U.S. National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

A RESOURCE GUIDE

FOR

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

RB-29 flying past Mt. McKinley, ca. 1948, U.S. Air Force Photo.

COLD WAR

IN ALASKA
U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

Colors, this page left, mirror those used in the first radiation symbol 

designed by Cyrill Orly in 1945. The three-winged icon with center dot is 

"Roman violet,"a color used by early Nuclear scientists to denote a very 

precious item. The "sky blue" background was intended to create an arresting 

contrast. Original symbol (hand painted on wood) at the Lawrence Berkley 

National Laboratory, Berkeley, California. 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Radiation_symbol_-_James_V._Forrestal_Building_-_IMG_2066.JPG

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

First Printing 2014

DANGER

ACTIVE

U.S. Army soldiers on skis, Big Delta, Alaska, April 9, 1952, P175-163 

Alaska State Library U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo Collection.
1

Introduction

Overhead view of a Soviet Tu-95 "Bear" 

bomber, May 15, 1974, U.S. Navy photo.

Alaska’s frontline role during the Cold War ushered in 

unprecedented economic, technological, political, and 

social changes. The state’s strategic value in defending our 

nation also played a key role in its bid for statehood. Since 

the end of the Cold War, Alaska’s role and its effects on 

the state have received increasing focus from historians, 

veterans, and longtime Alaskans. 

This resource guide is designed to help students and 

teachers in researching the Cold War in Alaska, and to 

provide basic information for anyone who is interested in 

learning more about this unique history. The guide begins 

with a map of Cold War military sites in Alaska and a brief 

summary to help orient the reader. A gateway for further 

research is provided with the selected bibliography and a 

list of relevant websites and repositories. The guide closes 

with research suggestions for Alaska Cold War topics as 

well as with information about some Cold War related 

places to visit in the United States.

As you read this guide it is important to understand that the Cold War spanned nearly fifty years 

and was not a typical war. The name “Cold” characterizes the nature of the war which was largely 

one of diplomatic posturing, embargos, boycotts, economic sanctions, and military build-up. At 

the same time, the threat of a nuclear attack was very real. While hostilities between the United 

States and Soviet Union never erupted into direct conflict, Alaska’s frontline role was clear. This 

study guide focuses on that role and how the Cold War impacted Alaska.

Synopsis

After World War II the wartime alliance between the Soviet Union and United States 

quickly dissolved into an ideological war underscored with the threat of nuclear 

annihilation. The Cold War as it was called lasted nearly 50 years and ushered in 

tremendous economic, technological, political, and social change. From 1946 to 1991 

the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an arms race that included the 

development of larger, ever more powerful nuclear weapons aimed at destroying each 

other in the event of war.

As two nations located in the northern hemisphere, on opposite sides of the globe, 

the shortest distance between the United States and the Soviet Union was over 

the North Pole. This naturally placed Alaska at the frontlines as U.S. military 

planners developed and implemented defenses against nuclear armed bombers and 

later, nuclear armed missiles of the Soviet Union. Constantly changing technology 

driven by the constant race to develop better arms and better defenses against 

those arms was demonstrated in Alaska by U.S. military installations that numbered 

in the hundreds. The pace of change was so rapid that in some cases partially 

constructed military installations were abandoned when it became apparent that 

they would be obsolete before they were even completed.

—Darrell Lewis, Historian, National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office 
2

Map adapted from Clear Air Force Station Ballistic Missile Early warning system Anderson Vicinity, Alaska; Haer Recordation, Easterling/Huston, Inc. 2003 

Cold War in Alaska

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3

Competing 

Ideologies

The Iron Curtain Descends

Beginning of the 

Cold War

3

At the core of the Cold War were two opposing political and economic 

systems: Totalitarian Communism and Democratic Capitalism. Each side 

viewed the others system as a threat to their existence. Between 1946 and 

1989 the United States and Soviet Union, and their allies, engaged in a 

protracted geopolitical contest that involved proxy wars in places like Korea, 

Vietnam, and Afghanistan, but never erupted into direct open conflict 

between the two powers.

Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain Speech” at Westminster College in Fulton, 

Missouri on March 5, 1946 is generally cited as the beginning of the Cold 

War, although mistrust between the Soviet Union and the United States dated 

back to the Russian Revolution in 1917. At the Yalta Conference in February 

1945 the leaders of Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Winston 

Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt, respectively, agreed that 

occupied Eastern European countries would be reestablished through popular 

elections. However, Stalin reneged on this promise and left the Russian Army 

in control of much of Eastern Europe. Elections in Poland, Czechoslovakia, 

Hungry, Romania, and Bulgaria were cancelled and communist governments 

installed. Churchill warned about the “Iron Curtain” extending over Eastern 

Europe in his speech at Westminster College.

“Even during the years 

of the Cold War. . .we 

always avoided any 

direct clash between 

our civilians and, most 

certainly, between our 

military.”

 —Vladimir Putin

“From Stettin in the 

Baltic to Trieste in 

the Adriatic, an iron 

curtain has descended 

across the Continent.”

 —Winston Churchill

 5 March, 1945

"The Big Three," Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 

Marshal Joseph Stalin, Yalta, February 1945, U.S.Signal Corps photo.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division: LC-USZ62-7449.

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Banner above: Detail, radar dish, the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW) Station POW-3, Bullen Point, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, 

Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog, Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS AK-201-4. 
Japanese Internment

Lend-Lease Program

Wartime 

Construction

Native Defenders

4

A Polar Threat

U.S. military planners recognized that a 

Soviet threat would come from across the 

North Atlantic and over the Northern 

Polar Regions, placing Alaska, Canada, 

Greenland, and Iceland at the frontlines 

of the Cold War. In response General 

Carl Spaatz, Commander of the Army Air 

Forces told his commanders in fall 1946 

that development of the Arctic front was to 

be their primary operational objective.

In 1943, at the height of World War II there 

were 152,000 active military personnel in 

Alaska; three years later in 1946, that number 

had dropped to 19,000. Billions of dollars 

were spent on defense and infrastructure in 

Alaska during the War. At the same time Alaska’s major industries; fishing, 

mining and forestry shut down due to loss of male labor to the War effort, 

disruption of trade, and an order that closed down gold mining. Alaskan’s 

were concerned that these industries would not recover fast enough to 

offset decreased defense spending after World War II.

Alaska’s infrastructure was woefully inadequate to support the Cold War 

missions that the U.S. military was planning. Early indicators of this were 

extreme housing shortages in Anchorage and Fairbanks in the early 1950s 

as the military could not build housing fast enough to accommodate 

military families. Despite $2 billion in investment in infrastructure 

during World War II, billions more were needed, as existing ports, roads, 

and railroads were inadequate to get people, equipment, construction 

materials, and supplies to Cold War installations.

