Fort Greely

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at the missile defense complex at Fort Greely, July 22, 2004.

Fort Greely is a

.

There was an earlier Fort Greely on Kodiak Island.^[1]

History

The early years

The camp was established in 1942 as Big Delta Army Air Field. During

]

After World War II, the War Department decided that an American soldier must be able to live and operate in any degree of cold.

Settling in

The information and data collected by task force personnel was a beginning, but it took time for men to be transported, to set up quarters for a short period of actual testing, and then pack up and leave until the next year. The expense of moving in and out was taken into consideration when the final reports were filed. When questions arose concerning the reports, there was no one available to answer them, for the task forces had been disbanded, and the personnel returned to their home units. The major shortcomings of these task forces included having insufficient time to establish units on test sites, the lack of acclimatization period for both personnel and equipment and a lack of continuity. Based on these results, it was recommended that a permanent test organization be established, with test groups representing each of the "Army Field Force Boards" located in the "

Zone of the Interior

."

In 1949, the Department of the Army ordered the organization of the Arctic Test Branch at Big Delta Air Force Base, Alaska (now known as Fort Greely). A cadre for the organization was activated at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in March 1949, by the transfer of personnel from each of the "Army Field Force Boards." The organization moved to Alaska in July 1949 and test operations were initiated. Shortly thereafter, the organization name was changed to the Arctic Training Center. In 1957, it was renamed the U.S. Army Arctic Test Board, with the mission of conducting Arctic service tests of all Army field equipment.

From 1955, Fort Greely and a huge tract of land around it (withdrawn from the Department of the Interior) were used for training soldiers for cold-weather combat during the Cold War with the former Soviet Union.

In the early 1960s, the Army built a nuclear electrical power plant, SM-1A, at Fort Greely as part of the Army Nuclear Power Program, which built similar operational plants in Antarctica, Greenland, the Panama Canal Zone, Virginia, and Wyoming. The initial operators at Fort Greely were military NCOs, but civilians were later hired. The plant operated until 1972.^[4]

In August 1962, as a result of the reorganization of the Army, the Arctic Test Board was established as a Class II activity and placed under the command of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM). The Board was later renamed the Arctic Test Center and expanded to absorb the Research and Development Office, Alaska, the Technical Services Test Activity, and the General Equipment Test Branch, all located at

, and the Chemical Corps Test Activity at Fort Greely. In 1976, the U.S. Army Arctic Test Center was renamed the U.S. Army Cold Regions Test Center.

The modern era

In 1991, when the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of soldiers at Fort Greely was reduced.

In 1995, operations at Fort Greely were slated for further reductions to save money. Only the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC) and Public Works functions were to remain on the installation. Large portions of the post were to be closed and, at one point, the main post was to be turned over to the city of Delta Junction for use as a private prison. Ultimately, plans for the prison fell through. In 2001, headquarters for the Northern Warfare Training Center and Cold Regions Test Center were moved to nearby Fort Wainwright. Various training ranges were also transferred to Fort Wainwright and renamed Donnelly Training Area. Although its command moved, CRTC continued to operate from Fort Greely. The Northern Warfare Training Center also continued operations at Black Rapids Training Facility.

After the United States announced that it would withdraw from the

took command of Fort Greely, relinquishing direct Army control, while the Army retained control of the nearby Donnelly Training Area.

In 2005, the CRTC headquarters was moved from Fort Wainwright back to Fort Greely. Though testing efforts remain centered at the Bolio Lake Range Complex – now part of Fort Wainwright – numerous support functions remain on Fort Greely's Main Post.

In December 2014, Congress approved $50 million to increase the number of interceptor missiles at Fort Greely from 26 to 40 as part of a missile-defense expansion announced in 2013.^[5]

North Korea missile defense

With the continued development of an intercontinental ballistic missile program by North Korea, Fort Greely may be slated for an expansion. Fort Greely is currently one of the two U.S. sites housing anti-ballistic missile interceptor missiles, and it is near the Great circle line from North Korea to the contiguous United States. Expansion of its capabilities may be required to protect Alaska and the West Coast of the United States from possible North Korean attacks.^[6]

See also

• Fort Greely, Alaska

References

External links

• Fort Greely Homepage Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (official site)
• Fort Greely History (official site)

63°58′23″N 145°43′05″W / 63.97306°N 145.71806°W / 63.97306; -145.71806