations. In 2011, the Kearsarge ARG supported NATO-led operations to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya, and last year the same ARG was parked off the coast of Egypt to potentially respond to deepening political unrest there. It also was on call to respond to the escalating civil war in Syria. One of the ARG ships, the transport dock ship USS San Antonio, was even in the headlines for its role in the capture of suspected terrorist Abu Anas al-Libi in Libya during a nighttime U.S. special operations raid in October. The resume for the ARGs’ modern-day operational contributions
Chief Petty Officer Daniel Chavez, a craft master, maneuvers his landing craft out of the well deck of the dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall to take embarked U.S. Marines ashore in Djibouti on April 15. is long, and it includes plenty of humanitarian assistance missions as well. “There is more focus on the ARG, and I think it’s because people are starting to realize all the benefits the ARG gives our forces,” said Capt. Timothy Kuehhas, commander of the USS Gunston Hall, which is part of the Bataan ARG currently deployed to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet area of responsibility. But the right people might not be realizing the ARGs’ value just yet. High-ranking officials from both the Navy and Marine Corps are deeply concerned about the future of the amphibious ship fleet. “The Marine Corps’ require-
ment has been pretty steady — we need 38 amphibs,” Brig. Gen. Gregg Olson, commander of Task Force 51/59 and in charge of the amphibious forces deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet, said in an interview with Stars and Stripes in Bahrain. It’s essentially a supplyand-demand problem — and there aren’t enough amphibious ships to meet the global requirements, Navy officials said. In March, Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert informed the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Navy has 29 operational amphibious ships. Greenert told the committee the requirement is 38 but that the Navy could manage with 33 such vessels. Either way, he expressed his concern that the Navy is wearing out the existing amphibious ships. Under the current budget constraints, having 33 amphibious ships may not be possible until at least 2018, according to the Defense Department report last month, “Estimated Impacts of Sequestration-Level Funding.” An ARG is usually made up of three amphibious ships: an amphibious assault ship, an amphibious transport dock and a dock-landing ship. It deploys with an embarked Marine expeditionary unit comprising about 2,200 Marines. Its purpose is to give the U.S. military a crisis-response capability that can be tailored for a wide range of situations, from disaster relief to combat. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos calls it the “Swiss Army knife of the joint force.” SEE PAGE 3
The dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall conducts well-deck operations off the coast of Djibouti, sending embarked U.S. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and equipment ashore on April 15. The Gunston Hall is part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. PHOTOS
BY
HENDRICK SIMOES /Stars and Stripes
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A moving base An ARG essentially gives the top brass a moving base that can either work together as a whole or split apart to handle multiple situations at once throughout a region. Each ship has similar capabilities but also some unique ones. While the Gunston Hall can sail into shallower coastal waters and use its well deck to send Marines ashore via 15 embarked amphibious assault vehicles and two landing craft, a bigger ARG ship like the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan has a flight deck capable of launching a variety of helicopters and aircraft, including the MV-22 Osprey, AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft and CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters. Olson explained that the goal of the ARG is to provide combatant commanders with the right force able to cope with a multitude of missions. Sometimes the mission requires air assets, sometimes it requires a ship off the coast capable of doing an amphibious landing and sometimes a combination of both, said Olson, who oversees the ARG and MEU when it operates in the 5th Fleet. “Together, it makes us a very formidable force,” Kuehhas said. On this particular day, his crew was busy sending Marines and support equipment onto a beach in Djibouti as part of the initial leg of an exercise lasting several weeks, while the other ships in the ARG, the Bataan and the amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde, were operating elsewhere. An ARG also works in international waters, allowing it to navigate to the shores of any crisis while being free from the constraints of complicated host nation agreements or lack of infrastructure issues that might impair the Army or Air Force’s ability to operate in a foreign nation. “We have the whole ocean as our highway, and every beach is a potential landing To view video and more photos of ARG life, go to: stripes.com/go/ARG
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PHOTOS
BY
area,” Kuehhas said. Until a decision is made on the future of ARGs, the Marine Corps and the Navy are experimenting with alternatives in light of not having enough. “The Marines and the Navy are working closely together to find ways to be creative,” said Olson, mentioning the Navy’s new Mobile Landing Platform and the Military Sealift Command’s Maritime Prepositioning Ship as examples of ships that can help augment the amphibious fleet. “We are going to take all of these capabilities and put them together to project power ashore,” he said. However, those ships are not designed to do the kind of “joint forcible entry” that amphibious ships can achieve. Nonetheless, officials say they
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are capable of doing some “lower-end kind of things” normally done by the amphibious ships — to take stress off the Navy’s amphibious fleet. Olson said, “In the meantime, we’re going to get every iota of service life out of these amphibs because we know how to use them, the sailors know how to sail them and we know how to fight in them.” The Navy always maintains an ARG operating in the Middle East and one in the Western Pacific. Top Navy and Marine Corps officials have also expressed the desire to have an ARG continuously on station in the southern part of the Asia-Pacific and another one in the Mediterranean Sea. simoes.hendrick@stripes.com Twitter: @hendricksimoes
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Seaman Brittany Hopkinson, a boatswain’s mate, controls traffic on a beach in Djibouti as U.S. sailors and Marines offload a landing craft that has arrived from the dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall, sailing in the background.