Another U.S. challenge to address the Soviet threat was the need to create 

new strategically located bases. At the end of World War II Alaska’s 

defenses were focused on fighting a southern foe, not one coming from 

over the North Pole. Major bases had been constructed along the 

Aleutian chain and at Kodiak to fight the Japanese, and at Ladd Field near 

Fairbanks to support the Lend-Lease Program. U.S. General Spaatz’s call 

for the development of the Arctic front was a literal about-face for the 

military in Alaska. Within a year of the end of World War II the military 

was preparing for a new enemy, this time coming from the north.

Polar Concept

alaska at the 

Beginning of the 

Cold War

Cold War in Alaska

Polar view showing Alaska's 

proximity to the Soviet 

Union. Dael Devenport, 

Alaska Regional Office, 

National Park Service.
5

Alaska’s War Ends

Population Boom

National Landmarks

Military construction changed the face of Alaska during the Cold War. 

Throughout the 1950s expansion of existing bases, construction of new 

bases, and a vast infrastructure to connect them occurred at a rapid 

pace. On August 29, 1949 the Soviet Union shocked the world when it 

detonated its first atomic bomb at test site in Kazakhstan. It was widely 

believed that the Soviets would not have an atomic bomb until 1953. 

Two months later Congress authorized funding for construction of the 

Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) System designed to detect Soviet 

bombers and dispatch U.S. Air Force fighters to intercept them. From 

1951-58, 18 AC&W stations were constructed across Alaska.

In June 1950, Soviet supported North Korea invaded U.S. supported 

South Korea heightening concern about a potential Soviet attack on 

the United States. It was recognized as early as 1952 that the AC&W 

system was inefficient and did not provide enough advance warning of 

an attack. The response was the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, 

constructed between 1954 and 1959. Twenty-four DEW line stations 

were constructed across northern Alaska and along the Aleutian Chain.

The Buildup 

The Fifties Buildup

Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line antennas near Nome, Alaska, ca. 2013, Rebecca 

Shaffer, National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office.

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students
In addition to improved detection and communication capabilities Alaska’s 

Air Force bases were expanded and improved to accommodate new and better 

aircraft, and to carry out new missions. At its height in 1957, 200 fighter 

aircraft in eight squadrons were stationed in Alaska. Ladd Air Force Base 

(AFB), near Fairbanks, and Elmendorf AFB, near Anchorage, were split into 

the northern and southern hubs of Alaska’s air defense operations. Throughout 

the Cold War fighter aircraft in Alaska intercepted more than 300 Soviet 

bombers off Alaska’s coasts.

In October 1946, the headquarters of the Alaska Air Command (AAC) was 

moved from Adak to Elmendorf Field and on January 1, 1947 the Alaska 

Command (ALCOM) was formed as one of the military’s first unified 

commands. ALCOM placed the Alaskan Air Command, U.S. Army Alaska, 

and the Alaskan Sea Frontier under one unified command lead by a U.S. Air 

Force commander. Following the establishment of the North American Air 

Defense (NORAD) Command in September 1957, Elmendorf AFB became 

the headquarters of the Alaska NORAD Region (ANR) in August 1958.

Ladd Air Force Base, near Fairbanks, shifted from the role of supplying World 

War II Lend-Lease planes to Soviet ally to launching aerial reconnaissance 

missions against Soviet foe during the early Cold War. Converted B-29s 

called F-13s and RB-29s (see cover image) flew photo, electronic, and signals 

reconnaissance missions, some lasting as long as 30 hours, out of Ladd AFB and 

nearby Eielson AFB beginning in the late 1940s. 

Air Force Takes Command

6

Cold War in Alaska

An F-102 and a dog team in front of one of the Kodiak T-hangars at Ladd Air Force Base, 

Fairbanks, ca. 1962, U.S. Air Force photograph.
In 1948, “Mile 26” base, south of Fairbanks was renamed Eielson AFB 

and its runway was extended to over 14,500 feet to accommodate the Air 

Force’s massive B-36 bomber. The B-36 Peacemaker, a six engine bomber 

capable of carrying a payload of nuclear bombs 10,000 miles, was the 

largest mass produced piston engine aircraft ever and the largest bomber 

ever in the U.S. Air Force’s inventory. At the time the runway at Eielson 

was the longest runway in North America. From the late 1940s through 

the 1950s Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers rotated in and out of 

Eielson AFB regularly.

In addition to the major Air Force bases of Ladd, Elmendorf, and Eielson, 

smaller Forward Operating Bases (FOB) were established at King Salmon 

(formerly Naknek Field) and Galena in western Alaska in the early 1950s. 

Their locations to the west of Elmendorf and Ladd Field provided forward 

defense for the two bases. As former World War II refueling stops for 

Lend-Lease planes the Air Force was able to temporarily deploy fighters 

to both bases as early as 1948. By the mid-1950s fighters were regularly 

stationed at the bases.

Nuclear Bombers Arrive

7

B-36 Peacemaker taking off from Eielson AFB, ca. 1954, 673rd Air Base Wing History Office.

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students
8

Nike Hercules Missile in launch position at Nike Site Summit, ca. June 14, 1976, U.S. Army photo.

“The children of the Baby Boom were not, 

as their fathers who defeated Germany and 

Japan had imagined, destined to grow up in a 

non-threatening world. At home their parents 

built backyard . . .fallout shelters. During air 

raid drills, schoolchildren left their classrooms 

to huddle in darkened hallways. The Cold 

War had arrived, bringing with it the threat 

of undreamed horrors. It was to last nearly 

half a century, and for the greater part of the 

struggle, antiaircraft artillerymen were to 

serve as front-line soldiers.”

 —Stephen P. Moeller

Cold War in Alaska

Nike Hercules Missile in launch position at Nike Site Summit, ca. June 14, 1976, U.S. Army photo.
Arctic Air Defense and Arctic Training

In October 1950, the U.S. Army transferred the lands encompassing 

the old Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Field to the recently created 

U.S. Air Force and it became Elmendorf Air Force Base. Approximately 

33,000 acres to the north and east of this was retained and a new Fort 

Richardson was constructed. Fort Richardson became the headquarters 

for U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK), responsible for ground and air 

defense; cold weather and mountain warfare training; logistical support 

of the U.S. Air Force and Navy; National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve 

training; and internal security, including recovery from a nuclear attack.

In support of its air defense role the U.S. Army installed Nike Hercules 

missiles around bases at Fairbanks and Anchorage in the late 1950s 

to replace the antiquated Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) batteries. 

