Alaska Guard by Lt. James Richardson historical officer - the Alaska ...

Alaska Guard by Lt. James Richardson
historical officer
134 th Public Information Detachment
Alaska Army National Guard
and other stories
Edited, compiled and updated by
Sgt Marc McNab (Ret), State Historian, Alaska Army National Guard
1

Introduction to the retyped ‘Alaska Guard’
Military histories of individuals or units of the active duty side of the United States Army
involve changing faces and moving from post to post. There is much less of those changes in the
National Guard. Individuals in the following pages either spent their whole military career with
the Alaska National Guard or finished their careers here.
Alaska National Guard members frequent places named after Marston, Buckner,
Mandregan and Anderson. Who were they? What did they do? Why the honor? You‘ll find out
here.
Sometime in the spring of 2008, I photocopied CSM Mallie Hall‘s copy of ‗Alaska
Guard‘ written by Lieutenant James R. Richardson of the 134 th Public Information Detachment.
Up to that point, I had little in the way of a written history of the National Guard in Alaska.
It is very apparent that my copy was a copy of a copy many times over, on unbound
8X12 paper.
Despite being unpublished, it is well written and very well endnoted (by numbers), but
not absolutely perfect, as noted by my footnotes (by letters) correcting background information
and a hand written note in a latter page correcting an item about women in the Guard. Footnotes
are also used to update information.
Now and then someone comes by my desk looking for historical information about the
Alaska National Guard and at first had to confess that I had little to offer outside of recent
deployments to KFOR, OIF and OEF.
‗Alaska Guard‘ and C. A. Salisbury‘s book ‗Soldier‘s Of the Mist‘ have filled that
knowledge void. So why not share this with as many people as possible?
The following pages contain Lt. James Richardson‘s words; good, bad or indifferent.
Abbreviations, capital and lower case letters are used when he does. Spelling errors have been
corrected in most cases, but errors in proper nouns are corrected in footnotes. Punctuation,
abbreviations and grammar are unchanged from the original. The errors in the original are
probably due to lack of proofreading or unwillingness to correct simple errors.
Along with the errors, there are also two odd omissions – First is the fact that Marvin
‗Muktuk‘ Marston was among those on Alaska‘s Constitutional Convention, the body that wrote
the state‘s constitution a . No mention is made of that event. Also this account of Alaska National
Guard history was commissioned by Major General William Elmore, the Adjutant General in
place when Lt. Richardson put this together. Elmore was the Adjutant General from August 1964
to January 1967, and was again appointed Adjutant General in 1971 by Governor Bill Egan, but
Richardson makes no note of the second appointment.
Being that the latest information mentioned is from 1972, means the original was
probably written soon thereafter. Thus, the mood, mindset, thoughts and ideas are from that era.
By today‘s standards it is politically incorrect in many places. It neither defends nor excuses
biases. This is an account of what happened: history.
When Richardson was writing the Guard‘s history of the 1960s, he quotes word for word
a letter to the editor and large portions of three articles from the newspapers. To avoid copywrite
infringement, that material is removed from this edition.
The author and date of ‗PART I --- GUARDING ALASKA TODAY’ is unknown.
Richardson‘s paragraphs and chapters are maintained, but not his page numbering
system. Lt. Richardson numbered his pages using the same system as military regulations, i.e.
a Source: Anchorage Museum of History and Art.
2

with every new chapter, pages start again with the chapter number in roman numerals, hyphen
and page number starting at number 1. This edition starts at page 1 with no restarts.
The ‗other stories‘ refer to the equally well written articles by Army journalists from
1957 and 1958, 2 nd Scout Battalion Information Letters and the Guard‘s Biennial Report of 1949
to 1950.
Also, many more words fit onto a Microsoft ‗Word‘ page than the original typewritten
ones, so the same information is here using less space.
Sgt Marc L. McNab (Ret)
State Historian
Alaska Army National Guard
3

ALASKA GUARD
by
Lt. James Richardson
Historical Officer
134 th Public Information Detachment
Alaska Army National Guard
4

PART I --- GUARDING ALASKA TODAY
5

to
Maj. Gen. William Elmore
who commissioned this project
6

HISTORY OF THE 207 TH INFANTRY GROUP (SCOUT)
During 1974-1975, the Alaska Army National Guard developed a plan for an Infantry Group to better
support the Army‘s mission requirements for training for mobilization. On 1 Oct 1976, the 38 th Special Forces
Company was reorganized and redesignated into the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 207 th Infantry
Group (Arctic Reconnaissance) by Permanent Orders 10-1. Its
primary mission is to perform reconnaissance, surveillance and
security in support of ARFOR in arctic and subarctic Alaska. The
Group‘s subordinate units included the 1 st and 2 nd Scout Battalions, a
new 3 rd Scout Battalion, created by splitting the 1 st Battalion, and the
1898 th Aviation Company. The reorganization of the 38 th SF also
formed an airborne detachment. A new 5 th Scout Battalion, was
organized from the 5 th Squadron, 207 th Cavalry Regiment, the 49 th
Maintenance Company, and part of the 910 th Engineer Company.
The first Commander of the new 207 th Infantry Group (Scout)
was Lieutenant Colonel John V. Hoyt. His primary staff officers were
Executive Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ferris E. McIver, S-1
(Personnel), Captain Terry Mcguire, S-2 (Intelligence), Major
William L. Shaw, S-3 (Operations), Major Jack Marshall, and S-4
Colonel Roger Schnell. Alaska National
Guard photo.
a Colonel).
(Logistics), Major James L. Dexter and the Sergeant Major, Master
Sergeant Robert Moody. Colonel Roger T. Schnell assumed command
of the 207 th in March 1983, and was succeeded on 7 May 1984 by
Lieutenant Colonel Russell E. Gillaspie, its present Commander (now
The 1898 th Aviation Company was later deactivated and was then reactivated on 1 November 1978. The
organization of the 4 th Scout Battalion in Southeast Alaska on1 November 1978, from the 910 th Engineer
Company and C Company, 5 th Battalion, expanded the 207 th Group into all areas of the state except the Aleutian
Islands. The formation of the Air Traffic Control Detachment on 1 September 1980 was designed to enhance the
ability of our units to operate independently.
In December 1978, the Department of the Army authorized the distinctive insignia of the 207 th Infantry
Group (Scout). Blue was used in the badge for Infantry and red for courage. The polar bear symbolizes bravery,
endurance, and strength and is indicative of the qualities inherent to personnel within the combined role of
traditional Infantry and the military scout in Alaska, as represented by the Springfield bayonet and the
Athabascan arrow. The bear further alludes to the ―Big Bear Country‖, Alaska, home of the unit.
207 th Infantry Group first proved to the active Army how well it could perform its mission in its largest
exercise, Castle North 82, which also involved the Air National Guard. The 1983 Brim Frost Exercise provided
the fact that it was combat capable. Brim Frost 85 was the first exercise in which the all 207 th Group units
participated. Its recent performance in the joint Canadian Exercise WAINCON 86 drew comment from the
Brigadier General Milner, Commander of the 1 st Canadian Brigade Group, that the Alaska Army National Guard
units were as good as the active Canadian Armed Forces.
Today, the five Infantry Scout Battalions, the 1898 th Aviation Company, Aviation Detachment, Airborne
Detachment, Air Traffic Control Detachment and the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 207 th
Infantry Group (Scout) are spread throughout the multi-cultural villages and cities of Alaska in support of the
defense of the state and of the United States. Units of the 207 th Group regularly provide communities with
7

assistance in missions such as Search and Rescue. In their close proximity to the USSR, Alaska‘s Scouts truly
represent the original Minutemen, America‘s citizen-soldiers, perhaps more than the members of any other
military organization in the country.
The Arctic Warriors Crest
A distinctive unit insignia was authorized the 207 th Infantry Group (Scout) on 8 December 1978 by the
Department of the Army Institute of Heraldry, reading as follows:
DESCRIPTION
―A silver color metal and enamel device 1 ¼ inches in height overall, consisting of a silver snarling polar
bear‘s face affront with black facial markings and red tongue and lips, surmounting at center a black
hilted silver bayonet and silver arrow crossed saltire-wise on a blue background and extending over and
within the folds of a red encircling scroll inscribed ―ARCTIC‖ at the top and ―WARRIOR‖ at the base in
silver letters.‖
SYMBOLISM
―Blue is used for Infantry and red is symbolic for courage. The polar bear symbolizes bravery, endurance
and strength, and is indicative of the qualities inherent to personnel within the combined role of
traditional Infantry and the military scout in Alaska, as represented by the bayonet and the arrow. The
bear further alludes to the ―Big Bear Country,‖ Alaska, home of the unit.‖
In honor of the 10 th Anniversary of the organization of the 207 th Infantry Group, SGT Pat Cramer of the
Aviation Detachment developed an idea for a Athabascan arrow. SGT Cramer obtained a polar bear‘s hide and
permit from ADF&G and made arrangements to have the head mounted by taxidermists CW2 Richard Kinmon.
The crest will be presented at the Group‘s 10 th Anniversary Dining Out on 10 Oct 1986. Subsequently, it
will be mounted in the commander‘s office and will appear at all the 207 th Group social functions and other
appropriate occasions.
8

PART II --- THE HOME GUARD YEARS
When Vitus Bering made his discovery of the Great Land and its friendly native people in 1728, the
colonial militia that evolved into today‘s National Guard already was nearly 100 years old. 1
It was another 140 years before Alaska became a possession of the United States. As the Stars and Stripes
replaced the Russian flag on Castle Hill at Sitka on October 18, 1867, Maj. Gen. Jefferson C. Davis, commander
of the Alaska Military District, began to exercise federal control of the new territory. It was he who first guarded
Alaskan Americans and their property. The idea of a militia organization was a half century away, and the
realization of the beginning of the Alaska National Guard was some 75 years distant.
Army Protects Early Alaska
The United States Army established forts at Tongass and Wrangell in the following year, and in 1869 it
added Ft. Kodiak and Ft. Kenay on the Cook Inlet. These four forts soon were disbanded, however, and in
December of 1870 Alaska‘s only protection was from two companies of soldiers on duty in Sitka.
Even these left the new territory in 1877. For the next twenty years Army activity in Alaska was confined
to manning thirty signal corps stations.
Then came the discovery of gold. In February 1879, Ft. Wrangell reopened with a detachment camped
near White Pass trail to the gold fields. That September, Ft. St. Michael was established on Norton Sound. With
the onslaught of the gold rush at the turn of the century, Army activity increased. At the same time local citizens
began to band themselves together into well-organized home guard units which may be considered the
forerunners of the Alaska National Guard.
The Army in 1898 and 1899 established Ft. Gibbon and Ft. Egbert at Tanana and Eagle on the Yukon
River, as well as Ft. Liscum and Ft. William Seward at Valdez and Haines in the Gulf of Alaska. Ft. William
Seward was renamed Chilkoot Barracks in 1922. 2
About the same time, in 1898, the legendary Soapy Smith called for volunteers to form the Skagway
Guards. Himself a derelict from which the Skagway citizenry needed protection, Soapy made a high-geared
appeal for volunteers in a passionate display of patriotic zeal on the Fourth of July, gathering together the first
home guard outfit which has been documented. 3
The following year, the Army established Ft. Davis near the gold rich boomtown of Nome on Norton
Sound. But after 1910 Army activity declined for thirty years and posts were gradually disbanded. By 1929 only
Chilkoot Barracks was left. 4
The Guard is Conceived
During the Army‘s decline, however, the Alaska National Guard began to be conceived and to take shape
in the minds of many Alaskans. War broke out in 1914, and when the United States entered the conflict,
Alaskans were struck with fear and clamored for protection. In March, 1917, three years after the first plane was
flown in Alaska, Gov. S.F.A. Strong wrote to 1 st Lt. H.M. Craig of the Medical Corps at Ft. Seward to tell him
he had placed the possibility of a Territorial National Guard before the War Department. 5 The following day, the
governor wired the Interior Department concerning a state militia for Alaska.
―In view of present international crisis and a situation in which the country might be assailed by foreign
foe and have at the same time to contend against enemies within, this situation being applicable to Alaska as
well,‖ Strong wired Interior on March 27, ―a local organization has been formed for home protection in the
absence of an organized militia, and I request to be advised if such organization would receive official sanction
of the War Department and in what way.‖ 6 The Interior secretary quickly replied ―No military organization can
be recognized under the present status, except the army, navy, marines and national guard. The President and
Congress have not yet announced their policies with regard to volunteers. My advice would be that you gather
9

and train men as well as you can now, and before they are far advanced, there doubtless will be the machinery
created by which they can be brought into some form of service.‖ 7
Strong went ahead and advised interested communities to begin organizing, and many towns did
organize, chiefly for home defense but also to prepare men for enlistment and to raise funds for the Red Cross. 11
The territorial legislature appropriated funds for these home guards to rent drill halls and cover expenses. 10 Two
months later, in May, 1917, the War Department advised the governor of the authorization for the organization
of a National Guard in Alaska. 8
The chief of the Militia Bureau in Washington laid plans for National Guard units at Juneau and
Fairbanks, with the thought of additional units in the future. These two units were not organized immediately,
however, owing to ―the good and sufficient reason that I have not had the time,‖ Strong wrote, and because the
draft had just been authorized and it certainly would take men from any National Guard units that were formed.
It was the governor‘s intent to organize the units after the draft had been made. 12 But interest disappeared with
the war‘s end.
Home Guard Units Form
During 1918 emphasis was put on organizing and equipping the Home Guard units. By the end of
August, there were regularly organized in Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Cordova, Seward, Anchorage and
Fairbanks. 9 Other units were formed at Eagle and Skagway. Local leaders encountered many frustrations,
however, and they channeled them through the governor‘s office, where they festered and boiled.
Uniforms were one problem. A typical telegram, received on June 14, 1918, by Thomas Riggs, Jr., who
replaced Governor Strong a month earlier, was from Washington‘s Gov. Ernest Lister. He said, ―Replying your
telegram yesterday the State of Washington has no Old Blue uniforms with which to supply you. When the new
Olive Drab uniforms were purchased the Old Blue uniforms were disposed of at that time. Regret your request
cannot be complied with.‖ 13
Most of the towns in Alaska took a lively interest in enrolling men in home guards. Their drilling served
as much as anything to keep patriotic spirit alive. Guidance was meager, however. The units had been authorized
by an act of Congress passed on June 14, 1917, which provided for them to be armed and equipped by the
federal government. But the territory did not follow the pattern of most states by specific legislation for forming
the units, and direction from the War Department was sketchy.
Some of the home guard units raised funds with which they intended to purchase uniforms. Most had
rifles issued by the War Department, but the great rush of similar requests from the states left supplies far from
adequate. 14
The government had manufactured over a million rifles for Russia which it withheld once the war started.
A shipment of 700 of these Russian rifles, together with 25 rounds of ammunition for each one, was made from
the War Department on June 18, 1918, with the comment, ―It is regretted that no more ammunition can be
furnished at this time as it is not available in large quantities.‖ Each rifle was furnished with bayonet, sling,
cleaning rod and screwdriver. No other accessories or equipment was available. 15
Governor Riggs filed a personal $25,000 bond to cover liability for the property.16 Unit commanders took
out personal bonds for $30 per rifle. Some units, formed prior to the shipment of Russian rifles, received
Springfield .45 caliber rifles with slings, bayonets and a minimum of ammunition.
Not all of the Home Guards were formed purely out of patriotic zeal. Some arose out of fear.
Three large lode mines were operating near Juneau when the war broke out. They employed 600 to 800
Austrians, Germans, Bulgarians, and other subjects of central European powers, few of whom had been
naturalized. When diplomatic relations were severed between the United States and Germany, about 200 of the
older men of Juneau organized, believing this was vital for their own protection and for the community‘s
defense. The meeting March 13, 1917, marked the formation of Alaska‘s first true Home Guard unit.
10

A company of soldiers was located at Ft. William Seward, about 100 miles from the capital. But the
promoters of the Juneau Home Guard reasoned that, in a sudden emergency, munch damage might be done to
city property and the nearby mines before a detachment could reach them. Then men also feared a contingency
might arise if a body of aliens, led by some ―ignorant and designing leaders,‖ might attempt to wreck the mines
or loot the bank, which had on deposit something like two million dollars.
The governor, writing to the War Department to request 260 Springfield rifles for Juneau, added this
note: ―I might say, for myself, that, while outwardly the situation here in Alaska is as calm as a summer sea, still,
should the United States actually engage in hostilities with Germany, I am not prepared to say whether or not
trouble would eventuate in this section or elsewhere in Alaska. It is always well, however, to be ready in case of
emergency. In Alaska we have a mixed population, and prior to breaking off of diplomatic relations with
Germany there were many outspoken German sympathizers, but these have been remarkably mute since that
date.‖ 17
There is no indication the rifles were sent. However a corporal was detailed from Ft. Seward to assist in
drilling the Juneau men for a couple of weeks. 18
The Juneau Home Guard was commanded by Capt. A. B. Cole. A local hall was rented at $75 a month
for drilling.
Three other units also were organized a couple of months prior to the June act of Congress authorizing
Home Guards. Skagway organized an official Home Guard on April 30, when a group of men met at Elk‘s Hall.
Soon the group numbered 101, and for three weeks they drilled under Sgt. Albert Bixby, who was brought in
from Ft. Seward. They rented a storeroom for their armory, and purchased 40 dummy rifles made of wood. There
is no indication that Skagway received any shooting arms.
Ketchikan organized a Home Guard on April 6 with 67 men signing up. They elected Milson S. Dobbs as
their captain and drilled in the Moose Hall. Ketchikan got 20 of the Russian rifles, along with 25 Springfields.
There were only 300 rounds of ammunition for the Springfields, however, and none for the Russian rifles.
The Seward Home Guard was organized by a camp of Spanish War Veterans with 80 business and
professional men signing up on April 9. They met in the Arctic Brotherhood hall two nights a week under
Lieutenant Stites. Seward had 340 aliens employed on nearby government railroad construction, according to the
Alaskan Engineering Commission census; which represented about half of the area‘s non-citizens. ―There are a
great many aliens this vicinity and United-States interest in and about Seward should be safeguarded,‖ wrote
Seward Attorney and territorial Sen. L. V. Ray to the governor. Edgar Hawley was elected president of the
Committee of Safety and Defense, as the unit was originally named, and they asked the territory for funds to buy
wooden dummy rifles for drill. 29 They reported an average attendance of 50, dropping to 36 the next year.
Seward received 50 .30 caliber U.S. magazine rifles and bayonets with 400 rounds of ammunition.
A branch of the Alaska Loyal League was formed in Anchorage by 40 men in the early fall of 1917.
About the same time, a unit of the Home Guard was started, largely at the prompting of Charles Herron of the
Anchorage Times. Davis, commander of U.S. troops at Anchorage, handled the early organization.
The Loyal League came out of the employes of the Alaska Engineering Commission, which was building
a government railroad from Seward to Fairbanks under the guidance of Commissioner F. Mears. The league
drilled during the fall and winter under the direction of the 14 th Infantry Army detachment in Anchorage, later
electing their own officers, first Col. Sapp and later W. H. Janicke. Both soon went Outside to join the Army.
Capt. Thomas Dwyer was the commander of the Home Guard Unit, but being an older man he soon gave
command to Charles W. Bush, who later became a city councilman. Bush re-organized the Home Guard and
drilled it regularly each week for the duration of the war. They also had about 40 men. A personal dislike for
Herron—who had been a supporter of the previous governor but was a foe of Governor Riggs—stemmed from a
feeling that he was endeavoring to use the Home Guard for political purposes.
The two Anchorage groups joined in renting Roberts Hall for three nights a week at $100 a month which
the territory paid. They finally consolidated in August of 1918. Together they had 80 Russian rifles and 100
Springfields.
11