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EUROPE
Last major units close up shop at Schweinfurt base BY M ICHAEL S. DARNELL Stars and Stripes
SCHWEINFURT, Germany — The last two major tactical units at U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt, Germany, were inactivated during double ceremonies held May 16, months ahead of the final closure of the base in September. The 18th Engineer Brigade, the 7th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade and the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion cased their colors, symbolizing what is essentially the end of 70 years of U.S. military operations in Schweinfurt. “This is just another step in the transformation of our Army here in Europe and our Army as a whole. We’re winding down from a period of conflict, and it makes sense that we’re downsizing and reshaping our force,” said Col. Scott Peterson, commander of the 18th Engineers. “It’s been a great ride, and I’m really proud of the soldiers here in the brigade and these battalions.” Peterson spoke at the casing ceremony for his unit’s colors. The gathered crowd packed the stadium, and soldiers from across the base stood on the outside of the fenced-off area. For the soldiers of the 18th Engineers, the deactivation — the fifth in the unit’s 93-year history — felt like the breaking apart of a family. “There’s definitely a sense of pride to be able to conduct this and to be, for now, among the last members in the brigade,” said Master Sgt. Timothy Bare, the current operations staff noncommissioned officer in charge for the 18th Engineers. “We have a good group, a close-knit group. It’s a real family feeling.” The Schweinfurt garrison
closure is part of the U.S. military’s realignment across Europe. The training facilities at Hohenfels, Germany, cased their colors on earlier last week as part of the continuing consolidation of several independent training facilities under the USAG Bavaria umbrella. September will also see the closure of the Army garrison in Bamberg, although the 54th Engineer Battalion that was stationed there inactivated in April. While some troops will remain at Schweinfurt until it is officially shuttered on Sept. 30, the inactivation of the It’s been units siga great nify the ride, and departure of I’m really roughly proud of 95 perthe soldiers cent of here in the the base’s populabrigade tion. and these Already, battalions. some 10,500 Col. Scott troops Peterson have left 18th Engineers the area commander since the announcement of the base’s closure in February 2012. Schweinfurt’s mayor, Sebastian Remelé, attended both ceremonies and said the exodus of American troops is both a blessing and a curse for the area. “It’s an end of a chapter because the Americans were here for 70 years, so they were part of this city, part of this
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For more photos from the inactivation ceremony, go to stripes.com/go/schweinfurt
PHOTOS
community. We had a real good relationship with the Americans, the soldiers and their families. So this is a sad moment for us,” he said. “But for sure, we have to look forward — we also see a chance to develop Schweinfurt using this new area.” Proposed plans include bringing an international campus to the Ledward Barracks and an industrial park where Conn Barracks now stands, and building housing throughout Askreren Manor and Yorktown village. While the town looks toward a future without the American presence, soldiers like Sgt. Maj. Stephfon Watson look back at their time in Germany with mixed feelings. “You still got the same pride in the organization that you had the day you came into it,” he said. “And you hope you leave it better on the way out the door. I think I did that; I think we did that as a team.” Separately, the Army garrison at Baumholder, which lost its primary tenant unit in 2012 at the start of the current round of cuts, will inactivate
The U.S. Army Europe band plays at the ceremony signifying the inactivation of the units. on May 15. Lt. Col. Michael Sullivan, who took over the garrison in the midst of the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s inactivation, will relinquish command of “The Rock” at the same ceremony. While there have been questions about Baumholder’s long-term prospects, the Army is still investing in
infrastructure projects and base improvements. Work is expected to start soon on a project to replace a number of bachelor quarters on the garrison’s Smith Barracks with more than 100 modern townhouses. Stars and Stripes reporter Matt Millham contributed to this report. darnell.michael@stripes.com
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Maj. Gen. John R. O’Connor, commanding general of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, hands the 18th Engineer Brigade colors over to Col. Zane Jones, commander of the 18th Military Police Brigade, as part of the May 16 inactivation ceremony for the brigade at the Schweinfurt Army Garrison, Germany.
