page_title: Fort Glenn Army Air Base
section_title: Aleutian Islands campaign
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Glenn Army Air Base / History / Aleutian Islands campaign
caption_attribution_description: English: 11th Fighter Squadron P-40 Warhawks at Fort Glenn Army Air Base, Alaska, June 1942
context_page_description: Cape Air Force Base also known as Fort Glenn Army Air Base, is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting, operating alongside Otter Point Naval Air Facility.
  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 as Cape Field at Fort Glenn.
context_section_description: On 3 June 1942 the Imperial Japanese Navy launched two aircraft carrier raids on the United States Army barracks and the US Navy base at Dutch Harbor on nearby Amaknak Island. The attack was a surprise, but the base been on alert for an attack for many days, although there was no specific warning of the attack before the Japanese planes arrived over Dutch Harbor. The attack signaled the beginning of the Aleutian Islands campaign. In response, the P-40s of the 11th Fighter Squadron from Fort Glenn AAB along with Naval land-based fighters attacked the Japanese aircraft. Eleventh Air Force also dispatched aircraft from Elmendorf Field. In the ensuring battle, the United States Navy lost four PBYs, and Eleventh AF lost one B-17, two B-26s and one LB-30 (B-24A) bombers and two P-40 fighters. The Japanese lost two A6M "Zero" fighters, and possibly a third due to ground anti-aircraft fire. One A6M "Zero", three D3A "Val" dive bombers and one E8N "Dave"reconnaissance seaplane were shot down in aerial combat.
  Eleventh Air Force also dispatched B-26 Marauder medium bombers of the 77th Bombardment Squadron. They arrived at about noon to locate the Japanese aircraft carriers and counterattack; however, they landed at Fort Glenn about 1:30pm due to fog and low visibility. The Marauders were carrying airborne torpedoes, rather than contact bombs which they were designed to carry. In addition to the Dutch Harbor attack, Japanese forces landed on Kiska Island on 6 June; Attu Island on 7 June, seizing both.
  The Japanese attacks on Dutch Harbor, however, inflicted only minor damage on the base, which were quickly repaired. The mission of Fort Glen Army Air Base was changed to serve as the initial forward base to launch bombing attacks against the Japanese forces in the Aleutians. Known Air Force units deployed to Fort Glenn were:
  
  
   
  28th Bombardment Group
  21st Bombardment Squadron, LB-30 Liberator
  Assigned to Hamilton Field, California, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning 11 June 1942
  Assigned to Fort Glenn AAB, 3 September 1942-19 September 1943
  36th Bombardment Squadron, B-17E Flying Fortress, LB-30 Liberator
  Assigned to Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning 4 June 1942-1 May 1943
  73d Bombardment Squadron, B-25 Mitchell
  Assigned to Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning June 1942
  Assigned to Fort Glenn AAB, April–June 1943
  77th Bombardment Squadron, B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder
  Assigned to Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning 30 May-3 October 1942
  404th Bombardment Squadron, B-24 Liberator
  Assigned to Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning 24 August-13 September 1942
   
  343d Fighter Group
  11th Fighter Squadron, P-40 Warhawk
  Assigned to Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning 26 May–June 1942
  Assigned to Fort Glenn AAB, June 1942-20 February 1943
  54th Fighter Squadron, P-40 Warhawk
  Assigned to Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory, TDY to Fort Glenn AAB beginning 6 June-19 September 1942
  344th Fighter Squadron, P-40 Warhawk
  Assigned to Fort Glenn AAB, 8 March-23 May 1943
   
  By the close of 1942, Fort Glenn AAB had 10,579 personnel assigned, but its role as an advanced air base had been supplanted by new air bases on Adak and Amchitka Islands in early 1943 farther to the west.  By the end of the year, the base had become a backwater; its mission  to provide housing and rations for transient personnel and the servicing of transient aircraft.
caption: 11th Fighter Squadron P-40 Warhawks at Fort Glenn AAB, June 1942
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