Fairbanks had more conflict. A group of local citizens—another Loyal League branch—had built an
Armory, but the Masons also had a hall which they desired to rent to the territory for Home Guard drills. Some
little friction was generated between the high-society Masons on the one hand and the alien-roughneck pioneers
on the other. When the newly elected president of the Fairbanks Home Guard, Frank B. Hall, wrote Governor
Strong to inform him of the organization of 140 men who began drilling on Jan. 11, 1918, twice a week in the
Masonic Temple, he requested $100 a month for rental. Strong wired back: ―Your Home Guard seems to be a
fraternal society organization; therefore, impossible to use Territorial funds for purpose mentioned.‖ The
territory had been paying the Loyal League $100 a month for the use of its armory.
Hall immediately replied, ―Home guards not a fraternal society organization but is composed of all
citizens desiring to aid in drill and defense.‖ Strong was silent. Hall fired off another telegram: ―Respectfully
request on behalf of guards who are faithfully drilling and are composed of men of all classes and are not a
fraternal organization in any sense of the word that one hundred dollars monthly…be allowed for purpose
mentioned.‖ To this Strong tersely replied, ―Fairbanks home guard will be allowed seventy five dollars per
month account rent of hall for drilling purposes until further notice.‖
Meanwhile, the $100 a month which the territory had been paying the Loyal League was cut off. Two
months later, when Thomas Riggs, Jr., took over as governor, he got a letter from W. F. ―Wrong Font‖
Thompsen, editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. It may be noted the symbol ―w.f.‖ is a proofreader‘s mark
indicating a character of the wrong size or style has gotten by accident into the body of type and should be
replaced. Thompsen was known by a name which indicates he was, indeed, a character that stood out. His letters
confirm this.
―It‘s about OUR armory,‖ Thompsen‘s message to the commander-in-chief began. Referring to the
building put up by the citizens of the Fairbanks Loyal League, which included both Thompsen and Riggs, he
said, ―There‘s a mortgage due by the time you get this, and Strong cut us off the payroll because Caskey or
someone wrote him that they were not drilling there during the winter. They are starting in for the summer, and it
is apparent to you that they MUST drill this summer, hard and often, for some of them will have to go to the
Front.‖
Riggs confirmed that he would comply, and added the note that ―I have put in for more rifles for
Fairbanks but I want to see some enthusiasm in the military organization of which I am commander-in-chief.‖
Fairbanks remained unarmed until 1918, when it received 80 of the Russian rifles.
Home Guards also were formed at Eagle, Sitka and Cordova. Eagle‘s commander, Robert Begg, reported
31 members on April 10, 1918, with an average summer attendance of six. They had 20 Russian rifles. Sitka‘s
commander, 1 st Sgt. Joseph B. McNulty, reported 89 men on the rolls about the same time, with 40 showing up
on the average. McNulty, a retired Marine Corps sergeant, was a good drill master. He put the troops through
their maneuvers in the Sheldon Jackson gym. He was assisted by F. C. Sherrod, also an ex-Marine sergeant.
Indians Are Out
Mayor Arthur G. Shoup of Sitka added this about local Indians in a letter to the governor on November
13, 1917:
―…these men are very patriotically inclined: have a seemingly clear conception of why we are in the war,
and are anxious to practically demonstrate their desire to help. They take readily to things of this sort, and I
believe would be valuable men for any domestic service. In any event, to allow them to join would tend to
increase their self respect and devotion to the country, and we would be glad to take them in as a section.‖
Governor Strong replied, ―The registration of Indians in Alaska was deferred for the present solely because of
the time and great expense which would necessarily be entailed to effect a registration of Indians was to be
carried on, all the Indians would have to be registered from Ketchikan to Point Barrow. As you also know, there
are many villages in the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim, as well as other rivers, which are nearly, if not
completely isolated; and the Provost Marshal General decided that the registration of Indians could well be
12

deferred, at the same time recognizing that, no doubt, many of them would be anxious to serve and would be
physically able to do so.‖
The Sitka unit, formed without the Indians, had 25 Springfield rifles with 375 rounds of ammunition.
Cordova‘s unit numbered a healthy 200 at the outset. The city‘s port was a heavy shipper of copper and
foodstuffs and there was a great need for protection as well as plenty of manpower. The number was soon
trimmed to 125, however, and average attendance dropped to 65. George C. Hazelett was commanding officer.
Cordova had 80 Russian rifles but no ammunition ever arrived. They drilled and hour and a half every Tuesday
and Thursday and, according to their by-laws, any male over 18 was eligible to join.
C. A. Bunch of Treadwell was authorized on April 4, 1917, to enroll volunteers for a Home Guard unit
there. The Board of Education at Douglas wrote the governor on March 21 to request 35 Krag-Jorgenson
carbines and web belts for a company of high school cadets that had been organized. The following year, a
Home Guard was put together there, although there is no indication that it was ever officially recognized or
equipped. Wrangell and Haines also formed military units which pledged their allegiance to the nation and to the
governor of the territory in April, 1917. Wrangell had 125 men. There is no indication either of these units was
officially recognized or equipped.
Other units were organized unofficially at Nenana, where a Sergeant Smith drilled 75 men for two hours
nightly during the war, and Dutch Harbor. Paul Buckley wrote to the governor in May, 1918, to propose the
organization of a company of 50 Aleuts there, whom he described as all sharpshooters ―ready for any call from
Uncle Sam.‖ Petersburg‘s Mayor Erick Ness in August, 1918, expressed a desire for a Home Guard unit, but
there is no sign of an organization being formed there during the war. 28
Following the war, the great interest in the guard units fled. Milson S. Dobbs, captain of the Ketchikan
Home Guard, wrote the governor on Feb. 18, 1919, ―Since the date of the Armistice, it has been impossible to
maintain a proper interest in our Company of Home Guard, and even before that time our meetings were
attended by the older men who, under other circumstances would not be eligible for military duty, therefore it
appears best to discontinue further efforts to maintain a company here under present conditions. This is the
opinion of the majority of those who attended a meeting held on Sunday, the 16 th instant.‖ 30
The Russian rifles were returned to the Benicia Arsenal in California. The units were to have been
allowed to keep the Springfields for a time, and these apparently were forgotten. The 100 Springfields given to
Anchorage still were in storage in Brown & Hawkins store in October, 1925, when the War Department,
responding to an inquiry about what to do with them, said they could be sold to the American legion for $1.25
apiece. 37
The Cordova Home Guard, anxious to continue, had requested again the ammunition it never received,
along with a machine gun. When the order was given to return the rifles and surrender the drill hall, the
commander, Calvin C. Hazelet, wrote the governor, ―Am very sorry that it was necessary to be mustered out but
can say anyway that we did not quit.‖ 26
Alaska Ranger Force Fails
After the war and the abandonment of the Home Guard units throughout the territory, and with the
National Guard still out of reach for Alaska, the attention of Governor Riggs turned toward establishing a
constabulary force for local protection. The territory was entirely without police protection in 1919. There were
four judicial divisions with a U.S. marshal in each, but these were process servers only. A few incorporated
towns employed a policeman or two.
All told there were 55 marshals and deputy marshals in the territory, all serving under the justice
department, with another 30 or 35 fish wardens, fur wardens, game wardens and special liquor agents, who
enforced federal and territorial law. 31 Riggs researched state police forces from several states and Canadian
provinces and, by the end of 1919, had prepared a bill for the U.S. Congress which would have created an
Alaska Ranger Force in the Department of Interior, which controls the territories.
13

Had it passed, the bill would have called for a force of three captains, four first lieutenants and three
surgeons with captain‘s ranks, along with ten sergeants at an annual salary of $1,500 each, fifteen corporals at
$1,300 and 140 privates at $1,200, all under a commanding officer appointed by the President of the United
States with pay equivalent to a lieutenant colonel in the Army. The officers would have the powers of justice of
the peace and ex-officio coronors, along with the police powers in the execution of criminal laws of the territory
accorded the entire force. The proposed bill called for an appropriation of $500,000 for the forces, mentioning as
necessary to the force‘s functioning dogs, horses, sleighs, wagons and launches. 32
When a ―radical element began colonizing in the territory for the avowed purpose of disrupting industry,‖
Governor Riggs organized vigilance committees in each community. However, he noted, in arguing for his
Ranger Force, that a paid body of men was necessary in order to maintain interest in the welfare and protection
of the people. He said living expenses were high in Alaska, which accounted for the high rate of pay he
proposed. He also reasoned that the plush salaries would remove them as far as possible from the temptation of
graft.‖ He wanted to make some of the men coronors because, when murders were committed or deaths occurred
in isolated places, ―it often happens that no inquest can be held.‖ The governor also noted, ―We need police not
only for the enforcement of law, but for rescue work, for the maintenance of quarantines, the enforcement of
game and fur regulations and detective work.‖ 33 There was no support for the bill, however.
More Futile Efforts
When the territorial administration turned to Scott C. Bone, he continued Riggs‘ efforts to get some kind
of constabulary force into operation. 34 He also renewed, in March of 1925, endeavors toward the establishment
of a National Guard in Alaska. Federal of all new units in the National Guard throughout the United States had
been suspended indefinitely, however, on account of lack of funds. Bone was told there would be no chance of a
National Guard being formed in Alaska until 1927. 35
A crest for the National Guard had been authorized by the War Department in May, 1923, however, in a
letter from Maj. Charles M. Steese of the Supply Division written over the signature of the acting secretary of
war. Major Steese‘s brother James, who was on the Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska in Juneau,
forwarded the governor the original color copy of the crest. ―Even though there is no National Guard in Alaska at
the present time,‖ wrote James, ―my brother requests that if this crest meets with your approval, you write a
formal letter to the Secretary of War accepting it for the National Guard of the Territory of Alaska.‖ 36 The crest
was adopted Dec. 19, 1923. It hangs today in the state adjutant general‘s office. This description accompanies
the crest:
―On a wreath argent and azure the aurora borealis blended from dexter base purple through red, orange,
yellow to green to chief and repeated inversely to sinister base behind a totem pole of three figures: an eagle, a
bear and a walrus, paleways affronts all proper.
―The crest is typically Alaskan and tells its own story. The Walrus represents the Eskimo, the original
owner of the country. The territory was then passed to the Russian Bear and finally to the American Eagle.
Behind the Totem Pole are the Northern Lights. The colors of the heraldic wreath are white and blue, the Russian
colors.‖
George A. Parks continued the seemingly futile request for a National Guard when he took office. He
was told in January 1926 by the Militia Bureau that the budget for 1927 would not include any funds for new
National Guard units, and it didn‘t seem likely in 1928 either. ―But‖, the writer of the letter allowed, ―it is highly
desirable that the National Guard eventually be organized in Alaska.‖ 38
Several towns had active Reserve Officers‘ Associations and at least one had proposed the formation of
an Alaska National Guard. A. E. Karnes wrote Governor Parks on Dec. 21, 1927, ―It is our belief that enough
units could easily be formed in Southeast Alaska to make up a battalion of Infantry, or whatever other branch
that may seem advisable; we are sure Ketchikan could organize at least one company, and probably two.‖ A
letter to Parks from Maj. Gen. J. L. Hines in the War Department, dated two days later, informed the governor
14

that the War Department had assigned the 549 th Infantry Battalion of the Organized Reserves to the Ninth Corps
Area for allocation to Alaska. General Hines asked Governor Parks to fulfill the requirement of allocating the
unit to a town in Alaska and set up a board of officers, the majority of whom were to be from the Officers‘
Reserve Corps. 40
Hines requested that the officers reside close to Chilkoot Barracks—formerly called Ft. William
Seward—to facilitate better cooperation with the Regular Army. Parks named Karnes from Ketchikan, which
was 300 miles south of Chilkoot Barracks, and two men from Juneau, 90 miles south of the post: 1 st Lt. Frank A.
Metcalf and 2 nd Lt. Mayrven H. Sides. Karnes was a 1 st lieutenant. 41 He was replaced by Capt. H. J. Brooks. 42 But
the National Guard question was to remain unsettled for another ten years.
PART III --- WORLD WAR II AND THE ATG
When World War II broke out, Alaskans found themselves in a forgotten territory and they began to get
uneasy. The attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the attack on Alaska‘s Dutch Harbor six
months later threw everyone into a panic.
A historian for the U.S. Army, Alaska, Lyman Woodman has written of the period: ―In September, 1939,
when Hitler started his blitzkrieg in Poland, the ability of American forces to defend Alaska was pathetic. At the
little post near Haines (Chilkoot Barracks) were less than 300 Army personnel. The installation was neat and the
location ideal—but good only for controlling lawlessness of prior gold rush days! The men here were armed with
pistols and Springfield rifles, and were mobile only by a means of a fifty-two-year-old harbor tug that couldn‘t
buck a strong headwind. The troops at Chilkoot Barracks were far inland from the vulnerable coastal defense line
and militarily impotent in the new age of aviation.‖ 43
At this time, knowledge of Alaska was nil. Only nine years earlier, when Col. Ben Eielson crashed and
died on the coast of Siberia, the Army in Washington D. C., sent word that it had no planes capable of operating
in Alaska in the winter and could not assist. A subsequent appeal to Russia brought help. Lt. Gen. Henry Arnold,
chief of the Army Air Corps, declared in 1939 during discussions on a proposed cold-weather station at
Fairbanks, ―Alaska is away off by itself. We do not know anything about Alaska.‖ 74
The first appropriation passed for Alaska‘s defense was on April 14, 1940, when the Fairbanks coldweather
station finally was approved. It became Ladd Field, the present-day Ft. Wainwright. Five days later
Hitler invaded Norway and Denmark. The next month the Netherlands were seized, Belgium was attacked and
the France invasion was begun. Congress then restored an Anchorage air base, which was Fort Richardson with
its Elmendorf Field. Ft. Richardson was relocated after the war just north of its original site, which then became
Elmendorf Air Force Base. Four other installations also were activated and put under construction in 1940:
Kodiak Naval Air Station and Submarine Base, Yakutat Army Air Field, Annette Island Army Air Field and
Dutch Harbor Naval Station. 43
Early in 1941, Gov. Earnest Gruening went to Washington D.C., to talk about the defenses of Alaska. ―I
was told that the main policy was to take care of Europe and defend the lifeline to Australia,‖ he later related,
―and they would do what they could about holding Alaska. I had to return to Alaska with the knowledge that it
was considered expendible.‖ 54 A magazine correspondent, sent to Alaska to find out about the strategic situation,
wrote about that time that a sparse population was one of the territory‘s gravest strategic weaknesses. There were
few civilians to supply the armed forces with services and goods. ―There is almost no Alaskans to aid them by
guerrilla fighting in case of enemy attack.‖ 75
More construction was seen in Alaska in 1941. Nome Army Air Field (later named Marks Field), Ft.
Greeley a at Kodiak, Ft. Mears at Dutch Harbor, Coast Guard Bases at Ketchikan and Hoonah and Ft. Ray at
Sitka and Ft. Raymond at Seward. But by December, 1941, there still was nothing prepared to repel an enemy
attack. 43
a Fort Greely is located in interior Alaska next to the town of Delta Junction. Similarly named Fort Greeley was on Kodiak Island.
15

