Adak Island, out towards the end of the Aleutian Islands, is in an interesting position. It's a remote, inhospitable place, once used as a springboard for the American efforts to take back the islands of Attu and Kiska from the Japanese in World War 2 - the only American soil ever invaded and occupied by an enemy in that conflict. (The “Niihau incident,” while it did result in Japanese military personnel on U.S. soil, was not an invasion or occupation of that location. On December 7th, 1941, a Japanese Navy Air Service pilot, Shigenori Nishikaichi, crashed on the Hawaiian island of Niihau after taking part in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Native Hawaiians disarmed him and, after learning of the attack, apprehended him but allowed him to stay with a local Japanese couple, the Haradas. Nisikaichi was able to convince the Haradas to help him destroy his aircraft, but Nishikaichi was killed by a local, Ben Kanahele.)
After the war, a naval air station was set up on Attu, but that installation has been vacant for some years now.
A key U.S. military commander told state and federal officials last month that he would be interested in expanding military access on Adak Island in the western Aleutians.
The word came during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Feb. 13, after Sen. Dan Sullivan pressed federal officials to strengthen military presence in Alaska.
Alaska is, as I have written many times, in an important strategic location. Our primary geopolitical rivals are Russia and China. China has designs on expanding its presence in the Pacific, while Russia is literally across the Bering Strait; Russia once owned Alaska, and Tsar Vladimir I and some of his flunkies have not forgotten that. Adak represents the possibility of a valuable, albeit exposed, forward air and naval base.
“President Trump himself commented recently that we need to increase military investments in Alaska as Russia and China make more menacing moves in the region,” he said.
Sullivan told Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, that reopening the naval base in Adak — the westernmost city in the nation — could help bolster the country’s defense against growing foreign threats.
“These incursions are going to increase,” Sullivan said. “This is America, our northern border, and yet the infrastructure we have for the young men and women who are doing these dangerous intercept missions, both at sea and in the air, they need more infrastructure for their safety and for our rapid response.”
Russia and China have been conducting fly-bys and naval "freedom of navigation" exercises in the region, often trailing their coats right down the Alaskan coast, remaining in international waters/airspace but continuing an old Cold War game, and yes, we do it to them, too. But if these old games suddenly turn serious, a presence on Adak may prove valuable. The Aleutians are valuable in maintaining a presence over the North Pacific, but they also stand astride the Pacific Ocean's entry to the Arctic, a resource-rich region where China, Russia, and the United States all have interests.
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The locals living on Adak would no doubt be glad to see a Navy and Air Force presence, as it would be a big boost to that remote island's economy. As of the 2020 census, the population of Adak was 316. At present, the economy of Adak is dependent on fishing, with four members of the community holding commercial fishing permits; most of the island is owned by the Aleut community, although the Navy still owns some of the island. An increased military presence would be a big boost to Adak's economy, in addition to providing a valuable forward base for the Navy and Air Force.
In 1935, General Billy Mitchell, testifying before the House of Representatives, said:
I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world… I think it is the most important strategic place in the world.
This may be one of the most prescient geopolitical observations of the early 20th century. Alaska is, as I write regularly, the crown of the Pacific, and the Aleutians control the gateway to the Arctic. We ignore that at our peril.
Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication for clarity.
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