QUANTICO, Va. -- On Oct. 18,1948, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) opened a detachment at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. While a territory at the time, Alaska is only 53 miles from Russia at the Bering Strait’s narrowest point. For reference, Washington Dulles International Airport is a comparable distance from BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. So, Alaska’s strategic importance increased as the Cold War heated up. But it was also a potential weakness; Alaska could also be invaded with ease. In the Cold War’s early days, U.S. Strategic Air command, the 8th Air Rescue Group, and the 5004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron operated in Alaska.
In March 1950, AFOSI’s Chief of Special Activities Branch Joseph J. Cappucci, later commander of AFOSI activities in the Pacific Area of Responsibility (AOR) from 1961-1964 and as AFOSI Commander from 1964-1972, convinced the Joint Chiefs of Staff that an AFOSI presence was necessary in Alaska. That project, colloquially known as the “Alaska Project,” would be one of AFOSI’s most classified undertakings of the Cold War. Alaska, as a territory, fell under OSI and FBI investigative jurisdiction due to the Delimitations Agreement. By September 1951, the Alaska Project emerged clearly as a military operation. As a result, the FBI withdraw from the Alaska Project and AFOSI gained full responsibility.
The Alaska Project had many codenames such as, Washtub, Catboat, Corpuscle, Stigmatic, Behave, and Country Bred. It was maintained separately from AFOSI for Operational Security (OPSEC) reasons. Initially, the Alaska Project operated in the “Abbey,” a small, AFOSI refurbished building three miles from Elmendorf, Air Force Base (AFB). This way, the Alaska Project avoided unnecessary attention. By 1954, the Alaska Project grew, and AFOSI sought Ladd AFB’s permission to use one of their facilities. Ladd AFB agreed, and AFOSI called this building the “Island.” That same year, agents moved the “Abbey” underground for OPSEC reasons and nicknamed the new structure the “Fortress.”
In March 1950, in coordination with Cappucci’s assertions, Alaska Command prepared a plan that enabled continued collection of intelligence in Alaska in the event of a Soviet invasion. The idea was modeled on the French Resistance of the Second World War. The plan utilized civilians in an underground network who collected and transmitted Soviet intelligence via radio and Morse Code. The Alaska Project had two functions: Stay Behind Agents (SBAs) and Escape and Evasion Routes (E&E). SBAs were civilian intelligence collectors. The E&E routes constructed caches of extra military supplies and rations for American air combat crews and built an interconnected radio network.
Reconnaissance personnel or agents advised E&E chose caches sites. Initial cache construction mirrored Strategic Air Command Bomber routes. Therefore, caches paralleled the Alaska railroad from Seward to Fairbanks. These caches resembled native Alaskan supply stores; they were small log cabins built on log stilts 10 to 14 feet above ground from nearby timber. AFOSI agents hand built most of the caches.
By spring 1952, cache sites included the Yukon and Kuskokwim rive drainage basins, the Seward Peninsula, and areas near U.S. Air Force bases in Nome and Galena. The Seward Peninsula posed unique challenges, since it froze nine months out of the year. Caches in these sites, were built into the sides of hills and featured a pit eight to 10 feet wide on each side and were six feet deep with timber flooring. Overall, by 1953 most caches were complete. Unfortunately, agents later discovered many of the drainage basin caches flooded and the supplies ruined.
In the 1950s, because of isolation, Alaskan communities received few outsiders. Further, the Alaskan people were a friendly, gracious, and open community; a visitor could not go unnoticed. Alaskans had close knit networks and would notice a member’s disappearance. AFOSI Alaska Project recruiters devised elated cover stories to explain their presence. Some recruiters claimed Washington’s Hydrographic Office sent them to monitor riverbed silt deposits. Other recruiters identified themselves as members of the Department of the Interior. Each recruit had a unique cover story to explain their absence. In June 1951, the first recruit arrived for training in Washington, DC. Agents were trained at OSI headquarters, a building, located in S.W., Washington, D.C. known as “Tempo E.” Interestingly, Tempo E was demolished in 1970 and that location is now the site of the National Air and Space Museum.
When a trainee arrived in Washington, DC, he had a new AFOSI contact. Often the AFOSI agent would identify themselves through little, unnoticeable movements, such as standing under a pre-specified shop sign or carrying a newspaper in their left arm with the paper pointed downwards. As the program developed, AFOSI graduated four trainees every two weeks. However, flying recruits to Washington, D.C. and back increased costs and OPSEC concerns.
So, in August 1952, AFOSI shut down the Washington, DC training facility; recruits trained wholly in Alaska. By September 1953, AFOSI trained 89 E&E and SBA agents and lost 19 due to death, disability, security concerns, or relocation. Despite the losses, the graduated trainees exceeded AFOSI’s target number. Some agents debriefed and separated. Others retrained from cache construction to coding and cryptology. A report in October 1953 noted the Alaska Project effectively progressed towards its mission goal. However, this mission posed challenges.
The rugged and unforgiving Arctic demanded specialized and highly durable equipment ranging from motor vehicles to sleeping bags. Unfortunately, at the outset, most SBAs and E&Es lacked the proper equipment. In late 1951, AFOSI surveyed SBAs, E&Es, and consulted acclaimed Arctic expert Colonel Bernt Balchen, who led highly classified World War II missions in Norway and Sweden. Suggestions identified at least 107 necessary items, including sleeping bags, clothes, skies, snowshoes, rations, weapons and ammunition, and blankets.
When AFOSI approached Elmendorf AFB with their request, Elmendorf had only seven of the necessary items! Fortunately, this shortage was just a mistake. Elmendorf could order about 70% of the items and AFOSI Headquarters supplied the other 30%. Not only did the tundra demand capable equipment for personnel, but it also necessitated able and durable vehicles for mission readiness.
AFOSI had two jeeps at the Alaska Project’s outset; agents soon contracted four additional jeeps. However, these old vehicles struggled with the mission’s demands. By the end of 1951, the Alaska Project procured 17 permanent vehicles. Brand new Jeep Station Wagons arrived in October 1952, but the jeeps could not operate off-road. AFOSI needed tracked vehicles to operate in Alaska’s wild, snow-covered expanses
AFOSI experimented with the M-29 Weasel and Tucker Snow Cat and borrowed both vehicles from Ladd AFB. Unfortunately, the Weasel could not carry heavy supplies in the tundra and the Snow Cats were ineffective in the Mt. McKinley area. Ultimately, AFOSI settled on the L-20 Beaver. The Beaver was a non-military aircraft, which helped mitigate operational security concerns, and avoided the issues land vehicles faced in the Alaskan wilderness.
During its operational lifetime the Alaska Project continuously and efficiently progressed towards its stated goals. But, by 1956, the strategic environment changed and AFOSI began to shut down the Alaska Project. The E&E communication lines were never constructed in full. When agents cleared out caches, they discovered many of them were looted, likely raided by wilderness trappers scrounging for supplies. The agents removed everything except gasoline and rations. The Alaska Project shut down by mid-1957.
The Alaska Project operated for seven years. However, in those seven years, AFOSI demonstrated its resilience and planning in a dangerous new security environment and unforgiving natural terrain. What was once a highly classified mission, is today a reminder of AFOSI’s ability to efficiently execute its mission and solve the problems faced along the way.