The Alaska National Guard is Formed
Meanwhile, the threat of war had spurred the quick formation of an Alaska National Guard. But just as
quickly as it was formed it was inducted into federal service and sent out of the territory.
The 297 th Infantry was allotted for the Alaska National Guard on Oct. 21, 1939, shortly after Hitler began
his aggression. The first battalion of the new 297 th —a planned second battalion never materialized—was
recognized one element at a time from Sept. 17, 1939 to Jan. 11, 1941. Headquarters for the guard, with an
adjutant general‘s office, a United States Purchasing and Disbursing Officer and a state staff along with A
Company were at Juneau. B Company was at Ketchikan, C Company at Fairbanks and D Company at
Anchorage. Steps were underway in 1941 for a 129 th Observation Squadron to be formed for the new National
Guard, and an infantry unit for Nome was under consideration. In addition, Governor Gruening recommended
split companies for Petersburg and Wrangell and for Seward and Cordova. 44
The guard was not formed without opposition. One group took careful aim and fired three shots at the
territorial legislature‘s appropriation $56,860 for the Alaska National Guard. First they claimed Gruening‘s
signature of the act was not valid because it was made the day after the legislature adjourned. Second they
claimed the territory could not contribute to a federal agency without authorization, which in this case was
lacking. Third they claimed the guard had no legal status under territorial laws. All three shots missed. The
appropriation, and the National Guard, used. 45
The new 297 th was inducted into federal service Sept. 15, 1941, only two years old. The activation would
have been made earlier in the year, but was delayed to allow members to complete fishing season and arrange
their affairs. They were to be on active duty for one year. A group of 14 select men of the regular Army‘s 4 th
Infantry remained on active duty at Chilkoot Barracks as training cadre as the new Guardsmen arrived from
Ketchikan and Juneau. The rest of the Guard trained at Fort Richardson.46 Companies A and B of the 297 th were
at an enlisted strength of 20 men each at Chilkoot on Oct. 20, 1941. 264
Two company commanders attempted to resign their positions just prior to induction. Capt. Don M. B.
Adler of Company C at Fairbanks allowed that he was too old to go into federal service and that he could be put
to better use in a Home Guard unit at Fairbanks. Capt. William N. Redling of Juneau‘s A Company wrote the
governor claiming he would lose his job at the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co. if he left. Gruening firmly
refused both resignations. 47
With the loss of the National Guard from the territory, Gruening, through Maj. Jesse E. Graham of the
National Guard Instructor‘s Office in Juneau, noted a need for more territorial protection. A conference had been
held early in June, 1941, between Gruening and Gen. John F. Williams, chief of the National Guard Bureau, and
Maj. Gen. Simon B. Buckner, commander of the Alaska Defense Command. Major Graham had listed major
supply and distribution centers in the territory which needed immediate attention as Ketchikan, Wrangell,
Petersburg, Juneau, Cordova, Seward, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Nome. He recommended a two battalion
regiment with headquarters in Juneau, with a staff and supply section to replace traditional headquarters and
service companies. The battalions he recommended would each have a medical detachment. The first would
include four Southeast companies: Ketchikan, Petersburg and Wrangell. The second would include five
companies in the West and Interior: Anchorage, Nome, Seward, Cordova and Fairbanks. 48
Two months later the Governor wired General Williams, who had returned to Washington, to press for
immediate action on the organization of four National Guard units for Alaska: a heavy weapons company at
Nome and three rifle companies: Seward-Cordova, Petersburg and Wrangell. He had approval of General
Buckner. 49 No action was taken until October, when Buckner, disillusioned with the turnout in the federally
activated 297 th , withdrew his support. Out of a field of 275 men who were in the Guard in June, Buckner claimed
only 84 had been inducted in September. The War Department had inquired to him about adding two units to the
National Guard and he recommended against them, adding the note that if they were approved they should be
split units for Petersburg-Wrangell and Seward-Cordova. 50
16

The Guard‘s planned 129 th Observation Squadron also bit the dust. While funds had been appropriated in
April for organization, equipping and training the squadron, 51 and details had been worked out for one flight to
be located at Fort Richardson and a second flight at Ladd Field, 52 the Western Defense Command ruled the
squadron because it would disrupt communication and cause confusion, because it would place too much
demand on Army planes, and because young pilots who would be eligible for service in the proposed squadron
could be called on active status on their reserve commissions anyway. And besides all that, General Buckner had
recommended against it in favor of an expanded Army Air Corps in Alaska. 53
By the time of Pearl Harbor, just a few months later, Gruening and Buckner had developed a solid
animosity and were taking regular shots at one another. Into the crossfire stepped a man who was to become
Alaska‘s most outstanding, controversial and influential character.
Muktuk Marston
―…a tall major who had just come in but was apparently at home here, a big fellow with a small hard
head on his shoulders. He had pleasant, lively, small eyes under heavy brows, a sharp but flattened broken nose,
a wide but thin and determined mouth decorated with a long narrow line of mustache; his skin hard, brown and
tight over his bones. He wore a shiny leather Air Corps jacket, short and tight at the hips, but with a big fur hood
with rich black wolf mane, which, thrown back across his neck, made his head, topped with a tight, battered,
overseas cap, seem smaller, more outthrust, and more eagle-like. He was Major Marston, representing Governor
Gruening in organizing the Alaska Territorial Guard.‖
So an artist 55 describes Maj. Marvin R. Marston, later to become known as Muktuk Marston, friend of the
Eskimo, Indian and Aleut.
Marvin Marston was born and reared in the West. He had known frontier pioneer life. As a youngster he
had punched bulls in the woods of Oregon and drove horses in Washington. As a lad he was as much at home on
the water of Puget Sound as in the mountains which border it. He prospected and mined in the bush of northern
Canada in the 1930s, establishing a reputation as a good hiker and camper. 56
When Canada entered the war against Germany, Marston went to Washington, D.C., to present a plan he
had worked out for storing aircraft underground. The proposal got nowhere and Marston got frustrated. But he
was finally was given a job: compiling a comprehensive report on the terrain and weather conditions of northern
Canada which was helpful in routing lend-lease planes through the Hudson Bay area. A few weeks after
completing that report he was asked to go to Alaska. For Marston, it seemed the chance of a lifetime. 57 He
boarded the St. Mihiel in Seattle in March of 1941 as commander of troops bound for Dutch Harbor on
Amaknek Island in the Aleutian Chain. From there he proceeded through Kodiak and Seward to Ft. Richardson.
His first duty in Alaska was to oversee the construction of a service club for enlisted men, which began
about the time the Alaska National Guard was being sent out of the territory and continued through winter
following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had 628 men working on the club on and off, cutting trees from a tract
in Palmer, some 50 miles north of the post, and taking them to a mill. The 40 by 100 foot building still stands
across from the headquarters on Elmendorf Air Force Base. Marston called the building the Kashim, an Eskimo
word meaning men‘s meeting place. When it was finished in March of 1942 they invited the great comedian Joe
E. Brown to open it properly. His coming figured in the formation of an army of natives which was to protect the
Alaska coast during the war and later become the foundation for a permanent Alaska National Guard.
After Joe entertained the troops in Anchorage, Marston was given a B-17 and crew and was told to take
the comedian to every military outpost in the territory. A tour of bases which logged more than 9,000 miles in
less than 30 days ended in Nome, where Joe asked, ―Major, have we seen all the soldiers?‖
Marston replied, ―Joe, we‘ve seen them all.‖
―Well,‖ he said, ―now I want to see some Eskimos.‖
So on March 18, 1942, they flew to Gambell on the northern tip of St. Lawrence Island. After a lively
day of trading and dickering and a refreshing cup of tea with the school teacher, Frank Daugherty, the party took
17

off over the Bering Sea headed back to Nome. They had gone only a short distance, though, when one engine
developed trouble. The pilot decided to return to the island. It was already dark and bitterly cold when they
landed again at Gambell. When the natives learned of the trouble, they began assisting, pulling a heavy tarpaulin
covering over the plane and setting firepots beneath the canvas to keep the engines from freezing. As Marston
began cutting ice bridges, with the help of natives, to anchor the plane, he was thinking of the several gallons of
water that would be needed to freeze around the ropes.
Knowing there is no water in a native village at 30 below zero, save that which can be obtained from
melting snow, Marston nevertheless told the men what was required. In astonishment, he saw the insurmountable
problem solved in a matter of minutes. The men simply zippered down and soaked the ropes with their private
resources. It was here, under these improbable conditions, that the Tundra Army began to take shape. Marston‘s
mind raced as he thought of the knowledge the natives had gained and the ability they would have to defend
themselves as well as the rest of the nation.
The Alaska Territorial Guard is Formed.
Marston and Joe E. Brown spent the night with Daugherty at Gambell. The comedian endeared himself to
the natives, who declared March 18 Joe E. Brown day. Marston heard more from Daugherty about the need for
protection of the island—the teacher was the only white man who hadn‘t deserted, and he was fixing to leave
soon. Marston convinced himself that the successful defense of the island—and indeed of the entire Arctic—
could be made only by the Eskimo and resolved to confront the military with the suggestion immediately. He
convinced Daugherty to stay on, and he later became commander of an ATG unit on the island. 58
Within ten days of his return to Fort Richardson, Marston was in the office of Maj. William Castner a ,
who headed the Intelligence Division of the Alaskan Department b , presenting a detailed plan for the use of the
men of St. Lawrence Island. Castner ended the interview by saying, ―You may rest assured, Major Marston, that
there will be action on this shortly.‖ He was very wrong.
Marston‘s plan was referred to General Buckner‘s Alaska Defense Command staff for study. 59 Finally,
after weeks of frustrated attempts to get some action, the original copy of the plan was returned to Marston with
this note: ―Buckner is interested in the idea but is without authority to act beyond Anchorage and environs. He
suggests that you contact General Ladd, commander of Fort Richardson. However, he wishes to be kept advised
of any progress made locally. c ‖ Marston had become disgusted with the military back in Washington, and the
red-tape run-around he was taking at Ft. Richardson tore open the old bruise.
―I had no personal military ambitions to protect,‖ he muses now. ―I had no inclination to polish apples. I
wanted only to do my duty as I saw it… I could see little sense in sitting there at Ft. Richardson, waiting for
bombs and invasion, with surrender already planned. d ‖ Marston and Buckner were at odds. To be sure, the
natives were not soldiers and there was no time to train them. But better than years of formal drill and all that
goes with making an efficient military force was the indisputable fact of their complete and exact knowledge of
Alaska‘s vulnerable coastline. They could become our first line of defense—eyes and ears for our army.
a
At this time, (late March or early April of 1942) the author says that Castner is a Major. But later in this history, Castner, in describing
the group ‗Castner‘s Cutthroats‘ the author has Castner as being a Colonel in ‗mid-1941‘. Web sites, such as http://ww2f.com/warpacific/
have Castner having the rank of Colonel at the time of the formation of the group.
b
In 1947 the Alaskan Department was redesignated the U.S. Army, Alaska (USARAK). Source:
http://www.usarak.army.mil/conservation/files/Fort_Richardson_Cold_War_Historical_Context.pdf. Although in this account of
history it is called USARAL.
c
According to http://www.rememberthedeadeyes.com/GeneralBuckner.html Buckner was a ―Brigadier General and assigned to fortify
and protect Alaska as commander of the Army's Alaska Defense Command.‖ Buckner had authority to act to protect the state anywhere
in the state. Suggesting contact with a commander of a single installation goes lacking.
d
The musing of Marston in these two quotes come from ‗Scouts of the Tundra‘ written by Marston and appeared in the quarterly
magazine ‗Alaska Guardsman‘ of the Winter 1963-64 edition.
18

So went Marston‘s thoughts. Then the Japanese attacked Dutch Harbor, where Marston first landed in
Alaska. Just a few days earlier he had submitted his plan again, this time to the Provost Marshall Commanding
Officer for the Alaska Defense Command, a big upstanding West Pointer. The day after the attack, the colonel
told Marston he had the right idea, but he advised him that he must be cautious. Marston became heated and
pressed the colonel for the shortest course to get action on the plan. He agreed to take it to Governor Gruening in
Juneau the following day.
After two more weeks of delay and discouragement, Marston was finally notified that he and Capt. Carl
Scheibner of the provost marshal‘s office at Juneau were to be appointed as military aides to the governor. ―You
will be assigned to the accomplishment of this guerrilla organization plan, after all,‖ he was told.
Marston hadn‘t known that Gruening had been pressing for just such a plan ever since the four Alaska
National Guard companies which he had established had been federalized. The governor later told him: ―I did
not want a single male non-combatant in Alaska. I wanted everyone who was not called to service in the Army
or Navy or engaged in essential war work to be enlisted in a home guard. Alaska was the country‘s front line of
defense and I felt we should mobilize every available human being for that defense.‖
A few days later Gruening arrived at Fort Richardson and the two men met, beginning a four year
association that was to make Alaska history. 60 The Alaska Territorial Guard was officially organized as a unit of
the Alaska Defense Command.
By June 27, 1942, things were already rolling for the ATG. J. P. Williams, whom Gruening had
appointed property officer for the ATG, submitted on that date a requisition for clothing for the militia. It called
for 4,000 issues of web belts, olive drab duck coats, olive drab wool gloves, rubberized raincoats, olive drab
flannel shirts, 16 inch shoe pacs and olive drab duck trousers. 81 Williams, a janitor in the capital building, soon
was appointed adjutant general for the ATG. Although he didn‘t play a major role in the guard, he ably filled a
necessary position. A big game guide and a great naturalist, Williams later became head of the Alaska Fish and
Wildlife Division and authored a book on Alaska wildlife. 82
General Buckner, as chief of the Alaska Defense Command, had ultimate authority and responsibility for
the Alaska Territorial Guard, a function which he largely turned over to Governor Gruening. ―The following
outline, with some detail of the suggested regulation,‖ he wrote Gruening in submitting a plan for the militia, ―is
offered for whatever use you desire to make of it. I suggest that the details be revised to meet with your ideas and
that details that are lacking be framed according to your desires in the matter.‖ 83
Another document—prepared in the governor‘s office—clearly gave Gruening full control of the ATG:
―The territorial guard is an element of the executive department of the territorial government. It is employed by
the Governor of Alaska…upon such missions and duties within the territory as may be deemed appropriate,
subject to the limitations imposed by law.‖ This document cited as authority for the creation of the ATG the act
of Congress June 3, 1916 under which the earlier Home Guards had been formed. The act provides for home
guard units to be formed during the absence of National Guard units which are in active federal service. This
meant that the ATG was temporary—it would have to be disbanded when the National Guard returned. As it
would turn out, however, both the Alaska National Guard and the Alaska Territorial Guard would disband after
the war.
No men could be drafted into the ATG. All who volunteered for the militia still would be subject to
induction and eligible for enlistment into federal service. The ATG itself could not be called into federal service,
however. All members of the ATG were to serve without pay. 84 The men were to be armed with obsolete Enfield
rifles, vintage of 1917, and little else. They were provided no uniforms, other than an arm patch, and very little
equipment. These were to be ―Gruening‘s Guerrillas—the straightest-shooting little army in the world.‖ 270
19

A Look Around
The first thing Governor Gruening did as commander-in-chief of the Alaska Territorial Guard was to take
a trip in July, 1942, with Marston to look at some kind of coastal area and see just what kind of country was to
be defended by this Tundra Army and just what kind of people were to do the defending.
Marston and Gruening weren’t the first with the idea.
Scouts – In 1925??
During a recent trip to Washington D.C., representatives of the ANGOA had the opportunity to browse
through the files of the National Guard Association of the U. S. Magazine. An old letter came to light and is
reproduced here. It would seem as far back as 1925, one individual, at least, recognized the potential
values of the Alaska Scout: Quote:
Nome, Alaska
April 22, 1925
Honorable Calvin Coolidge
President of the United States
Washington, D. C.
Dear President Coolidge:
I have made a discovery that is valuable to the United States, only. I have mined and prospected here
on the Seward Peninsula from 1900 to 1908, and came back here again last year after having been away
from here for sixteen years, and found an entirely different race of young men here in the young natives
that have grown up in that length of time.
I have studied these natives from every angle and what a fine regiment of soldiers I could enlist here
for service on their home ground. I am sure that we get from three to five thousand men that would pass
all the requirements for Military service.
I am a Spanish War Veteran and I know how it is to fight men who are fighting on their own ground,
even a common dog can whip three others when they come to his home to whip him. The young native
knows how to handle himself in every way and knows how to take advantage of the conditions here and
how to cope with the elements in this part of our country. He is brave and quick to act, has confidence in
himself and is contented, rain or shine. He keeps himself clean, keeps his teeth clean and his eyes are
good. In fact, the native boy of today has every advantage to make a better soldier for this part of the
country than has the white man, as the white man is only part here – his heart is always in the States.
Last summer I cooked, ate, worked, and slept with a native crew on the river and in the fall I got shipwrecked
on the Silver Wave Mail Boat in the Arctic Ocean. I risked my life to get the mail off the boat and
got a native to help me and he showed bravery and skill at the same time.
What I want is to enlist a whole regiment of these men and keep them here where they want to stay
and belong, and a commission in the Army for that special purpose.
As the flying navies of the world will soon be flying over this part of the world – SAFETY FIRST.
Yours very truly,
S /WILLIAM P. ARMSTRONG
From the Summer 1961 edition of ‘The Alaska Guardsman’ magazine.
The territory was in a state of unrest from the June 3 attack on Dutch Harbor and neighboring Ft. Mears.
The Japanese were met the following day by a flight of Army P-40s from Ft. Glenn on Umnak Island. Later a
20

