The U.S. military has had a long history in Alaska dating back to the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. During World War II, the military built numerous bases across Alaska including an airfield near Galena. This became Galena Air Force Base and played an important role during the Cold War by intercepting Soviet aircraft. The base closed in 1993 after the Cold War ended. However, the facilities were converted into the Galena Interior Learning Academy, a boarding high school that provides education for rural Alaskan students.

1. U.S. Military in
Alaska
The Closing of the Campion AirBase in
Galena, Alaska

2. Campion AirBase
Radar Domes (DEW) during the Cold War

3. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• Army, Navy and Revenue Service (forerunner of Coast
Guard) provided govt. services for AK during first two
decades following purchase from Russia
• Military personnel mapped much of the interior
• The military enforced rudimentary law and order during
the Gold Rush
• In the early years of the twentieth century, the military
managed the installation and operation of Alaska's first
major communications system, the Washington-Alaska
Military Cable System (WAMCATS).

4. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• During WWI, the U.S. realized that AK was a strategic
position in the new world of aviation
• AK had become the shortest possible route from the U.S.
to Asia
• Flying over the pole from AK to Europe was another time
saving route
• At the outset of World War II, the military constructed
docks, airfields, warehouses and bases in AK

5. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• In 1942, the Japanese
invaded the islands of Attu
and Kiska and the naval
installations at Dutch Harbor
were bombed.
• In the panic that followed the
invasion, the U.S. government
imposed martial law on
Alaska
• The Aleuts were forcibly
evicted from their lands and
relocated

6. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• A 1940 census found 1,000
military people living in
Alaska
• After the invasion, tens of
thousands of military
personnel poured into AK
• The construction of the
Alaska-Canadian highway
(Alcan) facilitated the
military build-up

7. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• During WWII, Military personnel were sent to Fort
Richardson and Eilson Air Force Base
• Runways were constructed in Northway and Sitka and
Mark Field was built in Nome
• Fighting the Japanese in the Aleutians, it became obvious
that the troops did not have either the training or the
clothing or gear to fight successfully in the Arctic or cold
weather conditions
• Fort Greeley became, and remains, one of the armed
forces cold weather proving grounds

8. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) was formed to stand
watch over Alaska’s coast
• The majority of guard members were Alaska Natives
• The ATG became the “eyes and ears” of the Arctic and
served without pay
• They were considered to be the “unorganized militia” and
separate from the National Guard which was the
“organized militia”
• However, following WWII the ATG units were transferred
into the National Guard and armories were constructed
in the larger Native villages

9. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• During the Cold War, AK had to be the “eyes” for the
nation in order to warn the rest of the country if an
attack was coming from the Soviet Union
• At the cost of millions of dollars, radar and
communication systems were constructed across AK and
key military bases were enlarged
• The radar system was called DEW (the Distant Early
Warning) and the microwave systems connecting the
DEW line and other military installations was called
White Alice
• This telecommunication system connected Alaska in a
way that would not have been economically feasible for
Alaska’s sparse population without the military

10. White Alice site in Adak
DEW line in Point Lay
Dew line station in Barrow

11. White Alice site in Nome
DEW
line
map
DEW line site at Barter Island

12. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• The White Alice sites were important for jobs and the
development of cash economies in village
• Many personnel serving at the DEW line and White Alice
sites had television, radio and telephone communication
that served as a window into the future for the villages
• Personnel stationed at these sites began to marry Alaska
Native women
• In 1960, some 32,860 persons worked in the military,
fully 33% of the labor force in AK

13. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• In the early 1990s there was a reduction of armed force
personnel nationally, as well as in Alaska
• In 1999, the active duty military composed only 5.7% of
the total labor force in AK
• Fort Wainwright (home of the 172nd Infantry Brigade)
near Fairbanks and Fort Richardson near Anchorage are
the state's major Army posts
• The Air Force's major bases are Eielson Air Force Base
near Fairbanks and Elmendorf Air Force Base,
headquarters of the Alaskan Air Command (ACC),
outside of Anchorage
• The Air Force also operates 13 long range radar stations
located around the state

14. Brief History of the U.S.
Military in Alaska
• Headquarters for the Army National Guard and the Air
National Guard are located in Anchorage with principal
units in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, Bethel, and
Juneau.
• The 17th Coast Guard District in Juneau encompasses
Alaska's 33,000 miles of coastline
• The Coast Guard enforces the 200-mile fisheries
conservation zone, engages in search and rescue and
performs maintenance of navigation aids
• The Navy and Marine Corps have commands and
detachments in Anchorage and on Adak Island in the
Aleutians.