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MILITARY
Senators make case for saving the A-10 Warthog Lawmakers, AF advocates move to preserve plane in budget BY TRAVIS J. TRITTEN Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Brandenburg says he probably never would have returned from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan if not for the A-10 Warthog. The Silver Star recipient and former joint terminal attack controller stood beside powerful Senate lawmakers May 14 and urged the Air Force to back off a proposed retirement of the aircraft, saying it is uniquely capable of providing close air support, saving the lives of American troops on the battlefield. The press conference, which included Sens. John McCain, RAriz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., was the most recent push by lawmakers on Capitol Hill to block the Air Force 2015 budget proposal to phase out the hardfighting aircraft, known for the belch of its massive Gatling gun and its ability to fly slow and low to support infantry on the ground. “If our leaders don’t listen to the troops fighting on the ground, [the troops] are going to fail. Our troops need the A-10,” said Brandenburg, who deployed repeatedly in support of the Army’s 75th Ranger Battalion for eight years after 9/11 and who was awarded five Bronze Stars, three with the “V” device for valor. McCain said the aircraft is a favorite of infantry soldiers. “We listened very carefully to the U.S. Army,” he said. “They are the ones who need the close air support, they are ones who are in grave danger without it.” With the A-10’s combat record as a backdrop, a group of 10 senators called the proposed Air Force retirement
premature. They want the chamber to save the Warthog from extinction when it marks up its version of the National Defense Authorization Act on May 13. The House Armed Services Committee already rejected the A-10 plan in its draft defense budget passed last week. “I believe and hope the Senate will also act to protect the A-10 for our men and women in uniform,” said Ayotte, who has helped lead the effort to preserve the aircraft. The Senate coalition, which also includes Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, If our and Johnny leaders Isakson, don’t R-Ga., disagreed listen to the the troops with Departfighting on ment of the ground, Defense position [the troops] that the A-10 is too are going expensive to fail. and dated Our troops to keep around. need the The cost A-10. per flying Retired hour is Air Force actually Master less than Sgt. Eric other airBrandenburg craft that provide support for ground troops, including the F-15E and F-16 fighter jets, the B-1 bomber, the AC-130 gunship and the B52 Stratofortress, they argue. But the DOD is scraping for savings and has been unhappy with Congress’ refusal so far to support a phase-out of the A-10. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel unveiled the proposal earlier this year, saying the retirement of the
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Air Force fleet of some 300 Warthogs would save the department $3.5 billion over five years. A Pentagon spokesman said last week that Hagel was “certainly not pleased” — a rare comment on active legislation. The DOD is under intense pressure to cut costs due to the Budget Control Act of 2011, also known as sequestration, which triggered deep, automatic reductions in the federal spending after a divided Congress could not reach a budget agreement. Many popular defense programs and equipment could be on the chopping block in the coming year, including subsidies to base supermarkets, health care benefits, pay raises, the A-10 program, the Navy’s littoral combat ship funding and the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, which needs an expensive nuclear overhaul to stay in operation. The military’s top brass say the cuts are unwanted — Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said he had personally been saved by A-10 air support — but necessary due to the funding squeeze. House lawmakers, especially Republicans, have balked at slashing defense spending, saying it could weaken national security and erode trust among servicemembers. Now, A-10 support is growing in the Senate. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he may vote to keep the aircraft if spending offsets can be found. “I support preserving the A-10. To accomplish that, we must find a realistic way to pay for it,” he said last week in a statement to Stars and Stripes. “I’m optimistic that when the Senate Armed Services Committee marks up the
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defense authorization bill next week, we will be able to do so.” The Senate coalition may just be successful, at least at saving the Warthog in the chamber’s upcoming draft defense budget, said Todd Harrison, diI support rector of preserving defense the A-10. To budget studies accomplish at the Centhat, we ter for must find a Strategic realistic way and Budgetary to pay for Assessit. ments. “I Sen. Carl Levin, fully Senate Armed Services Committee expect chairman they are going to push hard, and they may very well succeed,” Harrison said. “It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Air Force to retire the A10 even in the Senate.” With elections looming, lawmakers would not want to vote against the Warthog program and risk military cuts and job losses in a number of communities outside bases where the aircraft is operated, he said. The A-10 is “almost as important to Moody [Air Force Base] as it is to troops on the ground,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who represents the base along with Chambliss and spoke at the