Nike installations (see preceeding page) were placed around cities 

nationwide. These nuclear capable missiles acted as a last line of defense 

against Soviet bombers if they evaded U.S. Air Force fighters. Big Delta, 

constructed as an auxiliary base along the Alaska-Siberia Lend-Lease 

route near Delta Junction during World War II, was designated an Army 

post in 1947 and became the Army’s Arctic Training Center in 1948. 

Big Delta was renamed Fort Greely in 1953 and in 1954 construction 

began on facilities to support its cold weather activities, including the 

military’s first nuclear power plant.

The Naval presence in Alaska during the Cold War reflected the focus 

on air defense in the military. Unlike the Army and the Air Force 

there was not a significant naval build-up in the state. The two major 

naval bases of the Alaskan Sea Frontier were at Kodiak and Adak. 

Antisubmarine, reconnaissance, search and rescue, and cold weather 

training activities were carried out from Adak, while air reconnaissance 

and sea patrols were conducted out of Kodiak, the headquarters of the 

Alaskan Sea Frontier.

In August 1957, the Soviet Union announced that it had successfully 

launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). This was 

followed up in October 1957 with the launch of Sputnik, the world’s 

first artificial satellite. In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev 

announced that in the future wars would be fought by launching 

missiles deep into a country’s territory. He followed this up by 

cutting more than a million Soviet troops and directing the resources 

toward missile forces. These events caused great concern in the U.S. 

military about missile tracking capabilities. The U.S. responded by 

89

The Sixties Missile 

Threat

“Do you think when two 

representatives holding 

diametrically opposing 

views get together 

and shake hands, the 

contradictions between 

our systems will simply 

melt away? What kind 

of a daydream is that?”

 —Nikita Khrushchev

“The Cold War isn't 

thawing; it is burning 

with a deadly heat. 

Communism isn't 

sleeping; it is, as always, 

plotting, scheming, 

working, fighting.”

 —Richard M. Nixon

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students
10

constructing the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) 

at Clear, 60 miles south of Fairbanks in 1958-60 as well as a Missile 

Identification, Detection, and Alarm System (MIDAS) site on Fort Greely 

in 1959-60. 

Changing strategies ended regular rotations of Strategic Air Command 

(SAC) bombers at Eielson AFB. The basing of ICBMs in the continental 

United States (CONUS) and the Soviet Union’s turn toward land and 

submarine based ICBMs decreased the need for Alaska’s defenses. Instead 

of being the first line of defense against squadrons of Soviet bombers 

Alaska became critical for early detection and warning of incoming 

ICBMs. Strategic reconnaissance continued to be an important mission 

for Eielson.

The threat of a Soviet ICBM attack, however, did not mean the end of the 

strategic bomber. The United States and Soviet Union both maintained 

significant bomber forces and Soviet bombers tested Alaska’s defenses 

throughout the Cold War. Better fighter aircraft, however, meant that 

fewer were needed to carry out the air defense mission. By 1960, fortythree fighter aircraft were based in Alaska, down from a high of 200 just 

three years earlier. 

10

Aerial view of Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site 

(BMEWS), ca. July 5, 1962, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, 

HABS/HAER/HALS Collection.

Changing Strategies

Cold War in Alaska
Force Reduction

With the beginning of the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s Alaska became 

an important refueling stop for military flights to and from Southeast Asia. 

By 1969, C-141 Starlifter cargo aircraft were landing at Elmendorf AFB at 

a rate of 1,000 - 1,200 per month. In 1970, the C-5 Galaxy, the U.S. Air 

Force’s largest cargo plane also began making refueling stops at Elmendorf 

AFB.

Budget cuts and better technology lead to decreased manpower in the 

1970s. After peaking at 50,000 in the mid-1950s the number of active 

duty military in Alaska decreased steadily throughout the 1960s and 

1970s. In 1969, active duty military numbered around 32,000 and by 

1979 that number had decreased to fewer than 24,000. During the 1950s 

and 1960s Alaska had been fortified to address the Soviet bomber and 

missile threats. Forward Operating Bases were constructed in western 

Alaska in the 1950s to shorten the response time for intercepting Soviet 

bombers. When ICBMs became the paramount threat in the 1960s early 

warning radar sites were constructed in interior Alaska to provide advance 

warning of incoming missiles.

As a result of the U.S. reduced defense spending and technological 

advances, all of the Aleutian DEW Line stations and their accompanying 

communications facilities were closed by 1979. A number of radar 

facilities were automated in the 1970s decreasing the need for personnel 

and to maintain expensive supply operations. All Fairbanks Nike Missile 

sites were closed in 1970-71, and one of the Anchorage sites was closed 

in 1970. Closure of Alaska Nike sites was part of a of Nike deactivations 

nationwide, in part as an acknowledgement that ICBMs had rendered 

them obsolete and as part of budget cuts.

President Ronald Reagan came into office in 1980 declaring a policy of 

peace through strength in dealing with the Soviet Union. With this he 

initiated a massive military buildup, which included the placement of 

intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe, force modernization, and 

the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) aimed at researching and developing 

technologies to defend against ICBMs.

Joint training exercises that occurred almost annually in the 1960s, 

and decreased sharply in the 1970s, became commonplace again in the 

1980s. One of the most important training exercises in Alaska, the BRIM 

FROST winter exercises, involved every branch of the U.S. military and 

took place in every odd-numbered year beginning in 1981 at Fort Greely.

11

Seventies 

Force Reductions

Eighties: Build-up 

to the End

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students
12

As part of force modernization, Alaska received F-15s in 1982. The 

F-15s were the most modern fighter in the U.S. inventory at the time. 

It was the first U.S. Air Force fighter in more than thirty years designed 

specifically for the role of interception and air combat. Modernization 

also came in the form of new and better computer systems which linked 

Alaska’s vast Cold War defense network to the command center on 

Elmendorf AFB. An interesting outcome of modernization was the 

establishment of a rail-based alternate command center in 1982. Made 

of remodeled surplus Alaska Railroad cars the alternate command 

center included accommodations and communications.

During the last decade of the Cold War some of the greatest tension 

between the Soviet Union and United States took place in Alaska. 

Over half of all the intercepts of Soviet aircraft that took place from 

Alaska military bases took place during the 1980s. On September 1, 

1983 a Korean Airlines flight en route to Seoul, after a refueling stop 

in Anchorage, was shot down by Soviet fighters when it strayed into 

restricted Soviet airspace. All 269 passengers aboard the Boeing 747 

were killed. It was later discovered that the Soviet military had mistaken 

the passenger plane for an RC-135 surveillance plane that had been 

flying near the restricted airspace.

