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. Originally, the equipment was supposed to construct
McGrath Army Airbase, but the ground had frozen by the time that the equipment arrived. The first United States Army engineers landed at what would become
Fort Glenn Army Air Base on 17 January and construction began by the end of the month. A Naval airfield,
Naval Air Facility Otter Point, 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. Fort Glenn's first runway was then the
U.S. Army's most westerly airfield in the Aleutian Islands."
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 and messing facilities for 119 officers and 359 men were constructed as well as recreational and service buildings. Storage facilities consisted of 6,975 square feet for general stores and a 150-cubic-foot freezer. Buildings for aircraft included a kodiak-type hangar, x , a squadron warehouse, and a terminal for air transport service. Administration offices were housed in five 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, and with housing and messing provisions for personnel. The hospital, located in one small building, contained eight beds. The maintenance force of the station was installed in seven buildings. Electric power was provided by three diesel-electric generators. 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 and the State of Alaska). Today hundreds of buildings, runways, and World War II artillery emplacements remain in various states of deterioration." ==See also==