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news conference May 14. Davis-Monthan Air Base in Tucson, Ariz. — McCain’s state — is home to about 80 of the aircraft, the largest concentration in the world. Nine U.S. bases and one U.S. base in South Korea have the Warthog. Many races are already heating up, with this issue being front and center in Tucson. Rep. Ron Barber, who added an amendment to save the A-10 to the House Armed Services Committee draft defense budget last week, is running against Martha McSally, a former A-10 pilot who is campaigning on defeating the aircraft’s retirement. The A-10 is the largest mission at Davis-Monthan and the retirement could mean the loss of 2,000 jobs, said Bruce Dusenberry, chairman of the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance, a group comprising private-sector leaders who represent military interests in the Tucson area. “The immediate reaction was, ‘Oh no,’ ” Dusenberry said. The loss could also affect the other military bases and vast training ranges that dot southern Arizona and are interconnected to the A-10 program, according to Dusenberry. “It’s hard to know the ripple effect,” he said. “It would be a major impact.” tritten.travis@stripes.com
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May 23, 2014 Friday, May 23, 2014
Second round of Afghan voting is set for June 14 E
Foundation empowers military caregivers
BY JOSH SMITH Stars and Stripes
Afghanistan’s top two presidential candidates are officially headed to a runoff scheduled for June 14 after neither secured the majority votes needed to avoid a second round. On May 15, election officials formally announced the official vote tally from the April 5 election. Mirroring preliminary numbers, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah gathered 45 percent while former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani received 31.6 percent of the votes. Another former foreign minister, Zalmai Rassoul, was seen as a favorite of current President Hamid Karzai, but garnered only 11.4 percent. On May 11, he announced that he was throwing his support to Abdullah. The other five presidential candidates each drew support in the single digits in the first round of voting. Abdullah welcomed a second round and said he was confident that turnout would once again be high. Election officials said the numbers released on May 15 took into account hundreds of fraud complaints, but the investigations did not significantly change the preliminary percentages. At a news conference after the announcement, Ghani complained that more ballots should have been discarded because of fraud, but he said
he would participate in the runoff and predicted that he would double his vote count from the first round. The Electoral Complaints Commission, which was tasked with sorting through the complaints, invalidated roughly 400,000 votes. That is fewer than half of the more than 1 million votes that were thrown out during the 2009 election, in which Abdullah cited fraud and corruption when he quit rather than participate in a runoff against Karzai. In total, more than 6.6 million Afghans voted in this election, 36 percent of whom were women, according to election officials. The Independent Election Commission laid out the timetable for the constitutionally mandated runoff between Abdullah and Ghani. A second round of campaigning will be allowed between May 22 and June 11, with the vote scheduled for Saturday, June 14. The winner is expected to be announced in July. The United Nations’ representative in Afghanistan, Ján Kubiš, called on Afghan officials to do more to prevent fraud and urged candidates to respect the results, but he praised the process, which for the first time was exclusively overseen by Afghans. “Afghans can justifiably be proud of their elections,” he said in a statement. “On election day, Afghan men and women demonstrated their desire to live in peace, dignity
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and prosperity. Democratic choice prevailed over violence and coercion.” The runoff extends an election process whose conclusion many Afghans and international governments are impatiently awaiting so the country can move forward. Karzai has refused to sign a bilateral security agreement with the United States that allows for thousands of troops to remain in the country past the end of the year when all international combat forces are to be withdrawn. Both Abdullah and Ghani have said they would sign the deal, but the long electoral process means that U.S. military plans may be up in the air for months. The second round of voting will also take place in the historically violent summer fighting season, when Taliban and other insurgent attacks typically increase. The Taliban launched their spring offensive on May 12, with attacks around the country that claimed the lives of at least 16 people. Despite threats and a campaign of violence in the early months of this year, the Taliban were unable to deliver on promises to disrupt the election. Analysts fear that the insurgent group may redouble its efforts during a second round. Naiemullah Sangen contributed to this report. smith.josh@stripes.com Twitter: @joshjonsmith