flight of B-26 medium bombers from Ft. Randall at Cold Bay attacked a Japanese task force near Unalaska. The
war had definitely reached Alaska. 62 The largest population center on the Bering Sea, Nome was within flying
distance of Japanese territory and its position seemed dangerous, indeed. After Pearl Harbor everyone in the
town had turned out to help prepare for what might come. Barrels of gasoline which had been concentrated at the
airport and would have made a good target from the air were scattered over the tundra. When news reached
Nome of the evacuation of Dutch Harbor and Anchorage (Marston‘s wife and children were sent back to the
states after five months there), families began to gather emergency supplies of raisins, crackers, chocolate and so
on in five gallon cans. They were ready to head for the hills. The citizens kept a 24-hour watch. School was held
only during daylight hours, which in mid-December is 10:30 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. A rigid
blackout was kept from 2:30 p.m. to 10 a.m. All windows were covered and no lights were allowed outside
except for small flashlights with blued lenses. 63 Dutch Harbor‘s attack was taken in Nome as a threat of
infiltration or direct invasion. Many of the people of Nome—most of the people, according to some accounts—
beat it for the hills, evacuating the town and leaving it for a time to the armed men on the beach. 153
The military had begun to build several new installations in 1942, including Ft. Morrow at Port Heiden,
Davis Field and a naval station on Adak Island, a landing station on Big Delta, the Whittier port and air fields at
St. Paul Island, Atka Island, Bethel, Cordova, Galena, Gulkana, McGrath, Moses Point, Naknek, Northway and
Tanacross. 61
Because of platinum mining and red salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, just north of the Aleutian Chain,
Marston determined to make this first stop with Gruening. They arranged with Bob Claypool of the Star Airlines
to fly them over in a Travelaire on pontoons. They were to leave July 14, but the plane couldn‘t get out due to
bad weather. The previous night, a bartender at the Aleutian Gardens, whom Marston calls Tony, asked the
Major if he would take his 16mm movie camera, a bunch of film and a light meter and expose the film. Marston
could keep copies for himself and make extra ones for Tony. Marston, considering himself a tough soldier with
no time to fool around with pictures, flatly refused. As it happened, Marston went back to the Gardens after they
were weathered in, and Tony again put the proposal to him. This time Marston told him, ―Okay, put that gadget
in my pack over there.‖ 77
The Alaska Territorial Guard‘s World War I Enfield rifles had been found in storage by an old National
Guard unit at Seattle. Although several thousand were in the Seattle armory, there was only one available as
Marston and Gruening prepared to depart. They took that one as an example of the promised weapons, along
with 7,500 rounds of ammunition, their personal gear and Tony‘s camera and film.
The plane took off about noon on July 15 from Lake Spenard. Their first stop was Dillingham. 68 Here
they enlisted the support of Dewey Goodrich, who operated the general store. The word was spread around and
soon all in the village knew the purpose of their visit. But the cannery was working on a 24-hour schedule and it
was impossible to get a mass meeting. Goodrich was appointed the captain of the Dillingham ATG and was
instructed how to enlist, sign up and swear in volunteers. They left enlistment blanks with him, along with 1,500
rounds of ammunition. Arrangements were made to ship 90 Enfields by air. This was the first, though unofficial,
unit of the new Tundra Army.
Marston and Gruening made similar stops at Naknek, Good News Bay, Quinhagak, Mekoryuk, Hooper
Bay, Fortuna Lodge, Mountain Village, Akuluruk a , St. Michael, Unalakleet, Deering, Kotzebue, Shishmaref,
Wales and Nome. Marston recalls that when they got to Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island and saw ―those gorgeous
Eskimos‖ coming out to meet the plane, he was glad he had Tony‘s movie camera. ―Where‘s that gadget?‖ he
said. ―I got to make a report of this!‖ He feverishly read the instruction book and took some excellent footage.
Marston kept the camera four years before returning it to Tony, and his films have been compiled into two
outstanding documentaries which are now available at the Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum. The
camera is part of the museum‘s permanent collection. 78 In June, 1961, copies of the film were printed for each
a Probably meant Alakanuk. Alakanuk is a coastal village that geographically fits in with the other areas visited.
21

scout battalion, the Public Affairs Branch of the National Guard Bureau, the Headquarters of the U.S. Army,
Alaska, the Alaska governor‘s office and the state adjutant general‘s office. 220
The inspection tour marked the first time any governor had visited the Alaskan Bush. Everywhere they
stopped the natives and whites turned out en masse. They were honored by Gruening‘s call, Marston later noted,
and listened attentively to his message. ―As they assembled at the school in response to the school bell or the call
of a messenger, the Governor addressed them as ‗fellow citizens of the United States,‘‖ Marston has written. 65
Following the speech, every Eskimo moved forward to sign or mark the simple enrollment blank. The oath of
allegiance was solemnly administered and a captain and at least one lieutenant were appointed. A case of
ammunition always was left, with the promise that rifles would follow soon.
In Nome, after ten days of hard traveling, Gruening prepared to return to Juneau. Marston, who would
remain at the Alaska Territorial Guard‘s Western Division headquarters in Nome, recalls of that day, ―We liked
each other; got along good together. Gruening turned to me in the streets of Nome—and we were expecting the
enemy any time; there were bulletins going out and we were expecting the enemy any time—he turned to me, the
governor did, and he said, ‗Major, we see eye to eye on this native army. You‘re the governor of the Arctic: you
run it. Build a native army. When you get in trouble, call on me.‘‖ 67
Marston‘s Great Adventure
That fall the intelligence colonel for Alaska called on Marston to put the St. Lawrence Island Eskimos to
work building a Civil Aeronautics Authority airstrip, road and buildings. The Major flew to Gambell, convened a
meeting in the village square, told the villagers what he wanted them to do and heard every able-bodied man
pledge that he would until the project was completed, even though it would mean abandoning hunting to gather
skins, meat and fish for the winter. Marston enrolled 100 men from Gambell and 50 from Savoonga as charter
members of the Alaska Territorial Guard, making this the actual birth of the ATG. 80
Led by Bill Beltz, the crew helped erect buildings and a radio tower. But when the job was finished and
the white men gone, the native food caches were empty. The Army had promised to send food, but enemy
submarines had got in the Bering Sea and they couldn‘t go through with it. In desperation Marston told them to
kill 100 of the village‘s 600 dogs and feed the carcasses to the remaining 500 to make them strong enough to
hunt.
Much against their tradition, the natives finally agreed to point out the oldest dogs for the soldiers to kill,
and the remaining dogs completely devoured the dead ones. The next morning, the well-fed dogs were hitched to
sleds. After a few days of hunting the village came back to life and they were able to build up a supply for the
winter. Out of the experience came Panda, a pup who Marston found tearing meat from his dead mother‘s ribs.
―You‘re the fellow I want,‖ Marston told the orphaned puppy, which looked for all the world like a panda
bear. ―You know what war is. War is hell and it‘s kill or get killed and you‘re going to eat your mother to live.‖
He bent down and picked up the shivering dog. ―You come with me.‖ 69 Panda followed the Major on his greatest
adventure, which was soon to follow.
Back in Nome, Marston decided the next thing to do was organize the Seward Peninsula. American pilots
were ferrying Russian planes from factories in the states to Ladd Field at Fairbanks, where Russian pilots were
waiting for them. From there the Russians flew them to the front by way of Nome. It seemed possible to Marston
that the Japanese would attempt sabotage somewhere along this course, and he felt it imperative to organize units
along the 5,000 miles of shoreland at utmost speed.
In November of 1942, Marston began to arrange for a plane to make the trip. No Army plane came,
however, nor was he able to charter any of several planes operated by bush pilots. One hope after another faded,
and he finally began inquiring around Nome for a dependable native with a good dog team. Travel by this means
was still common with regular mail deliveries by dog team as late as 1950 in Alaska. But the cold, dark days
weren‘t ideal, and he was asking for someone to go far beyond the usual limits of travel by circling the
22

peninsula. Finally he enlisted Sammy Mogg, a man with a sense of adventure and an interest in setting himself
up as a great hunter. Sammy agreed to provide his sled and 10 dogs for $15 a day. 70
Sammy and the Major set out from Nome‘s main street about 11 a.m. on Dec. 11, 1942. It was just after
sunup. The little dog Panda raced along as they headed east of town. But trouble was waiting for them before
they even got out of town. ―We almost wrecked that whole expedition the first minute of that trip,‖ Marston
recalls. A bitch crossed in front of the team, and Sammy‘s lead dog Blackie took off after her. As Marston
remembers it, they scraped the fender of a car, darted across the street and onto the sidewalk in front of the post
office, ran down the sidewalk a couple hundred feet and headed back into the street right for a parked Army
truck, which they swung free of by a hair‘s breadth.
From there, Blackie straightened out—the female dog rescued by its owner—headed straight out of
Nome and onto the ice of the Bering Sea. 71 It wasn‘t the end of thrills, adventure and danger, however. For the
next thirty-four days, Sammy Mogg and Marston were to experience temperatures as cold as 46 below; stinging,
whipping, blinding winds; badly marked trails and undependable compasses; impossibly deep snow; broken tow
lines and sled brake rods; a blinded lead dog; dangerous open-water shoreline overflows; extreme danger as team
and sled plunged over 20- and 30-foot cliffs and exhaustion.
During the first ten days of the trip, they organized units at Nook, Bluff, Golovin, Elim, Moses Point and
Koyuk, ending up at Haycock, where Marston enlisted a native woman schoolteacher as the sergeant. Although
it wasn‘t legal to enlist a woman then (that authority came 30 years later) it was expedient in this case. And
expediency—not legality—was all that concerned Marston. Laura Hagberg was the best shot in the village and
she was a good fisherwoman. She spoke good English and she would do. The former ATG sergeant is now Mrs.
Laura Wright, who operates a parky shop on E Street in Anchorage. 76
From Haycock they left the coastline to travel inland. Sammy would be in completely new territory here
so Marston hired a second Eskimo at Haycock, a man named Johnny Beltz, to guide them across the neck of the
Seward Peninsula up to Candle, where Johnny‘s mother lived. What should have been a day‘s run ended up
being three days of discomfort and hardship. It was Christmas Eve when they arrived at Candle. From there
Marston and Sammy continued on Dec. 26 along the western coast of the peninsula headed back toward Nome.
The trip to Deering, the next stop after Candle, was another high adventure. After organizing a unit there,
a Deering native, Roger Mendenhall, accompanied them to Shishmaref. From there they went to Ikpek, Wales,
Lost River and Teller, arriving back in Nome about 4 p.m. Jan. 14, 1943. As it turned out the trip had been made
in the middle of the coldest winter in 25 years over a new route which totaled about 1,000 miles. Marston had
written a book, ―Men of the Tundra,‖ which details what he describes as the unparalleled adventure in his Arctic
experiences. 72
At each village along the route, Marston secured first the cooperation of a white man, as far as he could:
the teacher, missionary or trader. The word would be sent out and the villagers would assemble in a school or
church. Then Marston would give The Speech, basically the message Governor Gruening had used on the trip
from Bristol Bay to Nome. The speech was to be repeated scores of times, with appropriate changes made to fit
each occasion. Each time he gave it, Marston would become a bit more formal, a bit more grand, a bit more
impressive.
―The President of the United States and the Governor of Alaska have told me to come and ask your
help,‖ he invariably intoned. ―The Japanese have bombed our ships and people at Pearl Harbor. They have
dropped their bombs on Alaska at Dutch Harbor. They will come with more bombs. We do not know where they
will strike next. They want to drive you out of your villages, so they can take the fish, the whale and the seal for
their people. Uncle Sam does not have enough soldiers to watch all your coastline. Will you help keep the
Japanese out? Will you keep a lookout along your shores? If you see a strange boat, or a strange airplane, or a
strange man anywhere around your village, will you send a message quickly to the Army at Nome? We will give
you guns and ammunition. If Jap comes here and lands will you shoot him quick? You men who will help your
country against the Japs, come forward now and sign your name here on this paper.‖ 73
23

That was all. When the purpose of his visit was explained, Marston invariably signed up one hundred per
cent of the men in the Alaska Territorial Guard. The need for constant vigilance was impressed on them and full
instructions were given on how to contact or relay information to the nearest regular Army Signal Corps stations.
Officers were appointed and messengers were sent to pick up guns and ammunition, which Marston had cached
at Moses Point and Nome. Then the Major would be gone and they would be on their own until his next visit.
―Marston was the one that pick us up‖ for the ATG, recalls Howard Slwooko, one of the original ATG
men, describing the first ―secret weapons‖ they made themselves. ―We make it any kind of metals we can fit
anywhere, you: contact weapon, secret weapon Eskimo style: knives and hooks with it you can cut the throat
with, and the small hammer to hit with behind (the head). Silent weapon we call it.‖ Slwooko had been at
Gambell when Marston and Joe E. Brown made their first visit there, leaving the island the following June to
join the regular Army. He trained at Ft. Richardson and later would be sent back to Nome to work with
Marston‘s quartermaster who would send him back to Gambell as a special instructor. 187
In addition to the Alaska Territorial Guard, Alaskan Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts made up part of an
Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon of the U.S. Army which spearheaded landings on Adak, Amchitka, Attu,
and Kiska Islands during the Japanese attacks.
Colorfully dubbed by the press as Castner‘s Cutthroats, the platoon‘s formation is attributed to Col.
Lawrence Vincent Castner, who in mid-1941 persuaded Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., Alaska Defense
Command commander, that in the event of war an unusual intelligence method would be needed in the Territory
of Alaska. Then G-2 of the command, Castner felt that a small group of men who were familiar with the country,
its weather and its terrain, should be formed for special reconnaissance work.
A provisional platoon was organized at Ft. Richardson about nine weeks before Pearl Harbor. Four
Regular Army men—three from the western states and one Tennessean—formed the nucleus for the platoon.
With the declaration of war against Japan, these four were joined by trappers and prospectors and by the Alaskan
natives. 223
After the Japanese failed to secure Dutch Harbor, they took Kiska and Attu. Castner, seeing a necessity to
occupy Adak, accompanied his Scout platoon in its landing on that island in August, 1942, in a rubber boat
launched from a submarine. The scouts searched the island thoroughly to confirm aerial reconnaissance reports
of no Japanese and signaled for the
troops to come in.
By January, 1943, when Adak
had been developed sufficiently to
handle big bombers, the Scouts made
the first landing on Amchitka to again
confirm that no Japanese were there.
Troops followed them ashore, and
work was begun on a landing strip
there. In May, the scouts accompanied
commandos of Company A of the 17 th
Sons of American and Japanese combatants meet on Attu to remember their
father‘s service in the World War II battle for Attu. From the Alaska National
Guard magazine ‗The Alaskan‘ of September 1987.
24
Infantry Regiment in a landing on
Attu, already occupied by the enemy.
They also led a landing on Kiska
determining the concentration of
enemy on the island, but in this case
the Japanese had fled, partially
destroying material and installations.
By late 1944 the need for the
provisional scouts had passed, and the personnel formed the 1 st Combat Intelligence Platoon. This existed as an
active unit of the Army until 1947, when it was placed on the inactive list.

One of the Alaskan Indians who was a member of the scout platoon later enlisted in the Alaska National
Guard, becoming the first enlisted man to retire on March 1, 1970. Frank John was the youngest of twins born on
Nov. 27, 1907, in a tent about 20 miles up the river from Fort Yukon, a village where continues to live today,
raising three primary-school-age grandchildren. He works as a carpenter and a building mover, having moved
the Episcopal Church from its original location near the river and also having built the Fort Yukon armory. And
he was a barber.
Frank John remembers today that he was the first of a dozen men from Fort Yukon to be drafted into the
Army in February, 1942. He was trained at Ft. Richardson, which he remembers had one barracks and the rest
was tents. The basic training took eight weeks; he was issued a Browning automatic rifle with a bipod, a weapon
that served him three years. After his training he signed with the 4 th Infantry and was sent out on the Aleutian
chain, where he says he ate three C-Ration Christmas dinners. ―In 1944,‖ he says, ―we got class B rations. We
heard a rumor we were going to get class B rations with some meat. There was four ounces of meat. We got two
mouthsfull, that‘s all. That was the first meat I seen for three years.‖
John was discharged from the regular Army at Ft. Hood, Texas as a master sergeant in October, 1954.
After the National Guard was reformed in Alaska he signed up as a buck sergeant. 268
From Bristol Bay to Distant Barrow
In March, 1943, on the anniversary of his first trip to Gambell with Joe E. Brown, Marston wrote a
message to the Alaska Territorial Guardsmen, reminding them of their importance to the Governor and the
President and of their duties as the eyes and ears of the Arctic. He told them the record ―will be emblazoned for
all times that the Eskimo people, from Bristol Bay to distant Barrow, are united with all free peoples, fighting
with them, side by side, carving out with them for a FREE WORLD and ESKIMO EMPIRE for our beloved
country, a great and glorious destiny.‖ 79
Marston had taken a second trip by dog team, this time with Maurice Johnson up the Yukon River.
Johnson was a native from Marshall. It was on this trip that Marston met one of the most interesting characters
he ever signed up for the ATG—although he didn‘t want to do it at first—a man whose attitude was typical of
his fellows.
Paul Kashevnekof lived about 2 miles out of Pitkas Point nears Andreafsky (Now called St. Marys).
Marston and Johnson stopped there because Johnson said Paul Kashevnekof was an interesting man. Marston
recalls they parked the dogs on the bank of the river and climbed about 20 steps to his cabin. It was about 2 in
the afternoon and Paul was asleep on his bunk with his family all around him. He was 88 years old, had a short
small body and a large head.
Marston asked him to tell about himself and learned he was the son of a Russian soldier and an Eskimo
woman, born in St. Michaels. He saw the Russian flag come down and the Stars and Stripes go up when he was
about five years old. When Marston asked him to tell him some more, the old man said, ―No. I tell you story.
Now you tell me story. What are you doing here?‖ Marston explained the mission he was on for the Governor of
Alaska and Paul insisted on joining the ATG.
―I want to kill Jap,‖ Marston recalls him saying. Many time up here I hungry. Jap out there get my fish.‖
Marston told him there were 10,000 Japs on the way right now.
―I want to kill my share of them.‖
Marston was against it. He said, ―Paul, you‘re a sick man.‖
―Who tell you that? I not sick, I just resting,‖ Paul shouted. And he got right up.
Marston still didn‘t want him. ―But you got no eyes to see to shoot with.‖
Paul picked a gun off his rack, stepped out on the porch and said, ―Pick out a target.‖
Marston pointed down the river. ―That can down there on the beach.‖ Paul put a bullet right through the
end of it.
―But Paul,‖ Marston said, ―you got no legs to travel with.‖
25