As political relations between the Soviet Union and United States 

improved in the late 1980s, Alaska was the first to experience the thaw 

in the Cold War. On August 6, 1989 two MIG-29 fighter aircraft and 

an AN-225 cargo aircraft made a refueling stop at Elmendorf AFB en 

route to an airshow in Canada. This was the first time since World War 

II that a Soviet military aircraft had made such a landing in Alaska.

12

Tensions Thaw

U.S. Air Force F-15 "Eagle," 12th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, shadows a 

Soviet Tupolev "Bear" bomber (Tu-95S) near the western coast of Alaska, U.S. Air Force 

photo, September 28, 2006. 

Cold War in Alaska
On June 12, 1987, President Reagan, 

speaking in front of the Brandenberg 

Gate in Berlin, West Germany 

challenged Soviet leader Mikhail 

Gorbachev in his famous statement, 

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” 

Two years later on November 9, 1989 

the Berlin Wall, which had separated 

East and West Germany for nearly 40 

years began to come down, marking 

the beginning of the end of the Cold 

War. Two years later the Soviet flag, 

which had flown over the Kremlin in 

Moscow since 1923, was replaced by 

the flag of the Russian Federation.

Alaska played a critical role in 

helping to defend our nation during the Cold War. The shortest distance 

between the United States and the Soviet Union was over the North Pole, 

placing Alaska at the front lines. Alaska’s strategic, military importance 

helped cement its bid for statehood. The economic, social, and political 

impacts of the Cold War on Alaska continue to be felt today.

13

“On March 11, 1985, 

Mikhail Gorbachev 

became leader of the 

Soviet Union, and 

within a few weeks the 

full-scale reformation he 

attempted to carry out 

both inside his country 

and in its cold war 

relations with the West, 

particularly the United 

States, began to unfold.”

 —Stephen Cohen

“Strategic thinkers were 

naturally rattled to find 

this outsider fooling 

around with their work. 

They had been thinking 

strategically when 

Reagan was just another 

movie actor playing 

opposite a chimpanzee, 

for heaven's sake. They 

think Reagan is too 

naive, too innocent, to 

grasp the intellectual 

complexities of cold war 

strategy.”

 —Russell Baker

Legacy of the Cold War in Alaska

President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev 

pose by a piece of the Berlin Wall, May 4, 

1992, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Alaska achieved statehod on January 3, 1959. Millitary personnel are shown carrying the 49th star flag during the 4th of July parade in Anchorage. 

Sidney H. Hamilton, Sidney Hamilton Photograph Collection: Anchorage Museum, Gift of Emily Turner. B1976.082.129.
National Archives and Administration, 

website for Cold War Primary Sources 

at: http://www.archives.gov/education/

history-day/online.html

Throughout most of the Cold War, the U.S. military strategy toward the Soviet Union was known 

as Mutually Assured Destruction or M.A.D. As missiles began to replace bombers as the primary 

method for delivering nuclear weapons in the late 1950s, it became clear that the United States would 

not be able to defend itself against such an attack. While anti-aircraft missiles and fighter aircraft 

could shoot down a nuclear armed bomber there was no such defense against an intercontinental 

ballistic missile (ICBM). Throughout the Cold War the United States and Soviet Union raced to 

develop ever more powerful nuclear warheads for their missiles. While the “Fat Man” atomic bomb 

dropped on Nagasaki, Japan (which ended World War II), had an explosive capacity equivalent to 

approximately 20,000 tons of TNT, the largest of the U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons measured their 

potency in millions of tons of TNT. The consequences of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union 

and United States would have been devastating. Hundreds of millions of people dying instantly, 

large areas of the planet becoming uninhabitable, and the skies blackened with debris and smoke for 

an extended period of time. The scale of such an event would have been felt globally in the form of 

radioactive fallout and crop failures. Since there was no way to stop an incoming missile, this MAD 

promise of an equally destructive retaliatory strike was the only defense against a nuclear war. MAD 

was the norm between the United States and Soviet Union for more than 30 years, holding the entire 

world in its grip.

Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.)
bLeft: During the Cold War, the Federal Civil Defense Administration used images such as this one, to 

illustrate an atomic attack's impact on an American city. This was part of an effort to try to reduce 

alarm and to help Americans prepare for surviving a nuclear attack. 

Fallout shelter symbol, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_shelter 

Left: The Advertisement Council 

produced this public service 

advertisement in 1953 which provided a 

list of basic first-aid items for people 

to have on hand in the event of a 

nuclear attack, National Archives and 

Administration website at: http://www.

archives.gov/education/history-day/

online.html

b

“We do not want a war. We do not know whether there will 

be war. But we know that forces hostile to us possess weapons 

that could destroy us if we were unready. These weapons 

create a new threat—radioactive fallout that can spread death 

anywhere.

That is why we must prepare.” 

 —The Family Fallout Shelter,

	 	 United States Office of Civil and Defense mobilization, 1959

“The shelter business is booming like a 25-megaton blast.” 

 —Popular Science, December, 1961

Above: Subterranean fallout shelter exhumed by the National Museum of American History (NMAH) 

from front lawn of private residence, Fort Wayne, Indiana. This 1955 steel shelter (originally 

manufactured by Martin Enterprises) contained four drop-down beds, a chemical pit toilet, and hand 

cranked air exchanger. (Original cost, including installation 15 feet below ground level: $1,800) 

In 1961, the unit was reinterred in the lawn because ground water had forced it to rise above the 

surface. Until November 2011, The excavated shelter was on display at the NMAH "Science in American 

Life" exhibition and staged with Cold War-era artifacts.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-a-falloutshelter-ended-up-at-the-american-history-museum-93448257/?no-ist
Cold War in Alaska



Selected Bibliography

The Cold War Nationally and Globally

A Brief History of NORAD. North American 

Aerospace Defense Command Office of 

History, 2012.

Archer, Clive. “The Nordic Area as a ‘Zone of 

Peace.” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 33, no. 4 

(Nov. 1996).

Arnold, James R., and Roberta Wiener, ed. Cold 

War: The Essential Reference Guide. Santa 

Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012.

Betts, Richard K. Military Readiness: Concepts, 

Choices, Consequences. Washington, D.C.: The 

Brookings Institution, 1995.

Bright, Christopher J. Continental Defense in the 

Eisenhower Era: Nuclear Arms and the Cold 

War. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 

2010. 

Department of State Vol. X, Part 1, FRUS, 1958–

60: E. Europe Region; Soviet Union, Office of 

the Historian, 147. https://www.mtholyoke.

edu/acad/intrel/u2.htm. Accessed June 2012.