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one strong part of the Rand lizabeth Dole — forfindings,” Dole said. “Also the mer U.S. senator and legal and financial challenges presidential cabinet … Many (military caregivers) member twice over have no health care, so their — and her husband, Bob Dole own health often has been — longtime veteran of both impacted.” houses of Congress and two Dole said she was surprised presidential tickets — could the research showed a majorbe called a Republican power ity of these caregivers were couple. also in the However, their latest efforts bridge the gap between red SPOUSE CALLS workforce. “They and blue politics with a red, have to be white and blue cause. The because of National Coalition for Military the expenses Caregivers was launched this of caregivyear by Caring for Military ing, and Families: Elizabeth Dole some are Foundation. now their “Everyone is so willing to family’s help,” she said. “We are very breadwinmuch a bipartisan organizaners,” she tion, and it’s a joy to work with Terri Barnes said. people who Join the conversation with Terri at are friends After the on both sides stripes.com/go/spousecalls study, the of the aisle, launch of the and the White National CoHouse.” alition of Military Caregivers Working alongside first lady was the next logical step. Michelle Obama’s Joining Although her initiative is Forces initiative, Dole’s coalifocused on the caregivers of tion has enlisted labor and wounded warriors, Dole said business leaders, nonprofits families with special-needs and faith groups to engineer a children could also benefit nationwide network of support from the coalition. for caregivers of wounded The Elizabeth Dole Fellows warriors. Program is another outreach. Dole’s inspiration for what Fifty caregivers of wounded she calls her “mission” is as warriors — one from each personal as it is patriotic. Her state — represent fellow husband was severely woundcaregivers in their states and ed in World War II, suffering injuries that have affected him advise the foundation. The Dole foundation’s work throughout his life. A long stay has natural connections to in 2010 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Dole expressed in Bethesda, Md., introduced concern over the recent news the Doles to many post-9/11 about mismanagement at VA veterans. hospitals around the country. She said getting to know She called VA Secretary other patients and their famiEric Shinseki “an honorable lies opened her eyes to the obstacles facing those caregiv- man with a great background ers, and the foundation arose in the military,” but said he from a desire to help. leads an agency with longtime Through her foundation, systemic issues that must be Dole commissioned a Rand addressed. Corp. study of the caregiver “When you think about population in the U.S. Among people who’ve been placed other findings, the two-year in harm’s way and who are study discovered that of 5.5 defending our freedom and million caregivers in the U.S., our security, there’s a special 1.1 million are caring for responsibility that we have to veterans of the wars in Iraq them,” she said. “So it’s very and Afghanistan. This group important to get these matters is younger than the rest of the resolved, and the spotlight is caregiver population and less on it now.” likely to have a support network, according to the study. Terri Barnes writes Spouse Calls weekly for Stars and Stripes. “Isolation was certainly
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Veteran Owned Businesses Britten & Associates
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Brr Concepts
17214 Meadow Creek Dr Eagle River, AK 99577 (907) 727-8438 www.brrconcepts.com
Coldfoot Environmental Services
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Currier’s Asphalt Maintenance
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Denali Bio-Diesel Inc
22443 Sambar Loop Chugiak, AK 99567 (743) 730-8665 www.denalibiodiesel.com
Environmental Compliance Consulting
1500 Post Rd Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 644-0428 www.eccalaska.com
Lasher Sport Inc
801 E 82nd Ave Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 529-8833 www.lashersport.com
Ljc Group Limited
Sustainable Design Group LLC
1785 East Raven Cir Wasilla, AK 99654 (907) 720-3259 www.sdg-ak.com
Ltr Training Systems Inc.
Weston Productions 20845 Frosty Dr Chugiak, AK 99567 (907) 229-6116 www.westonproductions.tv
Yard Chief Yard Care Inc
Frank Flavin Photography
7045 Welmer Rd Apt 5 Anchorage, AK 99502 (907) 632-5597 www.ljconline.com
5761 Silverado Way Ste Q Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 563-4463 www.survivaltraining.com
MH Consulting
3431 Amber Bay Loop Anchorage, AK 99515 (907) 344-4521 www.mhcinc.net
Triphase Adventure Group
Frigid North G
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2120 Casey Cusack Lp Anchorage, AK 99515 (907) 306-7052 www.zusam.spruz.com
Alaska Radiator Distributor LLC
Tenant Watch
Heavenly Sights
5401 Cordova St Ste 305 Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 561-1606 www.flavinphotography.com
3309 Spenard Rd Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 561-4633 www.frigidn.com
Globelink Telecom Inc
6706 Greenwood St Unit 2 PO Box 231256 Anchorage AK 99523 (907) 562-0384 www.radiator.com
JamesVelox & James
Really Creative Business Solutions
6911 Tanaina Dr Anchorage, AK 99502 (907) 243-0118 www.globelinktel.com
3000 C St Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 310-5785 www.jvjresearch.com
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3201 C St Ste 202 Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 272-7336 www.tenantwatch.net
Trailboss Enterprises Inc 201 E 3rd Ave Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 338-8243 www.trailboss.biz
1425 N Spar Ave #2 Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 337-3355 www.yardchief.biz
Bandapart Productions
Charters & Campground Ninilchik, AK Deep Creek (907) 567-73671 www.heavenlysights.com
Pyramid Audio
2440 Seward Hwy Anchorage, AK 99503 (907) 272-9111 www.pyramidaudiovideo.com