―Major,‖ said Paul, ―I‘m not running. I shoot them before they get here.‖
Marston had put up three hurdles, and this old man had cleared them all with ease. Marston turned to
Johnson and said, ―Go down and get an Enfield and 150 rounds of ammunition. And a shoulder patch.‖
Paul died a year later 100 miles up the river with his crew, the bright blue and gold patch of the ATG still
on his shoulder. 85
Sometimes Marston would send his dog musher on side trips in order to scout up more units. Maurice
Johnson had dropped in on John T. Emel, a cannery owner at Alakanuk, early on this trip, asking him to find out
how many men would be available to join the ATG. Emel wrote Marston in April that 23 men had attended a
meeting on the fifth of the month. ―I explained to the best of my ability the aims and purposes of the
organization,‖ he said, ―having heard the talk on St. Michael‘s last summer.‖ 86
Rusty Heurlin
Shortly after Easter Marston flew to Barrow with Governor Gruening, where an ATG unit was formed at
a meeting in the Presbyterian Church. With them on that trip was Rusty Heurlin, an artist who had first come to
Alaska to work in the copper mines in 1916 and was in Valdez in 1917 when the Home Guard was being formed
there.
Heurlin had wanted to join the Marines, but had copper poisoning from mining in Pennsylvania. He
returned to the states, though, recovering from the illness and joined the Navy at Wakefield, Mass. Later he
ended up in the Marines and became a rifle specialist. ―I had worked as a kid on the Wakefield rifle range,‖ he
remembers now. ―I knew the ropes and I made expert the third time out on the range.‖ He went back then as a
coach from Bunker Island and later was picked to go to France as chief of the skirmish squad. Heurlin had
returned to Alaska in 1924, living again in Valdez, this time painting magazine covers for New York firms. After
the trip to Barrow with Gruening and Marston, Heurlin returned to a small farm he had bought near Wasilla. But
he was to return to Barrow a year later to become captain of the ATG. He wanted to go to the Aleutians but
wasn‘t getting anywhere in that attempt when Marston and Gruening came to him, so he forgot about it.
―I never regretted it,‖ he recalls. ―It was really a good time from beginning to end.‖ 87 As Marston says,
―He stayed there two years to the day and came out the world‘s greatest Arctic artist.‖ 88 Heurlin now maintains a
log studio near his home in Ester, where he is completing an ambitious work titled ―Our Heritage,‖ which is to
consist of 19 paintings on Alaska history.
The Ada
About the same time, Henry Varnum Poor, a war artist from New York, arrived at Ft. Richardson for
duty in Alaska. On May 5, a lieutenant colonel assigned him to Ladd Field at Fairbanks, where the Russian pilots
were picking up there planes. From there he was to go to Nome, St. Lawrence Island and Eskimo country where
the Alaska Territorial Guard was being established. 89
Poor was a native of Chapman, Kansas, born in 1888. A regimental artist in France during World War I,
he now was the leader of a group of artists who were sent to Alaska. 90 He landed in Nome with two artist
companions, Ben Dangers and Joe Jones. They were put in the Wallace Hotel and, as it happened, they shared a
room with Marston.
The Major was dickering for a boat at the time, to visit units and deliver guns and ammunition to St.
Lawrence Island, Little Diomede Island, and all the villages up the coast. Marston invited the artists to come
along and they decided that, although the trip would take longer than plane travel, ―we would more than make up
the time by the continuity of the trip.‖ 91 A captain at the Nome post granted them permission, and they were off.
But not without the boat.
Poor rode with Marston in a Plymouth down to the restricted area to have a look at the craft Marston was
bargaining for. It was now a year since the panic of Dutch Harbor and Nome was busy. Four big traveling cranes
26

with donkey engines were unloading lighters from four freighters anchored off shore. The workmen were mostly
Eskimo employees of the Loman Commercial Co., but soldiers were putting army supplies into army trucks.
Civilian supplies were going into warehouses at the harbor. Around a corner by the harbor master‘s little
building was a shabby little tugboat, according to the artist‘s eye, with scaling dark green paint but a solid
seaworthy look.
―That‘s her. The Ada,‖ said Marston. ―That‘s the boat I‘m buying.‖
Klement Klemetson, a heavy Lapp whose grandfather had come to Unalakleet with the first reindeer
herds and who was the skipper and owner of the Ada, was standing in the cabin door. Poor left Marston to dicker
with Klemetson, whom he described as ―clearly an oblique fellow.‖ 92 Marston was buying the boat for the Arctic
Trading Co. of Kotzebue, an outfit headed by Dr. H. O. K. Bauer, who ran the Kotzebue hospital. Bauer and his
partner, Louie Rich, had been trying to buy the boat at a reasonable price for some time. The doctor had agreed
to lease her to the ATG for Marston‘s use if the Major could negotiate a good deal.
―The Ada is an old hull,‖ Bower had written to Klemetson a few weeks earlier, ―and I realize you have
done a good job on fixing her up, but I still think that $3,000.00 as tentatively agreed by Albert Bals is a fair
price as boats go. However, if Major Marston, who is authorized to make any deal he sees fit wants to settle for a
different sum, that is alright with me.‖ The doctor expressed concern over several improvements he wanted to
have made before the purchase was finalized: an inside toilet, bunks and the trimming of six inches off the keel. 93
After some discussion with Klemetson, Poor relates, Marston came and grabbed the artist and asked him
to be a witness to the sale of the Ada. There were introductions and handshakes and, says Poor, grunts. ―Then
with a flourish the Major signed for the trading company.‖ He bought the Ada for $2,000. ―I thought he would
never do it,‖ Marston exclaimed later. ―It took seven dollars worth of liquor to get that signature out of him.‖
The Major was proud of the deal he had made on behalf of Bauer and Rich. ―Now I‘ve done it for them—got it
for less than they were willing to pay—and they‘ll lease it to Governor Gruening for this job.‖ 94
The Major had made a verbal contract with the Arctic Trading Co. to lease the Ada for $100 a day for the
ship traveling time and $50 a day standby time. He charged the art commission $60 a day traveling and $30
standby, with the ATG to pay the balance of the money.
Before taking off in the Ada Marston wanted to organize the King Island ATG. The villagers had come
into Nome for the summer, as usual, most of them working at the harbor; they all lived on the east end of Nome.
The King Islanders have since moved into Nome permanently, and still inhabit the east end, where they entertain
tourists with their dancing and ivory carving demonstrations.
Marston went to them in the evening, after the day shift at the harbor. The sky was overcast and it was
drizzling, so about 30 men stood crowded under the half-shelter of an overturned umiat, a walrus-skin boat.
Fifteen or so women and children stood outside.
The Major faced them and, suddenly pitching his voice in loud ringing tones, he began The Speech for
the men and women of King Island. He told them he represented the President of the United States and the
Governor of Alaska. He told them about the Japanese. ―I have gone up and down the coast from one end of the
Eskimo empire to the other to organize all of you. I have been from Kuskokwim to Point Barrow and up the
Kobuk and Noatak Rivers to visit all of you. I have seen more Eskimos than any Eskimo, and everywhere I find
them to be fine people and fine Americans. They are helping me one hundred per cent.‖ He went on and on. ―At
the start of the speech,‖ Poor relates, ―the formal tone oratory made me uneasy, but looking at these sober,
absorbed faces I realized that nothing less formal would have so deeply impressed and satisfied this audience.‖
Marston took from a big battered brief case two sheafs of paper and a thick bundle of ATG shoulder
patches. ―Here are the papers for you to sign,‖ he said after The Speech was over. ―Put your name on each
paper—one yellow and one white. You will each have two of these shoulder patches….This is your badge of
honor. Blue for the heavens and yellow for the stars.‖ Poor was impressed with Marston‘s sense of the historic
moment. ―In place of news photographers, he had two artists as recorders, and he reveled in it.‖ 96
At Army headquarters in Nome the next day, Poor found the officers were very dubious about anyone
making a trip in a small boat with a ―screw ball‖ like Marston. ―I was not surprised that they should feel this
27

way,‖ Poor writes. ―He was not a regulation man.‖ 97 They left Nome on June 26 at 9:45 p.m., well before sunset,
heading east for Golovin, Shaktoolik and Unalakleet. It was a shakedown cruise for the Ada; they repaired her
lifeboat, patched the leaking shaft housing and painted her battleship gray.
The fourth of July was a sunny, warm day in Unalakleet and Marston and his small party had quite a
holiday. Marston had drilled the ATG unit there, which was headed by Maj. E. B. Fisher, a teacher who was
made the highest ranking officer in the Tundra Army on Marston‘s trip through with Governor Gruening. Fisher
tramped his men up and down through the village in a column of four, going through the manual of arms with a
precision that mocked their haphazard dress. That night, Marston and his artist friends—Poor, Dangers and
Jones—roasted salmon and biscuits on the beach. ―We were struck, dazed and drunk with food,‖ Poor relates,
―and the Major was taken with a rare fit of storytelling.‖ Since the Fourth came on a Sunday, the village‘s
celebration was on Monday. The day started with an ATG shooting contest at the end of the spit. Three bottles
were hung from a pole resting on a couple of empty gas drums 150 yards across the water; they were hard to see.
The marksmen with their World War I rifles were in a double row along the shore. A Shaktoolik man broke a
bottle on his first shot, and another on his third. It was a grand day, but Marston had to leave at the height of the
activity—after a brief talk on keeping rifles clean. 99
Back in Nome, Marston loaded the Ada to capacity with guns and ammunition for the Arctic bases, food
for seven men for 30 days and 14 drums of gasoline for the trip, plus emergency coal for the Signal Corps at
Wales. In addition to the three artists and a three man crew consisting of Louie Rich, half-owner of the boat and
half-Eskimo; John Scott, Eskimo; and Nels Bango, a Lap; Marston had Pvt. Rodney Lincoln, and Eskimo whom
he borrowed from the regular Army at Nome. Lincoln is now head mechanic at Kotzebue for Wien Airlines. 100
They left July 11.
The first stop was at Teller, after a very stormy night during which John Jones became very sick. He left
the party there, opting to fly the rest of the way to Barrow. Marston found all the men from Mary‘s Igloo were at
Teller, so he organized the Mary‘s Igloo unit. The men responded eagerly to The Speech, and helped unload 62
rifles and 6,200 rounds of ammunition. Lincoln drilled the new company, as well as the Teller and Teller
Mission companies in a long warehouse beside the store. Marston kept a watchful eye on the proceedings. Edgar
Tweet, the storekeeper for the North Star Trading Co., was the captain at Teller.
The Ada left there July 15, making stops at Wales, Little Diomede, Shishmaref, Kotzebue, Point Hope,
Point Lay, Wainwright and Point Barrow where they arrived at 5:40 a.m. July 29. At Wales the men were all
away from the village. Marston related in a report to Gruening that the sergeant, a white man with the Weather
Bureau, had been having a hard time getting the men to understand right, left and halt when drilling. Marston
told the governor, ―I instructed him to use gee, haw and whoa, which I think will work perfectly for they all
know those terms.‖ 101 The words are used by Eskimos to direct their dog teams.
The party unloaded their coal for the Signal Corps at Wales and proceeded out to Diomede. They were
the first ship of the year in the Arctic and the Diomeders were curious as to what day it was, and what time of
day. Marston shot some moving pictures of the men netting birds, whose swarms resembled mosquitoes. The
remarkable footage is now part of his documentary film. The artists were particularly delighted with their visit to
the big rock island whose houses are built as part of the rock. Private Lincoln drilled the men for two hours and
issued supplies. The captain there was Father Tom Cunningham, but he was absent for a long time so Marston
commissioned Roger Menadelcok a lieutenant and acting commanding officer.
Menadelook, caretaker of the school, had taken a year of study at the University of Alaska and was an
outstanding villager. It was he who woke Marston at three in the morning to announce the arrival of forty
Siberian Eskimos come to trade ivory for supplies they would need on their way to pick up some walrus meat
they had cached on Big Diomede during an early spring hunt. Marston noted then, ―There seems to be a free,
unhampered visiting between Eskimos of Little Diomede and Big Diomede and the Siberian Coast now as in the
past.‖
At Shishmaref Marston had learned that Jack Jones, a member of the Kivalina company, was coming in
his boat from Kotzebue. Marston had decided to make him captain. An hour out of Shishmaref, they met Jones
28

and he came aboard the Ada. Marston explained what he wanted. Jones nodded, raised his right hand and
repeated after the Major the oath of loyalty and allegiance of an officer. They shook hands and Jones jumped
back on the roof of his boat. Marston had commissioned an officer on the high seas at two in the morning, just
after sunrise.
Lincoln also conducted a drill at Kotzebue. Many of the men were there from the villages of Kobuk,
Selawik, and Noatak Rivers and they also were drilled; some were signed up for the first time. New recruits also
were signed up at Point Hope, where 50 guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunition were issued, instruction was
given on stripping and cleaning the rifles, and a long drill period was held in the evening.
At both Point Lay and Wainwright, the natives came out in boats to meet the party. They celebrated with
caribou steaks and ―hula hula dance.‖ Eskimos at Wainwright—where trader Jim Allen was captain—traded
skins, ivory and famous whales‘ ear drums for flour, sugar, tobacco, beauty packs, pins and cheap jewelry. They
finished issuing and cleaning guns and drilling in Allen‘s warehouse about 2 a.m. Then there was dancing until 7
a.m. They drilled that afternoon again and went through skirmish maneuvers which Poor described as ―a sort of
cops and robbers game‖ where one band of men, pretending to be Japs, tried to sneak into the village from far up
the beach while others hid in ravines behind umiaks and drew beads on the invaders. They ―snapped their
triggers with great seriousness and enjoyment,‖ said Poor. They began to hope that the Japs would come.‖ 104
Then there was more dancing from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
In Barrow Rev. Klarekoper, the captain, called together the company of 80 men and they began
unloading their guns and ammunition, taking them to a warehouse near the parsonage in carts with oil drums for
wheels. They drilled for two hours by the parson. The party flew back to Kotzebue on July 29 and to Nome the
following day. 103 After a night in Nome the artists flew back to Ft. Richardson on the Alaska Star. 105
Others were dispatched by Marston to make similar trips. In June, Major Fisher had taken a trip up the
Yukon. He reported leaving Unalakleet at 9:30 p.m. June 7, stopping first at St. Michael where he instituted a
weekly drill, starting them off with a three-hour workout. ―The men showed keen interest and wanted to learn all
they can. On my return a week later, there was a different spirit and all the men I met snapped a good salute,‖ he
reported to Marston. He delivered 20 rifles and 1,500 rounds of ammunition to Stebbins, his next stop, where
Captain Bagley headed a 27 man unit. He stopped at Chanelik briefly, then went to Hamilton, where he spoke
with Lt. Okitkin and picked up a river guide.
Arriving at Kwiguk at midnight June 9, Fisher was met by Axel Johnson and the entire village. He gave
his own version of The Speech and enlisted all of the 20 men there, swearing in Johnson as captain and Willie
Moore as lieutenant. He left at 3 p.m. June 10, stopping next at Alakanuk, where John Emel had by now signed
up 35 men, most of whom were out fishing at the time. Fisher made Emel a captain and swore in his brother
Russell as a lieutenant. On the way home he also visited Akularek a , but the only men there were young boys in
school and there was no organization. He returned to Unalakleet June 14. 106
Fisher died the next winter on a trip into Nome when the pilot of his small plane got into a whiteout, a
condition in which the air is so full of blowing snow that the landscape cannot be identified. They crashed in the
bitter cold. Marston recalls that another pilot who was in Nome, Gene Joiner who now mines Jade near
Kotzebue, ―can see things. During the night he saw Fisher in his mind. He went out there the next morning and
there he was.‖ Fisher and the pilot were alive. Three other passengers, including the pilot‘s fiancé, had died. The
pilot died before they could get him out; Fisher died in the hospital at Nome. 98
Besides Laura Hagberg, whom Marston had signed up as a sergeant in Haycock, several other women
were enlisted in the ranks of the Alaska Territorial Guard. At Koyuk, Marston enlisted a native school teacher as
a sergeant, listing her as M. Penigio; again she was the best shot and she spoke English best. When higher
authorities found out that the M. stood for Margaret, though, she had to be replaced. 107
a
Of the villages mentioned in this paragraph, Kwiguk, and Alakanuk are both on the Yukon River near the mouth, and Unalakleet is
about 95 miles northeast of the mouth of the Yukon. There is no village named ‗Akularek‘, and nothing similar to the name nearby.
29

Capt. C. L. Crutcher at Kotzebue wrote Marston in January of 1943 saying he had signed up 66 men and
30 women in the ATG there. 109 Marston wrote back a couple of weeks later saying, ―There is no provision in the
statutes for accepting females into ATG as yet.‖ 110 Three months later Marston wrote him, ―If there are sufficient
extra guns at Shishmaref for the additional women you have signed up, you may transport said guns to Kotzebue
but do not issue to women until you have received authority from Juneau.‖ 108
Heurlin recalls that on the trip he took with Marston and Gruening in the spring of 1942, the women tried
to join the Guard in nearly every village.
―Well, can you shoot that rifle?‖ Gruening once asked.
―Yes, I could shoot that rifle.‖
―Can you shoot as good as your husband?‖ the governor would pressed.
―Yes.‖
―Who is he?‖
The woman pointed out her husband. The governor put the question to him: ―Can she shoot as good as
you?‖
The honest answer was ―yes.‖ 111 The women enjoyed the ATG and loved to drill. But they were never
officially recognized in the ATG.
Building Up The Territorial Guard
By September of 1943, nearly every village in western Alaska had an ATG unit. Most had been issued
weapons and ammunition and the bright ATG patches, symbols of a new age for the Eskimos, who now were a
team working together for Uncle Sam.
A classified list of parent stations for the Alaska Territorial Guard dated Sept. 8, 1943, showed 104
villages in which companies had been formed, from Ketchikan in Captain Scheibner‘s southeastern division, to
Barrow in the western division, which Marston preferred to call the Eskimo Empire. A table of organization
dated Sept. 2 showed an authorized strength of 6,000. 113 A table of basic allowances dated the same day
authorized the following equipment for ATG members:
150 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition per individual for training
150 rounds of .30 caliber ammunition per individual; 70 per cent ball, 20 per cent AP and 10 per cent
tracer; to be used in emergencies only
1 .30 caliber rifle per individual
1 cleaning rod per four individuals
1 set of spare rifle parts per company
1 pickmattock and carrier per two individuals
1 intrenching shovel and carrier per two individuals
1 .30 caliber cartridge belt per individual
1 canteen, cover and cup per individual
1 helmet per individual
1 first aid pouch per individual
1 pair of gloves per individual
1 pair of canvas leggins per individual
1 reversible, parka-type, pile-lined overcoat per individual
1 raincoat per individual
1 olive drab wool shirt per individual
1 16-inch shoe pac per individual
1 1-piece working suit per individual
1 first aid packet per five individuals
30

