Aleutians campaign The
Aleutian Islands Campaign was not considered a priority by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in late 1942. British
Prime Minister Churchill stated that sending forces to attack the Japanese presence there was a diversion from the
North African Campaign and Admiral
Chester Nimitz saw it as a diversion from his operations in the Central Pacific. Commanders in Alaska, however, believed the Japanese presence in the Aleutians a threat to the
United States West Coast and once the islands were again in United States hands, forward bases could be established to attack
Japan from there. The establishment of
Adak Army Airfield (Code Name A-2) in August 1942 gave the U.S. Army Air Forces a forward base from which to attack the Japanese forces on Kiska Island. Amchitka Island, being only 50 miles from Kiska and within range of occupied Attu Island was the next step in the American advance. Despite facing difficult weather conditions and continual bombing attacks from the Japanese, Army engineers managed to build a runway. As more troops were landed, heavy construction equipment was brought ashore. Frozen lakes were drained and the gravel scraped from their beds was used to lay down the bed for the runway. Navy Seabees also arrived and began to construct the harbor and dock facilities. Finally on 16 February, the construction of the runway at Amchitka (Code Name A-3) had progressed to the point where light fighters could be brought in.
18th Fighter Squadron P-40 Warhawks began to arrive from Adak and surprised the Japanese by launching counter-attacks to their raids from Kiska. Two Japanese light bombers were shot down over the airfield in full view of the construction engineers. In addition to the P-40s, several
P-38 Lightnings arrived. With its establishment, the Alaska Command was now away from their target,
Kiska. The military eventually built numerous buildings, roads, and a total of three airstrips on the island, some of which would later be renovated and used by the
Atomic Energy Commission in the 1960s. At its peak, the occupancy of Amchitka Army Airfield reached 15,000 troops. Most combat squadrons were withdrawn by early 1944, the 11th Fighter Squadron becoming the headquarters garrison of the base until the end of the war. The mission of Amchitka AAB was that of a communications facility and also refueling for support and combat aircraft headed to and from
Alexai Point Army Airfield on Attu and
Shemya Army Airfield where long-range B-24 Liberator bombing attacks were carried out on
Sakhalin and the
Kuril Islands of northern Japan.
Amchitka Air Force Base On 1 July 1947 the Aleutian Section of
Alaskan Air Command was inactivated and Amchitka AAF was reassigned to
Strategic Air Command. Under SAC control, the field's mission was to provide refueling to SAC long range aircraft and to
Air Transport Command (Later
MATS) cargo flights between
Japan and the
Continental United States. The base also compiled data by the 11th Weather Squadron,
Air Weather Service, and assisted in Air Rescue and Recovery missions. The base had one
C-47 permanently assigned. It was re designated
Amchitka Air Force Base with the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947. SAC Operations ceased at Amchitka in February 1949 when the base was put into a caretaker status. On 31 December 1949 the base was closed due to insufficient personnel and staff. The Army closed its communications facility at Amchitka in August 1950. On 31 December 1950 the 2107th Air Weather Group pulled the last of its personnel out of Amchitka and the facility was abandoned. The site later hosted an Air Force
White Alice telecommunication system in 1959 to 1961, and a temporary relay station in the 1960s and 1970s. ==Current status==