CAMP DENALI, Alaska ?An Alaska Air National Guard pilot exemplifies the qualities of honor, duty, and country as he braves the elements and pushes the boundaries while piloting a new type of craft ? a sled dog team ? in the 2009 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Using his love of sled dog racing as a way of promoting awareness and raising funds for children with disabilities, Lt. Col. Blake Matray, Alaska Air National Guard, 168th Air Refueling Wing, KC-135 pilot and weapons and tactics chief, is hoping to bring more attention and financial assistance to children with disabilities. Matray and his wife, Erin, founded Sled Dog Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated using sled dog racing to promote awareness and raise funds for the support of children with disabilities and their families. ?Over the years, I have donated money to the Special Olympics, but I always felt like I wanted to do more,? Matray said. ?I just needed to find the right niche, somewhere to raise funds and promote awareness, but being a musher, a pilot for the Alaska Air National Guard and working a full time job didn?t leave me much time.? Matray?s love of Siberian Huskies, racing behind a team of 16 dogs, and his desire to help children with special needs was the catalyst to the development of his organization, which last year raised more than $4,000 that was directly donated to support special-needs children across Alaska. ?The idea of using sled dogs and dog sledding adventures to raise funds became the answer and a conduit for me to combine two of my passions together for a great cause,? Matray said. ?We are always proud of our Guardsmen and women and what they do for this country,? said Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. ?But when you see them out as participants in a race like the Iditarod, just pushing the limits of their own endurance and that of their team for a great cause, you appreciate what they do even more.? Matray runs the Brown Dog Outfitters kennel in Two Rivers, northe