1 training gas mask per five individuals 112
Marston recalls, ―I measured thousands‖ of men for uniforms. ―I was going to have the most elite Army
ever put out. I measured them carefully and worked hard on them.‖ 114 But the equipment was slow in coming.
Earle M. Forrest, commander of the ATG in Akiakchuk a , wrote in March of 1945 that a shipment of equipment
was sent by dogteam. Another report shows that steel helmets, gas masks, targets, an Alaskan flag and other gear
was received at Akiakchuk at the late of March 1946. 115 The equipment came from the Seattle Army Services
Forces Depot, was shipped to Juneau and from there to Nome via the Alaska Steamship Co. 116
At Nome, the handling of the equipment which did arrive was, to put it mildly, chaotic for the first two
years. Marston handled everything himself, with some good assistance from Private Lincoln. But the manpower
for this job was inadequate until the arrival on July 8, 1944, of Otto William Geist, Marston‘s quartermaster.
Until then, ―I was alone with the whole works,‖ Marston recalls. ―I had rented a house in Nome and I was living
there. I had no help.‖ 117
Otto Geist
Born in Munich, Germany, Geist was the son of a famous European archaeologist. He had served under
Gen. Jack Pershing in the Mexican campaign during World War I. He came to Alaska shortly after the first war
and affiliated himself with the University of Alaska, conducting archaeological expeditions to St. Lawrence
Island, Punak Island and other Bering Sea outposts. 121 He discovered and unearthed specimens which are now in
most large universities and museums in the United States. But perhaps more important, he had become loved and
respected by the Natives, who named him Ahgvook, which means White Eskimo.
Small in stature and deeply tanned by seasons of rigorous outdoor life, Geist‘s constant companion was a
brown water spaniel when in May of 1942, just after he had returned to Fairbanks from Frick Laboratory, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers there asked him to help. He worked on a road to a sawmill at nearby Chena
Ridge. Then he helped install plumbing in the Illinois Street barracks of the Fairbanks Exploration Co. Then he
was put in charge of traffic at the northern terminus of the Alcan Highway, with the added responsibility of
checking all equipment brought in by boat and train. This was the Supply Division‘s Warehouse No.1, where he
was working in 1944, when Marston wrote him from Nome asking him to become his quartermaster.
Living picturesquely in a log cabin at the edge of Fairbanks, Geist received one of a series of letters from
Marston in June, wooing him into his services in Nome. Marston said his job in the ATG would be receiving
equipment such as guns and uniforms and redistributing them along the shores of the Bering Sea and Arctic
Ocean and up the rivers. He was promised a captain‘s rank.
Then, said Marston, ―Beyond this quartermaster work, there is a hundred and one things to do. I want you
to help me build up the Tundra Army in doing more efficient, effective guard, to stand guard at all times along
the shores of the Bering and Arctic Oceans.‖ He also described an armory program he was planning on as well as
a publication on the Tundra Army. 119 The letter crossed in the mail with one which Geist was sending to
Marston.
―Your plans for the future sound so very interesting that I am really fascinated,‖ wrote the sincere
German. ―Oh, what a lot could be done in that section—things not only of value to the Territory now, but things
which could outlive this War.—things good and worthwhile for the Territory or State—and the natives as well.
To be permitted to help put these into actual operation itself, is as great an honor as one could ever expect. The
rank you offer me is more than I deserve, for the highest Rank I ever held in the U.S. Army was that of a First
sergeant.‖ 120
But when Geist arrived in Nome on July 8, the work he found before him was overwhelming. In a
preliminary report made to his Army supervisors, Geist noted that Marston‘s organizational work had taken so
a ‗Akiachak‘ is misspelled.
31

much of his time that little paperwork had been done and the units had not been set up to run properly. The files
needed straightening out. The office, he said, was in an ―embryonic stage.‖ A shipment of 1,000 rifles from the
Aleutians were received thrown loosely in boxes, some clean and some dirty, rusted and pitted from exposure to
moisture. ―We will do what is humanly possible towards smooth running of this machine,‖ he vowed. ―All I ask
is a decent period of time to do it all in.‖ 122
Geist‘s salary was $287.50 a month for his first two years there, being raised to $387.50 per month when
he was made a major in June of 1946. 123 He did work well and conscientiously, with a devotion that far exceeded
his love for the work. He tried to get out of the job several times, but was asked by the adjutant general in each
instance ―to continue a little longer and I always considered their wishes,‖ he wrote to a friend. 124
Besides the rigors of the quartermaster job, Geist exhausted himself doing personal favors for his friends
on St. Lawrence and for anyone else he could. He would fill orders for the islanders for teakettles and dishes,
clothes, candy bars, dolls, air rifles, bed springs and canned tobacco and would deliver personal messages.
Finally he had to write to Norman Potsky at Gambell and have him spread the word that the orders would have
to stop—they were taking too much of his time. 125
When a Gambell member of the ATG, Harry Omwarii, was hospitalized in Nome with a tubercal bone
condition in November 1944, Geist visited him nearly every day for several weeks. The native was homesick and
had no native food. Geist was with him on Dec. 4, when he died, and immediately began funeral arrangements.
Omwarii was buried with full honors in an Army shirt with an ATG patch at 4 p.m. Dec.7. Maj. Lester Bronson
and Chaplain Paul Carlson were honor guards. Geist proposed to Major Daugherty at Gambell that at the next
ATG meeting there a minute of silence should be observed ―to show that ATG members are not forgotten no
matter where their end comes.‖ 126 Geist also began working towards getting native foods at the hospital for others
who would be confined there.
By January of 1945, Geist still was disillusioned with the organization of the ATG. Another report
showed that he was distressed that some units had no supply or ordnance officers, suspecting that the teachers
and missionaries who were captains didn‘t want to give responsibility to the Eskimos. He noted that the transient
white men made worse commanders than the natives when they were suddenly transferred to new jobs and left
without taking inventory or changing command. In Teller Mission, a commander‘s last command before leaving
town was to lock all ordnance and supplies in the school house; in Akiak the supplies were also locked in a
school house. The teachers could do the paperwork neater, Geist allowed, but often they did not do it at all. ―The
sooner we turn the ATG units over to the Eskimos, even if their writing is not always as easy to read as that of
the teachers, traders or missionaries, I am convinced their (units) become good, A No. 1 units because of the
very pride they will have in themselves.‖ 127
Besides recruiting Geist, Marston and Gruening had been successful in getting Heurlin back to Barrow,
where he took over as captain in April, 1944, arriving on the Ada. It was Louie Rich‘s second trip with ―His
Majesty‘s Ship,‖ as Heurlin called it, jesting with both Marston and the importly vessel. Marston was not along
this time. Heurlin handled the delivery of more supplies along the coast. He recalls the trip should have taken a
week, but storms held them back 22 days.
The Ada capsized at Wainwright as she went over a shal a into a lagoon, but they were able to right here
and continue into the village. ―Youse people was the luckiest ever to come in,‖ Heurlin remembers an Eskimo
girl declaring.
―O,‖ said Heurlin, ―isn‘t that the way you‘re supposed to come in here?‖ The Ada nearly capsized again
with the crowd that came aboard.
Heurlin sighted in rifles at many villages on the Arctic coast, using a 1,000 inch range. He thoroughly
enjoyed every minute of his work with the men, training even in the coldest weather, and he took pride in them.
―They could hit things I couldn‘t,‖ he says. He spent a lot of hours with the Barrow unit playing tricky war
games. He describes one, where he had one of the ATG men dress to look like him and hide in a ditch to wait.
a Probably meant ‗shallow‘.
32

Then he told the other troops to follow him, pretending he was an enemy they were tracking. He led them into
the ditch, where he traded places with the native he had planted there. The troops followed the native, who
continued out of the ditch, past Heurlin. When they had all got ahead of him, he stepped out and shouted,
―Throw up your hands!‖ He had them and they were thrilled. 128
Heurlin conducted very proper firing exercises, drawing on his Navy experience, although he didn‘t use
coaches—―something I would not think about doing with white rookies.‖ He would line up 15 skirmishers at
port arms eight feet from their 500-yard firing line, with the tallest man on the extreme left and the shortest on
the right. All looking straight ahead. Heurlin shouts the commands:
―Fill magazines! Load and lock!‖
―Forward march!‖ They take three steps.
―Halt! Lie down!‖
―Set your sights at 500 yards!‖
―Unlock all pieces!‖
―Ready on the right! Ready on the left!‖
―Ready on the firing line! Stand by!‖
Then an expectant silence, and the command to fire: ―They‘re up!‖
Each man shoots five rounds in ten seconds. Since there is no telephone communication with the marker
chief in the butts, the targets are up permanently, so Heurlin commands, ―They‘re down!‖ All cease firing.
Then the commands, ―Fill magazines! Load and lock! Rise! Forward, March! Double-time, March!‖ A
range chief runs in back of the center skirmisher to keep the men running in a straight line and to be certain they
fire on their own targets. They get to the 400-yard firing line. ―Halt!‖ Heurlin shouts. ―Lie down! Set your sights
at 400 yards! Unlock all pieces! Ready on the right! Ready on the left!‖ The process continues at the 300-yard
firing line, where firing is in a kneeling position, and at the 200-yard line in the standing position with a post
paraphet. Heurlin noted in a letter to Marston, however, that posts were a doubtful luxury. ―As timber is hard to
get here, we may have to shoot without this support, though by the time one gets to the end of the run it is quite
difficult to get in on the ball without a rest.‖ 129
Heurlin studied the Eskimo language extensively, keeping books with the Eskimo words for everything
he could learn, books which since have been loaned to people who are analyzing the language. And he ate
everything the Eskimos ate.
―Rusty is really going native,‖ an Indian Field representative wrote Marston from Barrow. ―He has been
out whaling, out to the reindeer corral, and on other expeditions. He eats frozen fish and meat dipped in seal oil
with the best of them. Aside from yourself, I do not think I have ever met a man so genuinely interested in these
natives and so sympathetic in his approach. The natives, of course, seem to feel such an attitude, and they go out
of their way to be pleasant to him and give him a word or two of their language. He has had a good effect on our
village life as a whole—both white and Eskimo.‖ 130 During a flu epidemic in 1945, the Alaska Weekly said
Heurlin was a hero in passing out sulfa pills. ―That may very well be,‖ an acquaintance wrote. ―Like Marston,
Rusty is a man of action.‖ 132
Before going to Barrow, Heurlin had painted a war bond poster for Governor Gruening, who had told
him to keep his eyes open for ideas as they were making their first flight to the farthest north village in 1943. The
idea he used—white, Indian and Eskimo Alaska Guardsmen standing before an Aurora Borealis representation
of the American and Alaskan flags—―came to me when I awakened one morning getting out of a sleeping bag.
You don‘t go out and look for an idea.‖ 154 Ten thousand copies of the poster were printed for national
distribution. The design was later used in striking a medal for men who served in the Alaska Territorial Guard.
Suitable framed posters were presented to the Alaska Historical Museum in Juneau, the U.S. Army
Alaska headquarters at Fort Richardson and the University of Alaska library in Fairbanks in November, 1965, by
then Adjutant General Maj. Gen. William A. Elmore. These were the last of the 1,600 copies which Marston
used for recruiting. 240
33

In the spring of 1946 the Army sent a native of Barrow who had been in the South Pacific, Floyd
Ahvakana, to take Heurlin‘s place. ―I wrote a letter and made it possible for him to stay on,‖ Heurlin says,
―because there was very little English spoken then and it was just a natural for an Eskimo to train, to give them
orders.‖ 131
Japanese Balloons Cause Furor
During the final stages of the war, the Japanese began launching unmanned balloons which were to drop
bombs over the United States. Several were sighted by ATG men, and some were recovered. An Associated
Press story which was printed in the Nome Nugget on May 30, 1945, said the 33-foot-diameter hydrogen-filled
paper balloons reached heights of 25,000 to 30,000 feet, where air currents travel constantly west to east.
Launched from Japan, the balloons traveled at 125 miles per hour to reach the United States to reach the United
States in 80 to 120 hours. Each time it descended to 25,000 feet from loss of gas or barometric pressure, a switch
automatically dropped sandbags, causing a balloon to rise again to about 35,000 feet. If the Japanese figured
right, the last sandbag would be dropped only after the balloon had reached the United States. Then a second
automatic switch would take over, controlling the release of incendiary bombs rather than sandbags as it traveled
as it traveled across the United States. 148
Kuskokwim and Yukon river ATG units recovered the greenish blue or gray-white balloons near
Marshall, Akichak, Nunapitchok, Kinak and Mumtrak, Goodnews Bay, with others sighted drifting out to sea. 149
Another balloon was sighted near the Kobuk River, according to Marston, whose figures credit the Tundra Army
with shooting down and/or recovering 18 or more enemy balloons ―carrying bombs, radar, and—what we feared
most—germs.‖ 150
In April of 1945 the table of basic allowances was updated to allow for the following equipment:
200 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition per individual per year
100 rounds of .30 caliber ammunition per individual per year
50 rounds of .30 caliber blanks per individual per year
300 training hand grenades per year for the territory
1 .30 caliber rifle per individual
1 barrack cleaning rod per four individuals
1 spare parts set per company
10 CN capsules per 100 individuals per year
20 tear hand grenades per 100 individuals per year
20 white smoke grenades per 100 individuals per year
30 HC smoke pots per year for the territory
1 lightweight service gas mask per five individuals
The Natives Are In
World War II ended in July, 1945. The 297 th Battalion of the Alaska National Guard, which had been
inducted into federal service at the start of the war, had been redesignated as the 208 th Infantry on Jan. 26, 1944.
It was inactivated on May 16, 1945, at Camp Shelby, Miss., and would remain inactive until 1950.
But as the war ended, the Alaska Territorial Guard—officially set up to endure six months after the war,
hung on and won support from many quarters. The Tundra Army no longer was a hairbrained idea in Muktuk
Marston‘s mind. If the white trader exploiters had lost a cheap labor force, the rest of the territory had gained a
friend. The loyalty of the Eskimo, Indian and Aleut was now an established fact. The native had won his place as
a member of Alaska‘s society.
34

The people of Alaska had mounted a major effort to achieve statehood. Alaska entered the union as the
49 th state on January 3, 1959, generating a new and vigorous interest in the remote land and its National Guard.
The U.S. Army, Alaska had to reexamine its responsibilities to the state military. And in the Pentagon, the
National Guard Bureau no longer could shunt Alaska. Two fighting United States senators and a vocal
representative now represented Alaska where it counted: in the halls of Congress.
Otto Geist wrote in April of 1946, ―It just so happens that the Japs did not attack beyond Dutch Harbor
but I would say that it very easily could have been a case of direct attack on the Alaska mainland by infiltration
or other means throughout the Western Alaska Coast. It seems that just lately the Army has become aware of this
fact and is giving scanty and much belated praise for the work the ATG has accomplished.‖ 151
New units, such as the one at Akulurak formed January 13 of 1945 with Francis J. Fox as lieutenant in
charge, still were being added to the ATG. Marston had begun the armory program which he written about to
Otto Geist the year before. By 1945 the knock-down buildings were on their way to 20 villages, with deliveries
actually made to Chaneliak, Stebbins, Unalakleet, Wales, Elim, Golovin, Kotzebue, Point Hope, Teller, Mary‘s
Igloo, Shishmaref and Nome. Yak huts were built at Koyuk, Diomede, King Island and Shaktoolik. Marston‘s
notes indicate there were problems with some of the buildings: Savoonga‘s accidently went to Nunivak Island;
Deering‘s building ended up at Gambell; Kivalina‘s at Savoonga; part of Gambell‘s building was properly
delivered, but part of it was either lost at sea or at Nunivak. All the buildings were designated as armorykashims,
meaning their intended use was as a village meeting place as well as an armory. The site, Marston
instructed the villagers, should not be close to other buildings so that in case of fire the armory-kashim won‘t be
lost. But it should be in the center of the village if possible. 133
Geist wrote to Capt. Henry E. Nashalook at Unalakleet in June of 1946 to assure him ―the ATG in this
section is not abandoned and will not be abandoned for some time to come. As a matter of fact, much more
equipment for all our units in this section will be delivered, which you will learn of later on. Please keep the
drilling up and the good work within your unit and keep the government property in the best shape, always ready
for inspection.‖ 152
Geist finally left the ATG that summer, returning to his work at the University of Alaska. He died some
years ago a .
Gruening discharged the first man from the ATG on August 9, 1945. Others were discharged later, with
the last discharge letter on file dated April 26, 1946. 134
In January 1946, the Army assigned 1 st Lt. John B. Neal from Fort Richardson as a special instructor for
the ATG. Working out of Nome, his job was to help organize, administer and train ATG personnel; act as a
liaison between the regular Army and to conduct inspections of training, equipment and facilities. He made a
tour to Solomon, Bluff, White Mountain, Golovin, Elim, Koyuk, Haycock, Shaktoolik, and Unalakleet and
another to Unalakleet, St. Michaels, Stebbins, Chaneliak, Pastolik, Kwiguk, Alakanuk, Akulurak, Hamilton,
Mountain Village, and other ATG units. 135
About the same time, in February 1946, Jay Williams wrote a letter to Geist in which he said, ―As far as
the white units are concerned, they are very dead and inactive. Juneau and Douglas here on the Channel are
exceptions in this request in that they are active as a shooting organization.‖ 136 There was great discussion about
whether or not to discontinue the ATG and Governor Gruening had hopes of reinstating the National Guard,
incorporating the ATG into it. His plan eventually was realized.
One of the more colorful characters in the ATG was extremely vocal in arguing for the Tundra Army at
this time. He was a blue fox rancher who became captain of the ATG unit in Shishmaref. Marston had run into
George Goshaw on his first and greatest Arctic adventure a week after Christmas in 1943, and he and Sammy
Mogg spent the night him and his wife. Though they were tired after a long run when they got to Goshaw‘s
house, recalls Marston, ―Goshaw starts talking. Oh, he talks: never saw so great a talker in my life. And as he
a Otto Geist died in 1963. Source: http://www.gavagai.de/philosoph/HHP64K.htm. In the Fairbanks area, a major road, professional
building and a University of Alaska building have been named after him.
35