Gaddis, John Lewis. The United States and the 

Origins of the Cold War, 1941- 1947. New 

York: Columbia University Press, 1972. 

Grant, Shelagh D. Polar Imperative: A History 

of Arctic Sovereignty in North America. 

Vancouver: D&M Publishers, 2010.

Higham, Robin, and Jacob Kipp. Soviet Aviation 

and Air Power: A Historical View. Boulder, 

CO: Westview Press, 1978 

Hillman, D.E., and R.C. Hall. “Overflight: 

Strategic Reconnaissance of the USSR.” Air 

Power History, vol. 43, no. 1 (1996), 28–39.

Hunt, Linda. Secret Agenda: The United States 

Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project 

Paperclip, 1945–1990. New York, NY: St. 

Martin’s Press, 1991.

Jensen, Kenneth M., ed. Origins of the Cold War: 

The Novikov, Kennan, and Roberts “Long 

Telegrams” of 1946. Washington, D.C.: 

United States Institute of Peace Press, 1993. 

Jockel, Joseph T. No Boundaries Upstairs: Canada, 

the United States and the Origins of North 

American Air Defense, 1945-1958. Vancouver: 

University of British Columbia Press, 1987. 

Kaplan, Fred. The Wizards of Armageddon. New 

York: Simon and Schuster, 1983. 

Kolb, Richard K., ed. Cold War Clashes: 

Confronting Communism, 1945–1991. 

Kansas City, MO: VFW Publications.

Mason, R.A., and John Taylor. “Long Range 

Aviation,” in Aircraft, Strategy and Operations 

of the Soviet Air Force. London: Jayne’s 

Publishing Ltd., 1986.

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Soviet Atomic Project.” The Nonproliferation 

Review, Summer 2000.

Osherenko, Gail and Young, Oran R. The Age of 

the Arctic: Hot Conflicts and Cold Realities. 

United Kingdom: Cambridge University 

Press, 1987.

Powers, Francis G. Operation Overflight: A 

Memoir of the U-2 Incident. Dulles, VA: 

Potomac Books, 2004.

Reed, Thomas C. At the Abyss: An Insider’s 

History of the Cold War. New York, NY: 

Ballantine Books, 2004. 

Reynolds, David. From World War to Cold War: 

Churchill, Roosevelt and the International 

History of the 1940s. London: Oxford 

University Press, 2006.

Safire, William. “The Cold War’s Hot Kitchen.” 

The New York Times, 23 August 2009. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/

opinion/24safire.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2. 

Accessed July 2012.

Schwartz, Richard Alan. The Cold War Reference 

Guide: A General History and Annotated 

Chronology, with Selected Biographies. 

Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 

1997.

Snead, David Lindsay. Eisenhower and the 

Gaither Report: The Influence of a Committee 

of Experts on National Security Policy in 

the Late 1950s. Doctoral Dissertation: 

Richmond, VA: University of Virginia, 1997.

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National Security Council by the Executive 

Secretary on United States Objectives and 

Programs for National Security, April 14, 1950

(NSC 68). National Security Council, 1975.
 

A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

This drawing of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) at Clear Air Force Station provides a visual explanation 

of how the BMEWS system was expected to work - radar and scanners would detect and track an incoming missile, predicting its 

impact as well as relaying the information to appropriate air defense centers outside of Alaska, Library of Congress, Historic 

American Buildings Survey, Clear Air Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site II, AK-30-A-100.

During the 1960s, the U.S. 

Air Force responded to the 

emerging threat of an intercontinental ballistic missile 

attack from the Soviet Union 

by implementing a new type 

of radar detection system. 

Three Ballistic Missile Early 

Warning System (BMEWS) sites 

were built: one in Greenland, 

one in the United Kingdom, and 

one at Clear, Alaska. Shown 

is the Tracking Radar radome 

under construction at Clear 

Air Force Station with crane 

assembly and workers, original 

radome, RCA Services Company 

2 October, 1965, Photographic 

Services, Riverton, NJ, negative no. A-6705; Library of 

Congress, Historic American 

Buildings Survey, Clear Air 

Force Station, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System 

Site II, AK-30-A-100. 

A

A

B

B

 Above and Below: (A): Tracking Radar; (B) Detection Radar.
Cold War in Alaska



Walker, Martin. The Cold War: A History. New 

York: Henry Holt & Co., 1994. 

Military Weapons of the Cold War

Edwards, Paul N. The Closed World: Computers 

and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War 

America. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997.

Green, Tom. Bright Boys: The Making of 

Information Technology. London: A.K. Peters 

Ltd., 2010.

Hancock, Lin. “DEW Line Updated: Electronic 

Sentinels Guard the North.” The Hour

(Norwalk, CT), 21 March 1991, 23. http://

news.google.com/newspapers?id=oAYhAA

AAIBAJ&sjid=gHYFAAAAIBA&pg=2966

,2840333&dq=early-warning+radar-site+toopen&hl=en. Accessed May 2014.

History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile 

Defense: Volume I, 1945-1955. Center of 

Military History, U.S. Army, 2009.

History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile 

Defense: Volume II, 1956-1972. Center of 

Military History, U.S. Army, 2009.

Jane’s Information Group. “Ground Radar/USA,” 

in Jane’s Weapons Systems 1971–72, 1989–90. 

Alexandria, VA: Jane’s Information Group, 

1971–72, 1989–90. 

Lemnios, William Z., and Alan A. Grometstein. 

“Overview of the Lincoln Laboratory Ballistic 

Missile Defense Program.” Lincoln Laboratory 

Journal, vol. 13, no. 1 (2002).

Lonnquest, John C. and David F. Winkler. To 

Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United 

States Cold War Missile Program. USACERL 

Special Report 97/01. Department of Defense 

Legacy Resource Management Program, 1996.

Naka, F. Robert, and William W. Ward. “Distant 

Early Warning Line Radars: The Quest for 

Automatic Signal Detection.” Lincoln 

Laboratory Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, 2000

Western Electric Corporation, “The DEW 

Line Story in Brief.” In Lackenbauer, P. 

Whitney, Matthew J. Farish and Jennifer 

Arthur-Lackenbauer. The Distant Early 

Warning (DEW) Line: A Bibliography and 

Documentary Resource List. Arctic Institute of 

North America, 2005,

Pagano, Rosanne. “Protecting Northern Skies.” 

Alaska Geographic, vol. 25, no. 4 (1998): 

43–60.

Price, Alfred. The History of U.S. Electronic 

Warfare, Volume I: The Years of Innovation 

- Beginnings to 1946. Washington, D.C.: 

Association of Old Crows, 1984.

