The 6th ID (L) Division headquarters moved to Fort Wainwright in 1990. The 6th Infantry Division (Light), headquartered at Fort Richardson, was activated in 1986, replacing 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate). The 171st Infantry Brigade was inactivated in 1973 leaving the reorganized 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) as the principal combat formation, split-stationed at both Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia. USARAL was discontinued as a major subordinate command on December 31, 1972, and the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Alaska), headquartered at Fort Richardson, assumed command and control, reporting to U.S. On 21 June 1953, the name was changed to “Fort Greely, Alaska.” On 1 January 1961, Ladd Air Force Base (near Fairbanks) was transferred to Army jurisdiction and was named “Fort Jonathan M. This location became an established Army post called “Big Delta, Alaska” on. The forerunner of today’s United States Army Cold Region Test Center (CRTC) and the United States Army Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC). The Army installation known as Fort Greely (near Big Delta, Alaska) was initially occupied by Army Forces in 1941 and became the site for Army cold weather maneuvers. Some were inactivated and several became Air Force bases. During and shortly after the war years, several posts were established in Alaska. USARAL headquarters moved to its new location on 3 January 1953. On 15 October 1950, the Army released the land to the Air Force that is now Elmendorf Air Force Base and began construction of new facilities at its present Fort Richardson site, eight miles from Anchorage. When the Air Force was organized from the Army Air Corps in 1947, steps were taken to convert Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Field into separate installations. As the first Unified Command under the Department of Defense, ALCOM was headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage where it controlled all military forces in Alaska. The Alaskan Command (ALCOM) was created in January, 1947. At the end of the war, most Army installations throughout the state closed permanently or transferred to other agencies. and Canadian forces seizing the island in mid-August, 1943. The Japanese secretly evacuated Kiska in late-July, 1943, several weeks prior to U.S. to retake Attu Island was proportionately one of the most costly amphibious assaults of World War II in the Pacific in terms of American casualties suffered. prepared 11,000 troops to retake Attu Island in May of 1943. The ALCAN Highway complimented military infrastructure that was built throughout Alaska than ensured Allied forces could defend the territory, and carry the fight to the enemy, if necessary.Īfter the Japanese seizure of Attu and Kiska islands in the Aleutian Chain in June, 1942, the U.S. The 1,420-mile road was built as an overland supply route to get personnel and equipment to Alaska. In 1943, civilian contractors followed and constructed a more permanent, all-weather highway. Army units also built an initial pioneer road in 1942 for the Alaska-Canada (ALCAN) Highway in less than eight months. The War Department General Order Number 9, dated 12 December 1940, designated the military reservation as Fort Richardson, and the flying field at Fort Richardson was designated Elmendorf Field.įollowing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Army and Navy engineers began building airstrips in the Aleutian Islands to defend against possible Japanese attacks. Construction of an Army post six miles northeast of Anchorage began on 8 June 1940. The Army has served in Alaska since 1867, when Soldiers of the United States Army, 9th Infantry Regiment, took part in the ceremonies that raised the Stars and Stripes over Sitka and transferred Russian lands to the United States.
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