page_title: Alaskan Air Command
section_title: Arctic Drift Stations
hierarchical_section_title: Alaskan Air Command / History / Cold War / Arctic Drift Stations
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign at USAF Drift Station T-3, 1950s
context_page_description: Alaskan Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command originally established in 1942 under the United States Army Air Forces. Its mission was to organize and administer the air defense system of Alaska, exercise direct control of all active measures, and coordinate all passive means of air defense. In addition, the command also supported Strategic Air Command elements operating through and around Alaska. It was redesignated Eleventh Air Force on 9 August 1990 and, concurrently, status changed from a major command of the United States Air Force to a subordinate organization of Pacific Air Forces.
context_section_description: From 1946 to 1961, the Air force engaged in observations of polar ice pack phenomena which resulted in the support of three major manned ice stations. In August 1946, a SAC WB-29 flying over the Arctic noticed what appeared to be an island where no known land existed. Subsequent investigations determined that it was a floating mass of ice which closely resembled an island. It became known as "Target X", later designated "T-1". T-1 was monitored for three years, as it drifted over 1,500 miles and finally disappeared near Greenland in 1949.
  The Russians had begun drift station research a decade earlier. In 1937, they undertook scientific experiments from a drifting ice station near the North Pole, and they had followed that up after the war with an accelerated program of ice pack investigations.
  In July 1950, "T-2" was spotted about 300 miles south of the North Pole. About a week later "T-3" was spotted 300 miles east of the Soviet Wrangel Island as it drifted towards the North Pole. After studies and testing of proposed Ice Station research north of Point Barrow, in March 1952, a C-47 was landed successfully on T-3. During the 1950s, the Ice Station established there hosted joint military-civilian scientific parties during several lengthy occupations under "Project Icicle". Under Project Ice Skate, the station was used again during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957–58 and beyond. Over the years, T-3 drifted across the Arctic basin, leaving the zone of AAC support periodically, and occasionally drifting close to Soviet waters across the International Date Line.
  During the IGY, when T-3 had drifted to Greenland, two other stations were established in the western Arctic as pack ice stations. Ice Station Alpha was occupied from 1957-late 1958. When it began to break up, crews established a new station the following spring. Known as Ice Station Charlie, it lasted ten months before meeting the same fate. In 1961, USAF ended its sponsorship of ice station research, turning its remaining facilities on T-3 over to the Navy.
caption: Welcome sign at Drift Station "T-3", about 1960.
exif: {"Image Make": "HP", "Image Model": "HP ojp7700", "Image XResolution": "200", "Image YResolution": "200", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 12.01", "Image DateTime": "2011:03:25 18:06:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ReferenceBlackWhite": "[0, 255, 128, 255, 128, 255]", "Image ExifOffset": "274", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "200", "Thumbnail YResolution": "200", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1112", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2797", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:03:25 18:04:34", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1318", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "694", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "\u0002\u0002\u0002\u0002", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[3, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "970", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF DeviceSettingDescription": "[1, 0, 19, 0, 32, 32, 32, 48, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 55, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 56, ... ]"}