Roberts, Sam. “In Archive, New Light on 

Evolution of Eisenhower Speech.” The New 

York Times, 10 December 2010. http://

www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/us/

politics/11eisenhower.html, accessed May 

2012.

Rosenberg, David Alan. “Origins of Overkill: 

Nuclear Weapons and American Strategy, 

1945-1960.” International Security, vol. 7, no. 

4 (Spring 1983), 3–71.

Soviet Military Power: An Assessment of the 

Threat, 1988 (Washington, DC: US 

Government Printing Office), 1988.

The Cold War in Alaska 

“Ace Card Exercises Draw the Troop Units.” 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 1975 Progress 

Edition, C-15.

Alaska’s Site Summit: Cold War Defense and its 

Legacy in the North. National Park Service, 

Teaching with Historic Places, 2014. http://

www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lesso

ns/153sitesummit/153sitesummit.htm. 

Allen, TSgt William J. Hunting the Soviet Bear: 

a study of Soviet Aircraft Intercepts near Alaska 

1961–1991. Elmendorf AFB, AK: Eleventh 

Air Force Office of History, Headquarters 

Eleventh Air Force, 1992. 

________. An Ace in the Hole: a study of Alaska’s 

Railmobile Command Post. Elmendorf 

AFB, Alaska: Eleventh Air Control Wing, 

Elmendorf Consolidated History Office, 1993. 

“Arctic Research Laboratory.” Washington, D.C.: 

Office of Naval Research, Department of the 

Navy, 1955.

Baker, Raymond T. A Special Study of the Sale 

of the White Alice Communication System. 

Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska: 1931st 

Communications Wing, Office of Air Force 

History, 1987. 
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

 

Bergeron, Noel L. “The Military Importance of 

Alaska and Its Role in the Future.” Alexandria, 

VA: Defense Technical Information Center, 

1971.

Britton, Max. “ONR Arctic Research 

Laboratory.” BioScience, vol. 14, no. 5, Arctic 

Biology (May 1964), 44–48.

Cloe, John Haile. Top Cover for America. 

Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories for the 

Anchorage Chapter, Air Force Association, 

1984. 

________. Top Cover and Global Engagement: A 

History of the Eleventh Air Force. Anchorage, 

AK: Alaska Quality Publishing, 2001. A 

condensed version of the above work, updated 

through the 1990s.

________. “The Legacy of War,” in Chandonnet, 

Fern, ed. Alaska at War, 1941–1945: The 

Forgotten War Remembered. Fairbanks, AK: 

University of Alaska Press, 2008, 393–398.

Cook, Herbert N. Shemya Island. Ardmore, PA: 

Dorrance & Company, 1980.

Dames & Moore. Gerstle River Expansion Area, 

Project Number F10AK098404. Huntsville, 

AL: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ordnance 

and Explosive Waste (OEW) MCS and 

Design Center, September 1994.

Defending Attack from the North: Alaska’s 

Forward Operating Bases During the Cold War. 

Argonne, IL and Anchorage, AK: Argonne 

National Laboratory and 611th Civil Engineer 

Squadron, n.d.

Denfeld, D. Colt. Nike Missile Defenses in Alaska: 

1958–1979. Anchorage, Alaska: U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, 1988. 

________. The White Alice Communications 

System. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska 

District, 2001.

“History of Ladd Air Force Base,” in Lt. Col. 

Courtland D. Sawtelle, USAF Info Services 

Officer, to Office of Information Services, 

HQ, 11th Air Division, Seattle. n.d.

Hummel, Laurel J. Alaska’s Militarized 

Landscape: The Unwritten Legacy of the Cold 

War. Doctoral Dissertation: Boulder, CO: 

University of Colorado, 2002.

________. “The U.S. Military as Geographical 

Agent: The Case of Cold War Alaska.” 

Geographical Review, vol. 95, no. 1 ( January 

2005), 47–72.

Johnson, William R. Testing Nuclear Power in 

Alaska: The Reactor at Fort Greely. Master’s 

Thesis. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska 

Fairbanks, 1993.

Klass, Philip J. “USAF Tracking Radar Details 

Disclosed,” in Aviation Week and Space 

Technology (25 October 1976), 41–46. 

Kohlhoff, Dean W. “Amchitka and the Bomb—

Nuclear Testing in Alaska” Seattle: University 

of Washington Press, 2002.

Kresge, David T., Morehouse, Thomas A., 

and Rogers, George W. Issues in Alaska 

Development. Seattle: University of 

Washington Press, 1977. 

Kursh, Harry. This is Alaska. Englewood Cliffs, 

NJ: Prentice Hall, 1961.

La Fay, Howard. “DEW Line: Sentry of the Far 

North,” in National Geographic Magazine

( July 1958), 129–¬146. 

Mighetto, Lisa, and Carla Homstad. Engineering 

in the Far North: A History of the U.S. Army 

Engineer District in Alaska. Missoula, MT: 

Historical Research Associates, 1997.

“Muskeg Training Put to Test in Viet Nam.” 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Progress Edition, 

17 March 1966, C-28.

Naske, Claus-M., and Herman E. Slotnick. 

Alaska: A History of the 49th State. Norman, 

OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. 

News Release, “U.S. Army, Canadians Participate 

in Jack Frost 76.” United States Air Force, 

Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command, n.d. 

Nielson, Jonathan M. Armed Forces on a Northern 

Frontier: the Military in Alaska’s History. 

Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 

1988. 

O’Neill, Dan. The Firecracker Boys. New York: St. 

Martin’s Griffin, 1995.

Pamphlet 360-5, Building Alaska with the U.S. 

Army, 1867–1965. Headquarters, U.S. Army, 

Alaska, 1 October 1965.

“Part of Blair Lakes Training Briefing.” n.d., ca. 

1975. Elmendorf History Office, Drawer 11. 

Folder: Correspondence, Blair Lakes Range.
Cold War in Alaska



Reynolds, Georgeanne Lewis. Historical Overview 

and Inventory: White Alice Communications 

System. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, 1988. 

Reed, John C. “The Story of the Naval Arctic 

Research Laboratory.” Arctic, vol. 22, 

no. 3 (1969), 177–183. http://arctic.

synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/

article/view/3211/3187. Accessed May 2014.

 “Resupply of Fletcher’s Island,” in History of 

Alaskan Air Command, July-December 1952. 

Elmendorf AFB, AK.

Rogers, George W. The Future of Alaska: 

Economic Consequences of Statehood. 

Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press, 1962. 

Ruhl, Robert K. “In the Day of the Dane” in 

Airman Magazine ( June 1977):41-48. 