15. History of Airbase in
Galena, Alaska
• In World War II, a military
air field was built adjacent
to the civilian airport
• This air field was designated
Galena Air Force Station
• Post tent outside of Galena
Air Force Station

16. History of Airbase in
Galena, Alaska
• “The Galena Air Force Base was originally a Civil
Aeronautics Authority (today the FAA) airfield. During
World War II, it was the first stop for Russian pilots flying
American lend-lease warplanes from Fairbanks to Russia.
During the war, I saw as many as 132 Bell Airacobra
(P-39) fighter plans parked there, awaiting improved
weather so they could fly to Nome. Altogether, the
Russians accepted 7,929 American warplanes at
Fairbanks and flew them to Nome via Galena. From
Nome, the planes flew across the Bering Straits to Siberia,
then to theEastern Front, where they flew in combat
against the Germans.” --Sidney Huntington, Shadows on
the Koyukuk (WWI)

17. History of Airbase in
Galena, Alaska
• “The Air Force decision to build at Galena created a
boomtown on the north bank of the Yukon River, 575
miles from the Bering Sea. About thirty-five people lived
in Galena in 1941 at the start of construction. With the
influx of people, the quiet village became a noisy tent city.
During wartime, Galena’s population ballooned to at least
3,000. The Air Force first arrived at Galena via the Yukon
River with six barges full of tractors, trucks and cranes.
Twenty soldiers were dumped on the beach with that
heavy equipment. They had no blankets and no housing.
The Koyukon people of Galena took those GIs into their
homes as if they were their own kids, including the
commanding officer, a Lieutenant O’Neil . . .

18. History of Airbase in
Galena, Alaska
• . . . the men slept and ate at the homes of Native families,
while they ran the tractors, cranes and trucks to build
the airfield. The Galena Native homes were mostly small,
simple log cabins, but they were warm and open to these
hardworking young men. They became homes away from
home for the soldiers, and many close relationships were
forged. That winter, soldiers built a huge domed airplane
hangar. To bolt the girders in place, they worked 150 feet
in the air from buckets lifted by draglines, never losing a
day of work, no matter how cold or how windy. I saw them
working at -58 degrees. Those rugged men became highly
respected for their accomplishments during the time they
lived at Galena. Some of them fell in love with Alaska and
our way of life. Upon discharge from the service, many
settled in Alaska and married Native girls . . .

19. History of Airbase in
Galena, Alaska
• . . . life changed for many
local residents who found
permanent jobs at the
Galena Air Force Base. From
seasonal trapping and
commercial fishing, with a
consequent seasonal income,
they converted to a partial
cash economy with year-
round income. Most
continued to largely depend
upon game and fish for food.”
- Sidney Huntington,
Shadows on the Koyukuk
(WWII)

20. History of Airbase in
Galena, Alaska
• During the 1950s, the the
Air Force constructed
additional military facilities
at Galena and the nearby
Campion Air Force Station,
in support of Galena's
mission as a forward
operating base under the
5072nd Air Base Group,
headquartered at Elmendorf
Air Force Base
• Improvements to the airport
and the local infrastructure
provided economic growth
for the area

21. 11th Air Force
743rd Radar Squadron
F-15s

22. The Closing of the Campion
Airbase in Galena
• The installation served as a Forward Operation Location
during the Cold War, its mission to intercept Soviet
military aircraft entering U.S. airspace over the Bering
Sea.
• The Campion Air Force Station was phased out during the
late 70's and early 80's
• The F-15 squadron was reassigned to Elmendorf Air
Force Base
• Galena Air Force Station (Campion Airbase) closed in
1993, following the end of the Cold War

23. Sidney Huntington’s
Great Idea
• The idea for a boarding school in Galena came from the
community, with the powerful backing of Sidney
Huntington, a Athabascan elder respected throughout the
state who served on the board of fish and game.
• Mr. Huntington and others saw the closure of the Galena
Air Base as an opportunity to use the facilities as a site
for students living in rural Alaska to get the best possible
education.
• The school started in 1997 as Project Education Charter
School with 40 students working on project-based
education

24. G.I.L.A.
• The school was renamed the Galena Interior Learning
Academy (G.I.L.A.) and offers vocational training in
automotive technology, aviation, cosmetology, and
culinary arts joined to a rigorous academic curriculum,
with 117 students
• G.I.L.A. turned the Air Force buildings into classrooms,
student facilities and residential living quarters
• The entire base officially became the property of the
school with a ceremony in September 2008

25. Airbase to Boarding
School

26. Map of G.I.L.A.

27. References
• http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akmilit.html
• Huntington, Sidney (1993), Shadows on the Koyukuk, Alaska Northwest Books
• http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=446
• http://fairbanks-alaska.com/eielson.htm
• http://gila.galenaalaska.org/public/About/SchoolHistory.html
• http://galena.iialaska.com/pubdoc.shtml
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/11af.htm