talks, I lay down on the couch to go to sleep. Sammy‘s sound asleep; it‘s warm in there. We‘ve had coffee and
Mrs. Goshaw was cooking reindeer steaks for us, and I go clear to sleep. I don‘t know how long. I woke up:
here‘s Goshaw still talking, just like a windmill.‖
When Governor Gruening visited the village later, Marston also remembers, ―Goshaw was going to do it
right. So he called the Guard out. He was going to have a 21-gun salute for the governor, the commander. It was
the first official salute ever given in the Arctic, according to Goshaw; I think he was right. But it didn‘t finish.
They started the 21-gun salute and Gruening says, ‗Hold it! Save those bullets for the enemy.‘‖ 137
Goshaw kept up a vigorous, intimate correspondence with many people, including Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower and the governor, writing on gaudy, cluttered yellow and blue letterheads with the Alaska flag, a
map of the territory, a fish rack, two houses, and on each side an ATG guardsmen with a rifle.
―From the personal point of view,‖ he wrote Gruening on March 21, 1946, ―I will say that it would be
very detrimental for the Territory to lose the Guard at this time, when things are so upset...I heard the other day
that Miss Mildred Keaton, Government nurse at Kotzebue, during a speech before the Northwestern Chamber of
Commerce at Nome, praised the ATG very highly because of certain villages north of Nome the ATG members
go out en masse on snow shoes and trample down the snow so that airplanes can land. She said that she had
noticed this in several villages whereas this had not been done the planes could never have landed there.‖ He
cited the ATG members who went out up the river to put out a tundra fire which was encroaching on a heavy
stand of timber; an ATG unit which sent its members to find a lost boy who was drifted over and perished; ATG
members who turned out several times when balloons were sighted and followed them with dog teams.
―We all know how observing the natives are, how often their guesses are not guesses at all but the real
thing, and no white soldier, no matter how well trained, could take the place of these Guards along our Alaskan
coast. Every little speck, anything they had not seen at the place the day before, anything moving is thoroughly
scrutinized and reports are brought home, but sometimes these are such trifling little things that it is almost
astonishing that they are even interested in it. But, as it turns out, sooner or later something usually comes of it or
develops into something new or maybe interesting. A flock of two or three seagulls are in the sea probably
several miles away, would indicate to these people that there is something there to eat, either fish, a dead floating
seal, or a walrus, or a dead whale, and if they should need this food for dogs they go out and bring it in although
the only indications they had were the few seagulls feeding on something.‖ 138
The ATG Disbands
Governor Gruening certainly agreed with this Goshaw. After the war and demobilization of the ATG,
writes Sherwood Ross in his biography of Gruening, ―Gruening felt it essential that they be included in the
National Guard. He had been deeply impressed not merely with their devotion but with their marksmanship.‖ 267
By November of 1946, Gruening had come up with a solid proposal for organization of a new National
Guard in Alaska. He called for two scout battalions of three companies each—essentially the ATG—and two
troop carrier squadrons to include training aircraft, both single and two engine. ―The Scout Companies would
represent an effort to utilize the peculiarities of terrain and population, and the qualities and nature of the people,
which are found in Alaska, particularly North of the Alaska Peninsula,‖ the proposal stated. ―Not to utilize the
able bodied men of these areas, with their highly developed powers of observation, knowledge of an otherwise
little-known terrain and endurance developed by a life of hunting, fishing and trapping, would be an unjustified
waste of manpower. A further point is their loyalty to the United States and willingness to serve them, as
demonstrated by their almost universal participation of all able bodied men in the Alaska Territorial Guard
during World War II.‖
A ―minimum organizational overhead‖ was suggested, so that the small units could discharge their
surveillance functions with a minimum of interference from routine matters. ―In the ordering of drills,‖ the
recommendation cautioned, ―sight should not be lost of two facts: that the men are constantly performing an
intelligence mission while going about the daily business of making a living, and that to require their presence
36

during hunting and/or fishing seasons would result in either high absenteeism and low membership in the units,
or in making an almost insurmountable hardship on the men if they do attend. However, during many of the
winter months it would be possible to schedule very frequent drill and instruction periods, many times two or
three weekly.‖ This philosophy is a working plan in the Alaska National Guard‘s scout battalions today.
―The problem of transportation in and for the scout units,‖ the recommendation continued, ―can best be
solved, it is believed, by utilizing local means of transport, such as dog sleds and boats, probably by leasing the
use of the dogs, sleds and boats, at such times as they are necessary for National Guard activities.‖ Exceptions to
National Guard regulations on storage of arms also were recommended, due to the high cost of constructing
regulation armories in remote Arctic and Bering Sea villages to store only 12 to 39 rifles and a few thousand
rounds of ammunition. 139
The proposal met with resistance. ―The idea of units of fewer than 50 men, of units that would not be
able to drill one night a week during 48 weeks of the year, was at that time new to the National Guard Bureau,‖
Sherwood writes. ―Gruening pointed out that the smaller units moving about the Territory during the fishing and
hunting season should form no impediment. ‗The next war,‘ he said, ‗will not be fought with squads right and
squads left.‘‖ 267
Gruening had gone to Washington to make a proposal to Maj. Gen. Butler B. Miltonberger, chief of the
National Guard Bureau in Washington D.C., in December 1946. Miltonberger soon endorsed it 100 percent, and
Alaska‘s delegate to Congress, E. B a . ―Bob‖ Bartlett, was instrumental in getting a green light for the proposal.
The general was instructed to prepare a plan, with much constant pressure from Gruening, who wrote such
messages as this one dated New Year‘s Eve: ―Don‘t forget that time is fleeting on our National Guard program
and that we should have affirmative action by the War Department within the next three weeks.‖ 143
Meanwhile, all units of the ATG were instructed to continue training, giving special consideration to
returning veterans, using them as officers and non-commissioned officers, especially in drilling. Army officers,
such as Lt. Neal, were busy inspecting and inventories were being taken of equipment and personnel. 140 The
Bethel unit was disbanded, partly due to racial problems; 141 the Unalakleet dwindled because of a lack of appeal
to the native who had been ―working for wages, living high,‖ 142 and in the years that followed disorganization
was the rule for the 76 ATG units. But some continued to be active, with the Hooper Bay and Gambell units
drilling right up until the reorganization of the National Guard which didn‘t become a reality until 1949. 144
Marston was successful in October, 1947, in getting the Army to let the soldiers of the Tundra Army
keep their Enfield rifles after the inspector general had ordered him to pick up all the equipment issued to the
ATG, a move which Marston felt would destroy the native‘s newly won respect and his loyalty and patriotism.
Marston claims he was able to convince the inspector general to allow the natives to keep the equipment by
warning him of ―Eskimo germs‖ which might spread throughout the rest of the United States Army if the
equipment were re-issued. 206 The inspector general told Marston to forget the whole thing, and the Tundra troops
were told they could keep their rifles. Gruening‘s annual report for 1947 to the Secretary of the Interior puts it
this way: ―By order of the War Department, all guard property was turned over to the territory for
disposal....Because of the loyalty and devotion of the guard members during the war, it was considered fitting
that all rifles and clothing be turned over to the men as a token of the territory‘s appreciation.‖ 271
The response from the natives to this was enthusiastic and sincere. The Hooper Bay men wrote Governor
Gruening to thank him for ―all these Army equipment that you loaned us when the war was threatening our
country,‖ promising to keep the gear in good condition and to keep on drilling. 146 The captain of the Hooper Bay
unit also wrote Gruening: ―I wish you could have been here this evening when I had the meeting announcing
your gift of rifles and equipment. Over a hundred stalwart Eskimos were present. Messengers were appointed to
go Scammon Bay and Kashunak. The news will be broadcast to all points soon. My group were really thankful
and are now composing a letter of thanks to you.‖ He wrote that they had formed a reserve guard unit, with most
a Bartlett‘s middle initial was ‗L‘ for Lewis. Source: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=b000201
37

of the ATG officers elected, and drilling continued, along with demonstrations and some athletics, particularly
boxing. 147
Although the governor was not satisfied with the condition of the territory‘s militia after the war—and he
had no reason to be—the tundra Army had served to bring Alaska‘s natives together and to join them with the
white community. And now the stage was set for the development of a modern National Guard in primitive
Alaska.
PART IV --- ORGANIZING THE ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD
By 1948, the inevitability of an Alaska National Guard was recognized by the U.S. Army Alaska, which
considered training and supervision of National Guard personnel an important part of it‘s mission. With the
beginning of the cold war, the Army publicly recognized the importance of the Scout Battalions, which were
within easy sailing distance of Russian Eskimo villages, as valuable intelligence gathering units. 156
General Miltonberger notified Governor Gruening on July 30, 1948, of the authorization by the National
Guard Bureau of the two scout battalions he had requested. 155 With territorial approval, the Alaska National
Guard would be a reality.
There was some local opposition to the Guard, however. The Anchorage Daily editorialized in February,
1949, that ―a Territorial National Guard would be luxury that Alaska can ill afford at this time or for many years
to come, for that matter.‖ 159
The Department of the Army in Washington had assigned Lt. Col. Joseph Alexander as the officer in
charge of National Guard affairs for Alaska on August 10, 1948. He was given the mission of establishing the
National Guard in Alaska, assisting the governor in matters pertaining to its organization. He arrived in Juneau
August 18. Headquarters of the Officer in Charge of National
Guard Affairs was established on September 15. The governor appointed Alexander acting adjutant general of
the Guard when he published General Order No. 1 on November 4.
After a 10-day, 5,000-mile tour of 30 Eskimo villages by military and chartered Bush plane, Alexander
prepared a National Guard bill for the Territorial Legislature. It was introduced by Rep. Amelia Gunderson on
January 29, 1949, and, after some adjustments, unanimously passed both houses on March 22. 159 It provided an
appropriation of $75,000. 160
A Shaky Beginning
Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment in Juneau, the Alaska National Guard‘s first unit, was
federally recognized on May 11, 1949. The First Scout Battalion was recognized on May 11 also, with its
Headquarters and Company A at Nome. Company B at Unalakleet was recognized October 6; Company C at
Kotzebue on October 3. The Second Scout Battalion was recognized October 5, with Headquarters and Company
E at Bethel.
The Scout Battalions began to function much as the Alaska Territorial Guard had. They were held
responsible—as they are today—for maintaining constant surveillance of western and northwestern coasts,
reporting by the most rapid means all information of a military nature. They also were charged to augment the
Army‘s development of techniques, clothing and equipment for mountain and winter warfare.
A National Guard Instructor Detachment of five officers and twelve enlisted men of the Regular Army
and Reserve officers on active duty was instituted to train existing units. Each battalion got one officer and three
sergeants. The instruction detachment included an air section, which had two liaison pilots and two mechanics to
fly two Cessna 195 airplanes equipped with skis and pontoons. The Guard used the planes to transport the
instructors to outlying villages.
Governor Gruening, recalling Muktuk Marston‘s organization of the ATG, paid him a visit in 1948,
about two years after the Major had become disinvolved with the Tundra Army. He called at Marston‘s log
38

house in Turnagain by the Sea, a 300 acre homestead in Anchorage Marston bought and since become wealthy
from. Over a dinner of fried salmon, Marston remembers, Gruening told him, ―I want you to go back to the
Arctic and take those ATG boys and transfer them into the Alaska National Guard. They‘re now the Scouts.‖
Marston worked now as a lieutenant colonel, for another two years, along with the instructor detachment, on an
active recruiting program. Some 50 villages were visited and several hundred men interviewed in many of the
places Marston had traveled to earlier. 158
SCOUT
A SCOUT IS A MAN TRAINED IN THE USE OF GROUND AND COVER, RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP, MAP
READING, OBSERVATION, AND ACCURATELY REPORTING THE RESULTS OF HIS OBSERVATION.
A SCOUT IS A VERY HIGH TYPE OF SOLDIER – AN ACTIVE INTELLIGENT, TRUSTWORTHY,
COURAGEOUS, SKILLFUL ATHLETE. HE ACTS ALONE, NOT AS A MEMBER OF A TEAM. BY CHOICE HE
DOES NOT FIGHT, BUT HE IS AN EXPERT AT THE HIT-AND-RUN ART OF SINGLE COMBAT. BY CHOICE
HE DOES NOT SHOOT, BUT IF FORCED TO SHOOT HE SHOOTS QUICKLY, CAREFULLY, AND AS LITTLE
AS POSSIBLE. ONE ROUND, ONE HIT-AND THEN VANISH! THAT IS HIS MOTTO.
US ARMY DEFINITION, 1870
In an Alaska Army National Guard frame that hung on 2 nd Scout Battalion‘s wall in the Bethel Armory.
The Guard had an authorized strength of 132 officers and 2,675 enlisted men. By the end of 1949, actual
strength was 25 officers and 292 enlisted men.
―On its little shoestring, Alaska is doing what Gen. Dwight Eisenhower told Congress what must be
done—build a radar network up north,‖ wrote a national columnist in April of 1950. ―In this case the ‗radar sets‘
are human. They are Eskimos, whose daily occupation at hunting walrus, seal, polar bears and whales, and at
fishing, along the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, place them alongside the Iron Curtain....Every
clear day, Alaskan Eskimos can look right through the Iron Curtain and see the shores of Soviet Siberia. A few
years ago the natives of both shores visited back and forth, but they will do so no more.
―Last year a party of Alaskan Eskimos visiting Big Diomede Island were held captive by the Russians for
50 days, then sent home and told never to return.‖ 160
It was foggy at Shishmaref, far out on the western edge of Alaska, at 12 noon on September 5, 1949. An
airplane engine was heard, but the plane was unseen; it was first heard east of the village, over the mainland,
then to the northwest. Two men were in George Goshaw‘s store, where he was making a book entry for one. The
other had been working on Goshaw‘s Coast Guard tower light and was just stepping out the door when they all
heard an explosion. The incident repeated others where explosions had been heard. Goshaw was becoming
uneasy. Finally he wrote a letter to Governor Gruening.
―Wrangall a Island, one hundred miles off shore from Cape North, Siberia, would be an excellent spot for
Russians to ‗sound off‘ their atom bombs,‖ he wrote the governor. ―Could be—might be.‖ He recommended
building a fire under Congress: ―Radar stations should be established as soon as the equipment is available—
station after station should be built. In the meantime, the Air Force should maintain an Air Patrol—incidentally
the newly made 300 mile cameras should be ‗shooting‘ Siberian Coasts and a good look taken at Wrangall f
Island.
a ‗Wrangel‘ is misspelled. Not to be confused with Wrangell Island in southeast Alaska.
39

―And,‖ he concluded, ―what of National Guard units in isolated Eskimo villages?‖ 161 He was not satisfied
with the quaint, picturesque defense system Alaska had engaged in its native guardians. He complained his men
had received no pay and their instructions were scanty; the men were losing interest.
―To keep up interest,‖ he wrote the governor in March, 1950, ―I have former members of the Territorial
Guard and all the older school boys assemble with the Guard members for physical exercise—last Saturday night
there was a total of forty-two men and boys on the floor for such exercise. During other instruction they group up
at one end of the building and have a hard time to keep silent—At other times, I have furnished roller skates,
balls of several sizes, horse shoes, bows and arrows for their entertainment.‖ 162
Down at Nome, Paul Dryden, a real estate man put in charge of the National Guard, also was having
problems.
―To put it bluntly,‖ he wrote Gruening, ―we did get a bum start by not getting hold of the right element of
the younger set in the first place. Too many of the EM were in the local clink on drill nights, and attendance was
rather choppy all the way through. If you check the records, attendance among the officer material was not what
one would desire. Being a little bit outspoken again, one of the first commissions went to frustrated ego
personalities who were anxious to be known to make up the officers‘ roster, but the leadership was not there.
Add to that instructor personnel which did not care one way or the other except looking forward to new
assignments, and you have a poor set-up.‖ Of one instructor sergeant who made a particular poor showing,
Dryden wrote, ―his antics are still being discussed here.‖
Dryden pointed out that ―Nome is not barren of capable fellows, but they hesitate to identify themselves
with a group that does not seem to get over the top.‖ He suggested Gruening put a public relations man to work
organizing things along with ―a half-dozen live wires...which the battalion badly needs here.‖ 163
The 207 th Infantry Battalion of the Alaska National Guard was federally recognized on January 25, 1950,
along with its Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company at Anchorage. Company B was established at
Fairbanks April 10.
The 208 th Infantry Battalion was recognized on July 12, with its Headquarters, Headquarters and Service
Company at Juneau. Company A was recognized at Ketchikan May 11 and Company B at Sitka July 13. Also in
1950 Company D of the Second Scout Battalion was recognized at Kalsag on December 19 and Company F at
Dillingham on May 15.
The new Sitka unit won the Eisenhower Trophy for being the unit with the highest level of training and
proficiency in 1950, the first time it was awarded in the Alaska National Guard. No award was made in 1951, but
Company B again took the award in 1952 and 1953, the last time it would be given until 1964.
By the end of 1950, 17 per cent of the Alaska Guard‘s units had been formed. Strength was 57 officers,
three warrant officers and 1,168 enlisted men. The majority of the officers commissioned in the Scout Battalions
were approved with waivers of professional qualifications on the basis of being the best men available.
Regulations required the retirement of such waivers after two years by the successful completion of
correspondence courses or by passing proficiency tests.
In addition to the Guard personnel, there were 13 permanent duty federal assistants with the units in
Nome, which had three; Bethel, three; Anchorage, two; Fairbanks, one; Juneau, two; Ketchikan, one, and Sitka,
one. The Instructor Detachment had five officers, two warrant officers and 13 senior enlisted men. Of these,
Juneau had two officers, one warrant officer and three sergeants; Anchorage, one officer, one warrant officer,
and two sergeants; Fairbanks one sergeant; Bethel one officer and four sergeants; Nome one officer and three
sergeants. One sergeant was unassigned. (A table showing the strength of the Alaska National Guard at the end
of each year is in the back of this book.)
Strength was sufficient to make satisfactory progress in training. And there were enough small arms and
ammunition to provide a basic weapon for each man and a small number of crew-served weapons for limited
training.
Through the use of federal funds, buildings had been built or leased in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks,
Juneau, Ketchikan, Nome and Sitka for storage and training. Old Alaska Territorial Guard buildings had been
40