Schaffel, Kenneth. The Emerging Shield: The Air 

Force and the Evolution of the Continental 

Air Defense, 1945–1960. Washington D.C.: 

Office of Air Force History, 1991. 

“A short history of Ft. Greely and the Arctic Test 

Center.” The Arctician, vol. 3 October 1975.

 “State Military Forces Keep Pace.” Fairbanks Daily 

News-Miner, 1967 Progress Edition, D-20.

U.S. Senate. Preparedness Subcommittee of the 

Committee on Armed Services of the United 

States Senate. Report of the Alaskan Task 

Force (82nd Congress, 1st Session, Doc. 10). 

Washington: Government Printing Office, 1951.

Western Electric Company. The DEW line Story. 

Western Electric Company, 1957. 

Western Electric Company. White Alice. Western 

Electric Company, 1957.

White, Ken. World in Peril: The Origin, Mission 

and Scientific Findings of the 46th/72nd 

Reconnaissance Squadron. Elkhart, Indiana: 

K.W. White and Associates, 1994. 

Williams, James W. History of the Military Airfield 

at Nome, Alaska. Tustin, CA, March 1999.

Cold War Military Historic Properties 

and Contexts

The Cold War Historic Context of Fort Wainwright 

and Ladd Air Force Base, 1946–1991. 

Anchorage, AK: CH2MHill, Inc., and 

Northern Land Use Research, Inc., July 2007.

Denfeld, D. Colt. The Cold War in Alaska: A 

Management Plan for Cultural Resources. 

Anchorage, AK: U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers, 1994. 

Hedman, William, and Charles Diters. The Legacy 

of Project Chariot. Anchorage, AK: Bureau 

of Indian Affairs Alaska Region Regional 

Archeology, n.d.

Hoffecker, John F., Mandy Whorton, and Casey 

R. Buechler. “Cold War Historic Properties 

of the 21st Space Wing, Air Force Space 

Command.” Paper presented at the Cold War 

Workshop, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 

January 10–11, 1996. 

Hollinger, Kristy. The Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline. 

Fort Collins, CO: Center of Environmental 

Management of Military Lands, Colorado 

State University, 2003.

Hollinger, Kristy. Nike Hercules Operations in 

Alaska: 1959–1979. Conservation Branch, 

Directorate of Public Works, U.S. Army 

Garrison Alaska, July 2004.

Mobley, Charles M. Historical Overview and 

Architectural Inventory of Fort Greely, Delta 

Junction, Alaska. Anchorage, AK: Charles M. 

Mobley Associates, 1998.

Price, Kathy. Northern Defenders: Cold War 

Context of Ladd Air Force Base, Fairbanks, 

Alaska, 1947–1961. Fort Collins, CO: Center 

of Environmental Management of Military 

Lands, Colorado State University, 2001.

Price, Kathy. Tracking the Unthinkable: The 

Donnelly Flats MIDAS Ground Station and 

the Early Development of Space Warning 

Systems, 1959-1967, Fort Wainright Donnelly 

training Area, Alaska. Fort Collins, CO: 

Center of Environmental Management of 

Military Lands, Colorado State University, 

2006.

Shanks, Mary K., and Jennifer Grayburn. Cold 

Weather Testing in Alaska: 1940–1970. Fort 

Collins, CO: Center for the Environmental 

Management of Military Lands, Colorado 

State University, 2012.

“Site Summit Retention Plan, Fort Richardson, 

Alaska.” Anchorage, AK: CH2M Hill, 

August 2010.
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

 

Thompson, Gail and Werner, Robert. DEW 

Line: The Alaska Segment. Determination 

of Eligibility for the National Register of 

Historic Places. Documentation, on file at the 

office of History and Archaeology, Anchorage, 

Alaska, 1986. 

Waddell, Karen. Cold War Historical Context 

1951–1991: Fort Richardson, Alaska; United 

States Army Alaska. Fort Collins, CO: Center 

of Environmental Management of Military 

Lands, Colorado State University, March 

2003.

Whorton, Mandy, Gustavious Williams, 

and Alan M. Alpert. History of Alaska’s 

Forward Operating Bases (FOBs): The Soviet 

Bomber Threat and North American Air 

Defenses during the Cold War. Argonne, IL: 

Environmental Assessment Division, Argonne 

National Laboratory, April 2001.

Winkler, David F. “Searching the Skies: The 

Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense 

Radar Program.” United States Air Force 

Headquarters Air Combat Command, 1997.

Miscellaneous

Capps, Kris. “Clear Air Force Station Turns 

50.” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 8 August 

2011. http://www.newsminer.com/view/

full_story/14982917/article-Clear-Air-ForceStation-turns-50. Accessed 4 May 2012.

Cole, Terrence. Fighting for the 49th Star: 

C.W. Snedden and the Crusade for Alaska 

Statehood. Fairbanks, AK: University of 

Alaska Foundation, 2010.

Gunston, William. “Russian Bombers 

Complete 16-hour Arctic Patrol.” Flying, 

September 1977, 263, in Ria Novosti 

(Russian International News Agency), 

30 Jan. 2012. http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_

news/20120130/171032114.html. Accessed 

May 2012.

 “Nome’s Iconic Cold War Radar Towers 

May Soon Be History.” Anchorage Daily 

News, 12 July 2010. http://www.adn.

com/2010/07/12/1363488/nomes-iconicradar-towers-may.html#storylink=misearch. 

Accessed July 2012.

White Alice Communications site under construction at Cold Bay, Alaska, September 6, 1957.

Leland A. Olson papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

The White Alice Communication System (WACS) consisted of 

71 radio stations constructed across Alaska between 1955 

and the late 1960s. WACS was the backbone of communications between DEW Line stations, Forward Operating Bases, 

and BMEWS sites and command and control centers for 

nearly 20 years. It was a tropospheric scatter communications network, meaning that radio signals were transmitted 

into the uppermost part of the troposphere about seven 

miles up where they scattered and bounced back to earth. 

Receiving stations hundreds of miles away would pick up 

the signals and retransmit them.
Cold War in Alaska



Websites

Air Defense Radar Museum. http://www.

radomes.org/museum/.

The Cold War Museum. http://www.coldwar.org/

index.asp.

Friends of Nike Site Summit. http://www.

nikesitesummit.net./

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Library. http://

www.jber.af.mil/library/index.asp.

Moose Creek Nike Site. http://www.a-2-562.org/.

National Archives and Records Administration, 

On-line Resources for topics including the 

Cold War, http://archives.gov/education/

history-day/online/html.

National Museum of the Air Force. http://www.

nationalmuseum.af.mil/.

Nike-Hercules Alaska. http://www.nikealaska.

org/.

Nike Historical Society. http://nikemissile.org/.

