Delta Junction, Alaska ~ Business & Relocation: Government: Fort Greely

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Fort Greely, 'The Home of the Rugged Professional', is a US Army military installation located five miles south of Delta Junction on the Richardson Highway. The post is a part of the US Army Garrison, Alaska, which is headquartered at Fort Change of Command on Ft. Greely Richardson, near Anchorage.

Although the installation covers more that 600,000 acres, the actual cantonment area (post proper), is approx. 1800 acres. Most of the land is used for testing and training.

Fort Greely's history dates back to 1942 when 1st Lt. William L. Brame led an advance detail of 15 men to the Big Delta area to establish an Army Air Force Base. Throughout World War II, the sole purpose of the base was as a transfer point for the Lend-Lease program to Russia. American aircraft were flown to the base from the 'lower 48' and turned over to the Russian pilots who in turn flew the aircraft to the Soviet Union.

The base became an Army Post in 1948. It underwent several name changes until, in 1955, it was designated Fort Greely in honor of Maj. Gen. Adolphus Washington Greely. Greely was an Arctic explorer and founder of the Alaska Communications System.

For over fifty years, the soldiers & civilian employees of Ft. Greely either worked at or supported the two main tenant activities, the Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC) and the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC).

Aerial view of Ft. Greely and Allen Army Airfield with Alaska Range
This aerial view by Army photographer Michael Kingston shows Jarvis Creek with Allen Army Airfield in the foreground. The main Ft. Greely post is in the upper left. The peaks of the Alaska Range and the Delta River are in the background.

The Northern Warfare Training Center (originally the Arctic Training Center) was established in 1948. It is an exclusive joint service school which provides training in Arctic survival, navigation of inland waterways, military snow skiing, mountaineering and the traversing of glaciers. The Center not only trains soldiers from the active Army to survive in Arctic conditions, but also members of other services, Reserve and National Guard personnel and Reserve Officer Training Corps and West Point cadets.

"We Battle Cold and Conquer Mountains" is a fitting motto for the Army's Northern Warfare Training Center.

The Cold Regions Test Center is well into its first half-century of service. Established in 1949 as the Army's Cold Regions Test Branch, the Center exists as a site for testing equipment under the strain of severe Arctic conditions. Tests have included year-round feasibility and service evaluations on freeze-dried foods, cold weather clothing and Arctic oils and brake fluids. Equipment testing has also been conducted on the Cobra, Blackhawk and Huey helicopters, the Dragon Guided Missile System the Abrams M-1 Tank and a variety of other weapons. More recently, the center has tested an inflatable helicopter hanger for field use and the NASA Aerostat.

Units on post have included: 526th Military Police Detachment, an Aviation Detachment, 507 Signal Company of the 59th Signal Battalion, and the Information Systems Command Detachment, Medical and Dental detachment.

Due to its isolation, remoteness and harsh winter weather, Ft. Greely was considered by Dept. of the Army as an “Overseas” tour of 1 year for unaccompanied soldiers and a 2 year tour for those with their dependents. Because of the unique working and living conditions and the missions of the soldiers assigned to Ft. Greely, it is no wonder the title “Home of the Rugged Professional” has been applied to the post.

In 1995, the Base Re-alignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission added Ft. Greely to the list of military bases to be re-aligned and gave until July 2001 for the local community to develop viable economic reuses of the surplus post facilities. By July 2001, there were only a handful of military and civilian workers to handle maintenance type functions of the few remaining facilities that were not scheduled for surplus. While the outlying post ranges will continue to be used for periodic training, the re-alignment for all practical purposes, in effect closed the post. CRTC & NWTC relocated their headquarters to Ft. Wainwright (Fairbanks) but continue their missions at the Bolio Lake complex for CRTC and the Black Rapids complex for NWTC.

Since the BRAC commission announcement in the spring of 1995, the community has sought ways to attract new businesses and stimulate economic growth in hopes of reducing the severe impact the loss of Ft. Greely will have on the economy of the Delta area. In order to obtain the surplus post facilities at no cost, the community required a major re-user from which other smaller business & enterprises could then benefit.

A private prison corporation proposed what appeared to be a viable re-use of the post, and residents of the city voted to enter into an agreement for this project.

Announcement by the Army that the facility would be used as a test bed for the National Missile Defense system brought development of the prison project to an end. Today, development work on the missile facility is underway, and Ft. Greely is bustling once again.


			Fort Greely