doing so is now based in Alaska,
although the Air Force does have
100 planes at Eielson Field, 26
their millions of slave laborers are
miles from Fairbanks and known
until recently as Mile 26.
It has a strip wrom which it
could launch B-36s carrying atom
bombs. Whether or not it has the
atom bombs in Alaska is question
able. Momentarily, at least, the
question is academic because the
Air Force has no B-36s, although
presumably such planes could be
moved there quickly in case of
need.
The 20,000 officers and men are
spread over Alaska’s 586,400 for
bidding square miles—one-fifth
of the area of the United States—
from Point Barrow down to the
chain of volcanic islands that is
tipped by Attu.
The majority are in the Yukon
Valley, around Anchorage and
Fairbanks, for that is the part of
the country mose valuable mil;
tarily. They are there primarily
to keep the Army and Air Force
installations open in case of war.
They also do rescue work, en
gage in research on cold weather
equipment, gather weather data,
operate long-range radar stations,
and learn how to stay alive at the
Arctic Polar Indoctrination Sch »ol
in Nome.
Red Enigma: Occasionally, units
come in from the outside to con
duct maneuvers. The Russians are
uncomfortably close. The Alaska
mainland is separated from Siberia
by only 58 miles of the Bering
Strait. Midway in the Bering Strait
is Little Diomede Island, which is
owned by the United States. Fly
ing over it pilots can look down
on Big Diomede, which is owned
by the Russians and is only 2
miles away.
Precisely what forces the Russ
ians have assembled in Siberia
no one can say, except, of course,
the Russians themselves. American
MINERS & MERCHANTS
BANK OF ALASKA
NOME :: ALASKA
JESSIE McCRARY
Alaska Representative of
SE ARS- ROEBUCK and Co.
Will he in Nome for one week begin
ning April 21 thru April 27tli.
She will be happy to help you with your
ordering problems; give you information as to
availability of merchandise; help you with any
ordering of unlisted items.
Why not let her help you?
Wallace Hotel Nome, Alaska
fc a
Experienced Legislator Proven Ability
, , . 1
* . '
Re-elect
_ . ■■ V . ,v 1
HOWARD LYNG
a
To The
fc ■ *
> ALASKA SENATE
• ,
*
l'
Alaska Bom and Raised University Graduate
. •
intelligence has been very skimpy
although the Army is now trying
to recruit Eskimos for this work.
Some Alaskan and Siberian Es
kimos are related and, having
strong family ties, visit back and
forth across Bering Strait. There
have been reports that Russia is
building a powerful military base
in the Komandorski Islands about
225 miles from Attu. The Red
submarine which two C-47 pilots
saw speeding out of Kiska Har
bor recently is believed to have
come from there.
The Russians now control Para
mushiru, formerly an important
Japanese base and within 740 miles
of Attu. They also control the
rest of the Kurile Islands, which
extend down to Japan and contain!
many former Japanese air and j
naval installations and fortifica
tions.
Nor have the Russians them
selves been idle. The majority of
working in Siberia.
The reason for the failure of
the United States to do more tD
protect Alaska has not been that
Alaska is unimportant to national
defense. On the contrary, if the j
Russians should capture air bases i
in Alaska, they could launch bomb-1
ing attacks up and down the Pac
ific Coast. They have the bomb
I ers for it, modeled after the Am
erican B-29, and Seattle is only
1,326 miles from Anchorage.
Defensively, Alaska would en
able the United States to flank
any thrust at the Pacific Coast.
Offensively, it constitutes an im
! portant base from which the Un
ited States could immediately hit
j back if the Russians were to at
| tack this country. In addition, the
Army is working on guided mis
1 siles. With them it could strike ac
ross the Arctic Circle into the very
' heart of Russia, lambasting it from
Murmansk to Vladivostok. Mur
mansk is 2,500 miles away, Vladi
vostok 3,000, and Moscow 3,500.
The Why of Weakness: If two
regimental combat teams could
make Alaska impregnable, why
has the United States Army not
provided for them? The reason
is partly economic, partly logistic.
The combat teams might be able
, to hold Alaska, but Alaska couldn’t
| hold the combat teams. The Alas
kan Command couldn’t provide
them with housing facilities and
couldn’t keep them fed and equip
ped.
If the Army sent in tanks, the
Alaskan Command couldn’t keep
them supplied with gasoline un
i less it grounded some planes. Al
, aska has almost no industry, nor
: does it produce enough to feed
i its population. Everything would
have to come in from the States—
the steel, concrete, and wood for
the combat teams’ barracks, the
food and the gas and oil they con
sumed,
Alaska has only two ports open
the year round, one at Seward,
the other at Whittier. The Whit
tier port is built in a small glacial
filled ravine hardly large enough
to hold the men who work there.
Winds as high as 70 miles an hour
are not uncommon, and snow and
rain are almost continuous. The
snowfall so far this winter has
been 380 inches.
The only railroad in Alaska
consists of 470 miles of single
standard-gauge track from Seward
into the interior. The rolling stock
is wreched and the roadbed worse.
It has numerous curves and steep
grades. The drainage is poor and
deep cuts alofig the way frequent
ly become choked with snow,
halting traffic. The line was closed
for two weeks during the winter
of 1946-47. It often is closed for
shorter periods.
The only road leading into Al
(Continued on Page Six)
ARCTIC OIL DELIVERY
Phone—Shop: Black 76 — Residence: Red 153
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You Dont Have
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Polar Curio Shop
FRANK A. METCALF
CANDIDATE FOR
TERRITORIAL HIGHWAY ENGINEER
FRANK A. METCALF, of Juneau, who is seekinq the Demo
cratic nomination of Territorial Highway Engineer has been a
resident of the Territory continuously since 1913. He holds a Mas
ter's Degree in Civil Engin
eexing and has License No. 1
of the Territory registered
engineers.
Upon coming to Alaska he
worked for the Bradley in
terests until the First World
War when he was commis
sioned in the 20th Engineers.
In the summer of 1919 Mr.
Metcalf went into business
for himself following Gener
al Engineering and making
mineral and non-mineral
patent surveys. He served
four limes as City Engineer
of Juneau. At the outbreak
of World War II he was ap
pointed Director of Civilian
Defense and Secretary of
Local Draft Board. In 1942
Mr. Metcalf joined the en
gineering staff of Siems
Drake and had charge of the
dredging of Sitka's harbor.
In 1945 he went to Adak as Chief of Party. In the fall of 1947 he
was appointed to fill out the term of the late Leonard Smith as
Territorial Highway Engineer, the office he now seeks. Few men
in the Territory are better equipped by education, experience
and professional* ability to handle the work of Territorial High
way Engineer and Superintendent of Public Works.
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