Websites

View of data and analysis 

console showing clock 

and missile impact 

predictor time. Located 

in transmitter building 

no. 102 at the Clear Air 

Force Station, Ballistic 

Missile Early Warning 

System (BMEWS), ca. 

2001, Library of Congress, 

Historic American 

Engineering Survey, HAER 

AK-30-A-35.

The AN/FPS-108 COBRA DANE radar system on Shemya Island 

became operational in 1977 and with numerous upgrades 

continues to operate. During the Cold War the COBRA DANE 

Radar system carried out three critical missions: data 

collection for ballistic missile treaty verification, early 

warning, and space surveillance. Amazingly, while COBRA 

DANE has undergone various hardware and software upgrades, 

the radar front end, as pictured here October 23, 1984, has 

not been replaced, USAF Photograph, http://commons.wikimedia.

org/wiki/File%3ACobra_ Dane_security_patrol.jpg
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

 

Repositories

Repositories

Alaska’s Digital Archives. Alaska’s Digital Archives 

is an online source of digital photos, interviews, 

and videos on topics relating to Alaska’s history. 

http://vilda.alaska.edu/index.php.

Alaska Resource Library & Information Services 

(ARLIS). ARLIS is located on the University 

of Alaska Anchorage campus adjacent to the 

Consortium Library. It is a major repository 

for reports from government agencies located 

in Alaska. The collection may be searched via 

their website, http://www.arlis.org/.

Alaska State Library. The Alaska State Library, 

located in Juneau, is a repository of digital and 

physical sources available online or through 

interlibrary loan. The collection may be searched 

via their website, http://library.alaska.gov/.

Elmendorf AFB history office, 10427 Kuter 

Avenue, Suite 320, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. 

The Elmendorf history office is responsible 

for recording annual histories, maintaining an 

archive of previous histories and responding 

to requests for information from service 

members and the general public. Their 

research dates back to 1867 when the United 

States bought Alaska from the Russians and 

established a military government over the 

territory. Requests may be made by contacting 

the office at (907) 552-9768.

Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED). 

SLED was developed by the Alaska State Library 

and the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University 

of Alaska Fairbanks to provide easy access to 

electronic information. It may be accessed via the 

SLED website, http://sled.alaska.edu/.

UAA Consortium Library Archives & Special 

Collections Department. The Archives and 

Special Collections Department is located 

on the third floor of the Consortium Library 

in Room 305, on the University of Alaska 

Anchorage campus. The Department has a 

large collection of Alaska Cold War documents 

on topics including the DEW Line, White 

Alice Communication system, BMEWs, and 

the Alaska Air Command. The collection 

may be searched via their website, http://

consortiumlibrary.org/archives/index.php. 

Soldiers with arms marching in Fur Rendezvous parade on 4th Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska, February 22, 1958. 

Leland A. Olson papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage, photograph.
Cold War in Alaska



Selected Topics in Alaska Cold War History

Alaska, Siberia Friendship Flight

Alaska Statehood and the Cold War

Amchitka Underground Nuclear Testing

Arctic Ice Islands

Ballistic Missile Early Warning (BMEW) radar

Cold Weather Testing

Cold Weather Training

Arctic Engineering

Cool Barge Resupply Operations

Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line

Early Cold War Aerial Reconnaissance and Polar 

Navigation Missions

Eskimo Scouts

Nike Hercules Missile in Alaska

Project Chariot

Shoot Down of Korean Air Lines 007

U.S. Air Force Medical Experiments on Alaska 

Natives

Selected topics in Cold War History

A February 19, 1966 award ceremony, as described in the photograph caption, "Eskimo Scouts received awards Saturday 

from Alaska Governor William A. Egan (left). Gov. Egan prepares to present the Eisenhower trophy for the state's most 

outstanding National Guard unit to Sgt. George Whitman, Mekoryuk, representing Co. B, 2nd Scout Battalion. Also receiving 

awards were 1st Sgt. Theodore Booth, Kotzebue, for the outstanding training record set by Co. C, 1st Scout Battalion; 

Sgt. Albert V. Lee, Nome, the Brigadier General John R. Noyes medal as outstanding member of the 1st Scout Battalion; 

and PFC George Neck, Kasigluk, Noyes medal as outstanding member of the 2nd Scout Battalion. Presentations were made 

during the annual Governor's Day review by 1st and 2nd Scout Battalions, 297th Infantry, Alaska National Guard, at Fort 

Richardson." 

U.S. Army photograph, William A. Egan papers, UAF-1985-120-474, Archives, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

 

Nike Site Summit 

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska

Restricted Access. For tours, contact Friends of Nike Site Summit at: http://www.nikesitesummit.net/

Alaska’s Site Summit: Cold War Defense and its Legacy in the North Teaching with Historic Places lesson plan: 

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/153sitesummit/153sitesummit.htm

Nike Missile Site SF88

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California - http://www.

nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htm

The Nike Historical Society; http://www.nikemissile.org/

ColdWar/whatwehave/

HM69 Nike Missile Base

Everglades National Park, Florida; http://www.nps.gov/ever/

historyculture/hm69.htm

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

South Dakota - http://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm

The Minuteman was one of the most significant strategic weapons 

in U.S. history. With the turn of a key, the missile could deliver its 

nuclear weapon to a Soviet target in 30 minutes or less. For nearly 

three decades Ellsworth’s 44th Missile Wing stood on alert. Today, 

visitors are invited to learn about the Cold War and to tour the 

Launch Facility Delta-09.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site: Protecting a Legacy of the Cold War Teaching with Historic Places 

lesson plan: http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/128mimi/

Titan Missile Museum

Arizona - http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/index.php?pg=1

Air Force Facility Missile Site 8 National Historic Landmark

Between 1963 and 1987, 54 Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) complexes were constructed and 

placed “on alert.” Designed to survive a first-strike nuclear attack and to launch warheads, these weapons 

were America’s response to the “missile gap” panic of the late 1950s and early 1960s. This museum complex 

displays aboveground and belowground command and control facilities, the silo, and the sole remaining 

Titan II missile.

Air Force Space and Missile Museum

 Cape Canaveral, Florida; http://afspacemuseum.org/

Learn More

Nike Site Summit, 2011, Darrell Lewis, 

National Park Service photograph.

Blast door, as painted by Air Force personnel, 

at the Launch Control Facility, Ellsworth Air 

Force Base, Delta Flight, Library of Congress, 

Historic Engineering Survey, HAER SD-50-A-87.
U.S. National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

Mural of a Nike Hercules missile with U.S. flag (no longer extant) at Site Summit. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Office of 

History and Archaeology, 2000.