Cape Field at Fort Glenn Cape Field at Fort Glenn also known as Fort Glenn Army Airbase , is a site significant for its role in World War II fighting . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987 . History . Origins . Because of the perceived vulnerability of Alaska immediately following the Pearl Harbor Attack , additional Army Air Corps units were authorized by General Henry H . Arnold for Alaska and plans were made to send modern aircraft to the Territory to replace the obsolete aircraft assigned . However the Alaskan Air Force had few airfields to accommodate the additional aircraft and units being assigned . Along with new airfields on the mainland and Southwest Alaska , new air bases were planned for the air defense of the Aleutians to Dutch Harbor . Construction of the new bases on Umnak and Cold Bay began in January 1942 in secret , with construction reportedly disguised as a cannery . The first United States Army engineers laded at what would become Fort Glenn Army Air Base on 17 January and construction began by the end of the month . A Naval airfied , Otter Point Naval Air Facility was adjacent to the Army Airbase . The 807th Engineering Battalion ( Aviation ) was brought in from Yukat to perform the construction along with a detachment of the Navy Seabee 8th Construction Battalion . Plans called for three hard - surfaced runways ( four were eventually built ) , however time was of the essence in the construction of the base , as the air defense of Dutch Harbor was dependent on them . Instead of a hard surface , engineers chose to use a new material , Pierced Steel Planking ( PSP ) , which could be laid down quickly over a compressed gravel subsurface to provide the airfield with an all - weather capability . There were 80 , 000 pieces of matting which needed to be barged to the island . Construction crews worked in three shifts , 24 hours a day laying down the runways and constructing a rudimentary support station , water and sewer lines , an electrical grid , communications , fuel and munitions storage sites and all the other necessities to convert a remote island site into an operational airfield capable of supporting heavy bombers . A 5 , 000 ' PSP runway was completed on 5 April although a C - 53 was first plane to land on the field was on 31 March . The main runway was officially opened on 23 May . Fort Glenn ' s first runway was then the U . S . Army ' s most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands . " The first operational unit , the 11th Fighter Squadron , moved into Fort Glenn with P - 40 Warhawk fighters on 26 May from Elmendorf Field . Additional construction continued throughout 1942 with four 5 ' 000 x 175 foot runways were completed ( 06 / 24 , 07 / 35 ) , two of which ( 03 / 21 , 04 / 22 ) were situated only 10 degrees apart . All runways had four layers of asphalt laid down over the PSP . Two additional emergency landing fields were built , one on the north coast of the island ( North Shore ) , 9 . 4 miles north ; the other 7 . 7 miles to the west - southwest of the base near the Tullk Volcano ( Pacifier ) . Morrison - Knudsen Construction Company built hundreds of Quonset hut structures on the base , replacing the temporary tents which exposed the construction crews to the sudden storms which swept the island frequently . Housing & messing facilities for 119 officers & 359 men were constructed as well as recreational and service buildings . Storage facilities consisted of 6 , 975 square feet for general stores & a 150 - cubic - foot freezer . Buildings for aircraft included a kodiak - type hangar , 160 ' x 90 ' , a squadron warehouse , and a terminal for air transport service . Administration offices were housed in 5 buildings with a total floor space of 3 , 850 square feet . Radio facilities included a transmitting station , a direction - finder station , and a radar station , all with separate power houses & with housing & messing provisions for personnel . The hospital , located in one small building , contained 8 beds . The maintenance force of the station was installed in 7 buildings . Electric power was provided by 3 diesel - electric generators . Aleutian Islands Campaign . 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 , however 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 PBY s , snd 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 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 : 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 Island s in early 1943 farther to the west . By the end of the year , the base had become a backwater ; it ' s mission to provide housing and rations for transient personnel and the servicing of transient aircraft . Closure . After the war ended , Fort Glenn remained open as a refueling stop for transient aircraft in the Aleutians along with Military Air Transport Service flights using the Great Circle Route from Japan to the United States . The main runway , however was extended to 8 , 300 ' to accommodate large , long range aircraft . By 1946 , the base was manned only by skeleton staff due to the rapid demobilization of the Air Force . The last Air Force personnel were withdrawn by 30 September 1947 , and the base was put on inactive status and was effectively abandoned . It was decommissioned in 1950 and the site was excessed between 1952 - 55 to the Bureau of Land Management . It was later transferred to numerous owners ( Native corporations & the State of Alaska ) . Today hundreds of buildings , runways , and World War II artillery emplacements remain in various states of deterioration . " In 1987 , the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Cape Field at Fort Glenn . The remains of the base are " the most comprehensive and intact World War II base in the Aleutian Islands " It is located on Umnak Island in the Aleutian Islands . Today Fort Glenn AAF is a virtual ghost town — except for a family of cattle ranchers who have renovated several World War II buildings and who call the base home . The expanse and undisturbed quality of the resource make Fort Glenn AAF an outstanding conceptual model for landscape preservation . In 1991 , National Park Service historians visited the site to review the World War II - related construction , infrastructure , landscape , and objects . It was determined that any environmental cleanup should be designed to remove loose cables , transformers , hazardous material , toxic waste , and ordnance . Nontoxic World War II - related objects such as empty barrels could be left in place ; full barrels would be , of course , another issue . All other buildings , structures , and infrastructure — no matter how " unsightly " — would be left intact and preserved : in this case preservation can simply mean avoidance and the acceptance that the buildings and structures have a definite place within the landscape . On Saturday July 12 , 2008 , nearby Mount Okmok , erupted , sending ash 50 , 000 feet in the air and forcing the evacuation of the residents of the ranch . The eruption obliterated all remains of the South Pacifier Emergency landing strip , although some evidence of remains still are visible in aerial imagery .