ehabilitated in Deering, Kivalina, Kotzebue, Point Hope, Shishmaref and Unalakleet. 164 ―There is a very good
armory building in Shishmaref,‖ Goshaw wrote in one of his reports to Gruening. ―When painted entirely inside
and outside, it will be a credit to the Alaska National Guard. Colonel Marston told the men who did the erecting
work, that it is the best Guard building, he has so far, seen. The men did the work, gratis—meals were provided
for them—and after a month‘s work, the Guard has a fine place for all its purposes. New roofing paper will be
needed next summer. Also new heaters, as our old heater will not heat the place during cold winter.‖ 165
Barrow by 1950 had obtained a Cowan hut and secured several thousand dollars through a 2 per cent
local sales tax for erecting and furnishing it. Other villages held drills in schools, stores or private buildings
which were either loaned or rented with territorial funds. 164
The National Guard‘s expenditures in 1949 totaled $9,715.22 and in 1950 totaled $39,731.00. (Annual
expenditures are given in a table in the back of this book.)
The legislature in 1950 gave the Guard $150,000 for its operation over the next two years, just a slight
monthly increase over the past few months. The Guard would continue operation only at the same level in 1951
and 1952 as it had in 1950. There would be no funds for expanded operations, armories, payment of troops
during emergencies or the operating costs which had been paid by the federal government during organization
but which now were to be borne by the territory. After an urgent appeal to the National Guard Bureau, however,
the operating costs, at least, were reinstated for another two years. 164
In 1951 and 1952, the only improvements made in facilities were those for which federal funds could be
obtained. Several buildings were either built or rehabilitated at Anchorage, Nome, Fairbanks and Bethel. At
Sitka a community building was purchased with $9,000 from the National Guard Bureau and $1,500 each from
the city of Sitka and the territory. 164
Coming Into Its Own
An Alaskan Air Command B-17 roared over isolated King Island 85 miles northwest of Nome early in
May 1950. It opened its bomb bay and dropped a bulky bundle which quickly was caught short by a bright
yellow parachute and drifted down to an excited group of Eskimo Guardsmen below.
Five bundles of military supplies were delivered by the Army that day in the only manner possible in the
spring of the year to members of the detachment of the 1 st Scout Battalion on the small, ice-bound island.
For extra measure, the big 10 th Rescue Squadron plane also dropped a large bundle of mail, the first the
King Islanders had received in many days.
The joint Army-Air Force venture had been planned by Capt. Edwin H. Patterson of the Army‘s G-3
Section at Fort Richardson. A highlight of the trip to the craggy granite rock which pokes some 1,200 feet out of
the Bering Sea was a radio conversation from the plane with Rev. Tom Cunningham, a Catholic missionary on
the island. The conversation was recorded by Jack Walden for KENI radio in Anchorage. Father Tom lived with
the Eskimos, ate their food, spoke their language, hunted with them and taught them. He also headed the 1 st and
2 nd platoons of Company A of the First Battalion on the island, which had organized the previous year.
Colonel Alexander had done much to get the Alaska National Guard under way in the two years he
worked with Gruening, but there was a great deal to be done when Larry Lars Johnson became the first adjutant
general on August 1, 1951.
Johnson had worked as a miner at Independence Mine near Palmer and then had done some fishing on
one of the old sailing rigs in Bristol Bay when, in 1938, he went to the University of Washington for a year. He
was drafted there and went to Fort Richardson where he became an administrative officer with the Air Corps. He
had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry having taken a civilian military training
correspondence course for four years. His agreement to enter the Air Corps was contingent on a deal he made
with Maj. Everet Davis, who brought the Air Corps to Alaska and had asked him to be an administrative officer.
―Okay,‖ Johnson said in response to the invitation, ―that‘s fine if you‘ll get me off to flying school.‖
Though the bargain was made, Johnson saw some other action first. He took 15 men to Kodiak where the Army,
41

engineers and Alaska Communication System already had begun to build an airstrip. They gathered together the
supplies that had been air dropped and set up a little operation to handle fighter and bomber units. He did similar
work at Umnak, where, fishing from a D-8 Caterpillar tractor one day, he saw Lt. Cape get shot down in a P-40.
The field was later named for him.
Then Johnson went to McGrath. ―I always ended up with the guys they wanted to keep out of town,‖
Johnson remembers. ―They were the best: ornery and tough. And I never had any trouble with them; I never had
to court-martial a guy in my life.‖ He took 15 or 16 men to Kodiak and Umnak, and now he was given a list of
15 more for the McGrath job. 199 ―When I got there,‖ he recalls, ―here was a whole bunch of bombs and a whole
bunch of tents and no place to live or anything.‖ While he was there Governor Gruening and Muktuk Marston
were making a trip out to the bush country. Johnson and some other men had a big poker game going in his tent;
he had just received word that morning of his promotion some three months earlier to captain. The governor and
the major stopped at McGrath for the night, but the roadhouse was full and there was no place to sleep. Johnson
got the dignitaries a couple of new sleeping bags and a couple sleeping cots which were set up next to the card
table, gave them a bottle of cognac and went back to his winning game. Gruening, he recalls, got in a couple of
hands, too, and Marston told about his plan to organize the Eskimos.
―Organize them into what?‖ Johnson recalls asking.
―The Territorial Guard,‖ said Marston.
―They‘re gonna protect the coast.‖
―They can‘t stop those airplanes,‖ Johnson retorted. But he said, ―Well, it‘s a good idea anyway.‖
Before the war was over, Johnson had served in an A-20 outfit in the Philippines, where he started out as
a combat replacement and worked his way to assistant flight leader, then flight leader, assistant operations officer
and finally squadron commander. Then he returned to Alaska and when the National Guard‘s adjutant position
came open, some friends urged him to put in for it and he did. One day Gruening came by his small house on
Fourth Avenue in Anchorage, riding in a Territorial Police car. It was Saturday—July31—and Johnson was
painting some signs for a homestead at Rabbit Creek he was intending to file on. Col. Alexander was with the
governor.
―We‘re seriously considering you for adjutant general,‖ Gruening told Johnson. ―Maybe you should join
the Guard first and spend a little time in it.‖
Johnson met the challenge with a challenge. ―Look, governor,‖ he said, ―I ran a combat squadron during
the war and if I can‘t run that outfit you don‘t want me and I don‘t want it.‖
Gruening was ready. ―When can you come to work? How about tomorrow?‖ The next day was Sunday,
but Johnson said he‘d be there.
One of Johnson‘s first questions was about training: when did the troops hold their annual camp? He
learned they never had any. So, meeting with the Instructor Detachment, he began asking when would be a good
time for training camp. One of them said, ―In the fall of the year it‘s a bad time because they‘re getting ready to
hunt. And in the spring it‘s bad because they‘re going to fish. And in the summer, they‘re all gone, you know?‖
So almost arbitrarily they chose a date in September for an experimental field problem for selected men of the
First Scout Battalion.
The problem, a reconnaissance mission on the Kobuk and Noatak Rivers, was paid for by the Instructor
Detachment, using their two Cessna 195s with floats. Rubber rafts with outboard motors on mounts which had
been fabricated by the U.S. Purchasing & Disbursing Office were flown by the National Guard planes to
Kotzebue and by Wien Airline bush plane to the upper parts of the two rivers. About 20 men from Point Hope,
Kotzebue, Noorvik and Nome arrived on the Noatak on September 16 and on the Kobuk the next day. Then the
men traveled down the rivers, observing, sketching and making notes on everything they saw. One of the
propeller blades on one of the boats broke, slowing down the party barely long enough to worry about the
problem. One of the scouts cut up an empty oil drum, fashioned a new blade and the mission continued. The
Noatak party returned to Kotzebue September 25; the Kobuk party returned the 30 th . The experiment was a
success, and provided momentum for the three battalion-size camps to be held in the next four months. 167
42

The first of these was October 13-27 at Ft. Richardson with 102 men attending from the 207 th Infantry
companies at Anchorage, Fairbanks and a platoon from Seward. Transportation to camp was via the Alaska
Railroad. It successfully followed normal National Guard field training schedules, using the first week for basic
weapons firing on the range, where all but one individual qualified, and spending the second week in field
training of individuals and small units. The men, using tents for quarters enjoyed mild weather, with some rain
and snow. The camp gave a basis of operation for the next two camps. The second was held at Montana Creek
Forest Service administrative site near Juneau November 25 to December 6 for the 208 th Infantry, with 304
Guardsmen attending from Angoon, Craig, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Sitka in addition to some
observers from the scout battalions. All but the Juneau men were flown in by Alaska Coastal and Ellis Airlines;
tents and other supplies were shipped by boat from Anchorage. The 208 th did most of their training in heavy
snow, the men living in tents pitched in a cleared space in the woods where an abandoned CCC a Camp had been.
Here more time was given to establishing the camp—including some land clearing—than to purely military
training, but this was valuable experience. Electricity was supplied by a portable generator loaned by the Alaska
Communication System; water by a Juneau city water truck; fuel by local purchase; fire protection by the
National Guard armory fire truck. Small arms firing was conducted on the Mendenhall Rifle Range, and machine
gun and mortar ranges also were set up. 168
Under normal conditions when the Chaplain speaks he usually has an
audience of those who should be there whether they want to or not –
on the other hand he also has an audience of those who choose to be
present. Like each soldier, chaplains are different. However, basically,
they offer one thing – “the truth.”
Truth has been defined as “a quality or state of being true, honest,
just, upright.” What a subject! And yet who wants to be a crook, living
a messed up life and finally ending in a public prison?
I am reminded of a person named Paul who said, “Who are you,
Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is
dangerous and keeps turning out badly for you to keep kicking
against the goad (a pointed rod).”
For anyone to resist the truth in all areas of life, they should take
this lesson from Paul seriously.
A man’s word should be backed up 100 per cent with the truth. If the desire to do otherwise
is stronger, this is the time to stop and think upon this subject. Let it get on your nerves and
conscience. Make an appointment with your Chaplain and get straightened out. This will be a
beginning of new and greater days for you.
Father: “I want an explanation and I want the truth.” Son: “Make up your mind, Dad, you can’t
have both.”
Best wishes now,
Walter A. Soboleff
Chaplain
Photo and text of Chaplain Soboleff are from Summer 1961 edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
a
‗CCC‘ was the ‗Civilian Conservation Corps‘, a Federal program whose mission was to employ ‗young men, enlist them in a
peacetime army, and send them to battle the erosion and destruction of the nation's natural resources.‘ Source: www.u-shistory.com/pages/h1586.html
43

The first tragedy of Alaska‘s National Guard occurred when three scouts died in a crash of a chartered
single-engine plane on the way from Wainwright to Ft. Richardson and Juneau. The plane, buffeted by high
winds, crashed in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow on the afternoon of November 7. A memorial service was held
at the camp by Chaplain Percy Ipalook of Kotzebue and Chaplain Walter Sobeloff a of Juneau. Col. Johnson read
the names of the three members of Company D, First Scout Battalion, into the honor roll. 172
The third camp was held a month later, in January, 1952, in semi-permanent quarters at Fort Richardson,
with 241 selected officers and men from the First and Second Scout Battalions. Training followed armory drill
subjects, with emphasis on individual and small unit problems in patrolling, observation, map reading, weapons
work and intelligence activities. The men had to wear snowshoes for outdoor problems, which was tiring. And
the temperature dropped to -30 to -40 on the day the men were on the rifle range, causing more hardship. But
there were few complaints and, like other camps, it was rated a great success.
With continuing cold weather on the day of the camp‘s award ceremony, the gathering was held indoors.
Governor Gruening was present, along with Lt. Gen. William Kepner, Alaskan commander; the major generals
commanding the Army and the Air Force and an admiral from Kodiak. Capt. Frank Clayton, battalion
commander, called the men to the platform one by one and Gruening awarded the appropriate medals:
marksmen, sharpshooter and expert. More than 300 men came up and Gruening was impressed by the large
proportion: it was more than half perhaps three-fourths or five-sixths.
When it was over, the governor said, ―As for those fellows who did not get an award, I am sure you will
make it next time.‖
Clayton interrupted him: ―Every one of those men got an award, governor.‖
―Isn‘t that unusual?‖ Gruening asked the Army commander, Maj. Gen. Julian Cunningham.
―Unusual?‖ said Cunningham. ―It‘s unprecedented. I‘ve never known a unit with a 100 per cent record.‖
Kepner said, ―I wish there were forty thousand of you.‖
―These,‖ Gruening later proudly wrote to the National Guard Bureau, ―will be on guard when and if
parachutists should attempt to come over.‖ 267
Plans immediately began to be made for an all-Alaskan encampment, which was held November 9 to 23,
1952, with personnel attending from all units except Bethel, which was experiencing a diphtheria epidemic, and
Ketchikan, where a polio epidemic had broken out.
The scout battalions spent the first week of this camp on individual and small unit tactics; the infantry
units spent three day firing on known-distance and field ranges the first week. The Scout units did the firing the
second week, while the infantry units carried on several platoon and company size field problems, climaxing
with an attack of the 208 th on the 207 th ‘s defensive position, a counter-attack by the 207 th and withdrawal by the
208 th . A planned overnight bivouac was canceled due to a high rate of upper respiratory troubles, found to be a
common occurrence at the winter camps where men gathered together under crowded conditions. 168
A non-commissioned officer‘s school was held in Nome in 1952.
Muktuk Marston, feeling that the western Alaska villages had been abandoned following the war, made
yet another trip to the tundra in the late winter of 1952, hoping to locate a line of communication from the Bering
and Arctic shores into the tundra, to make locations for and establish some caches and underground shelters, and
to plan for rear guard action in the mountains and other places in case of attack. ―This is a program I had
approval on some two years ago,‖ he told Governor Gruening prior to his departure, ―but up to date little or no
action on it, except what I have personally been able to get across by voluntary gifts of rations, etc.‖
When the Army withdrew from Nome and other coastal towns after the war back to Fairbanks,
Anchorage and the rail belt—some 600 miles east—―we left some 18,000 native people facing the enemy 35
miles away and our forces 600 miles to the rear and no real and no real or actual connection between our forces
and those Eskimos...For my part I do not intend to abandon them and I intend to do something,‖ Marston said in
his usual tactful way, ―either within or without the military. The least we can do is establish this line of caches
a ‗Soboleff‘ is misspelled. Source: ‗The Chaplain Speaks‘ from the Summer 1961 edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
44

and shelters back into the tundra.‖ 173 A letter from Marston from Kotzebue in March shows that he was
impressed with the high morale after the Fort Richardson camp. But there were problems even more basic than
the line of communication he had been concerned about. Selawik was using Fergsen‘s for drills and the ceiling
was too low: they needed an armory. Shungnak had no place to drill; Noorvik was using a school building;
Kiana was not organized. 175
Besides the very successful camps Johnson had organized, the individual units began holding more
stimulating drills on their own, however. Units in the Kotzebue area had a three-day problem of patrolling and
classes. Angoon and Hoonah in the Southeast spent two days in platoon and firing. The 207 th Infantry had a
weekend problem at Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula; the 208 th had a two-day problem of defense and
aggressor tactics. Units of the Second Scout Battalion held raids by dog team on nearby villages.
―Bethel claims they started it, but the way we heard it down here,‖ an Alaskan Guardsman article from
Juneau reported, ―they were sitting in the armory having coffee when Akiak and Akiachak barged in on them
and captured the whole town. After the prisoners were properly sorted out, the three villages joined forces and
captured Kwethluk, where the sentries had just gone in for coffee.‖ 176
In an unusual moment in the scheme of things, Maj. Gen. Kenneth F. Cramer, chief of the National
Guard Bureau, swore in Harold Kavealook as a member of the Alaska National Guard at Pt. Barrow in June,
1950. Cramer was on an inspection tour of the Guard activity in the territory, along with Colonel Alexander,
acting adjutant general.
The Alaska Air National Guard Is Born
During the early part of 1952, Col. Johnson felt that the Army National Guard program was far enough
along to proceed with organization of an Air National Guard for Alaska. He had approached Governor Gruening
about the idea the second week after his arrival in Juneau as adjutant general, and the governor had said, ―It‘s a
good idea, Why not? Why don‘t you work on it?‖
Johnson had found that the idea had been brought up about 1949 or 1950, and some letters in the
governor‘s file said there wasn‘t enough population to warrant an Air Guard unit. A city of 100,000 was needed,
and there was barely that many in the whole territory. But he went ahead and contacted General Kepner at the
Alaskan Command and sold him on the idea. Later, when Kepner, General Olds, Governor Gruening and
Johnson had lunch together one day in Juneau, Gruening gave Johnson the high sign: ―Now‘s the time.‖
―General Kepner,‖ Johnson remembers saying, ―we‘ve got to start getting the pieces together for an Air
National Guard for Alaska. I sure hope you‘ll support it.‖ He said he was all for it. General Old said he wanted
fighters. Johnson said, ―Right.‖ General Kepner said he wanted bombers. Johnson said, ―Right, anything.‖ Two
days later Johnson and Gruening sent a letter to Kepner asking for his comments and support, intending to
forward the letter to the National Guard Bureau in Washington. In another few days Johnson flew to the National
Guard Bureau, where he met with the bureau chief, General Fleming, and got his blessing, successfully ending
the first battle.
The next step was getting state backing; the federal approval was contingent on local recruitment and
funding. Johnson rented an office on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage, put a recruitment notice in the paper and
asked the legislature for $20,000. The legislature fought him, and he lost. Johnson was mad when he heard the
news. But he was determined to win this war anyway. He told his right hand man, Lee Lucas, ―We‘re still going
to start the Air Guard.‖ He cut every National Guard program in the territory, even breaking pencils in two so
there would be enough to go around, and took $20,000 out of the budget for an Air Guard.
The response from the National Guard Bureau was good. ―Without their help,‖ Johnson says now, ―we
never would have made it.‖ The territory‘s first plane, a C-47, was given to Alaska from Maryland‘s allotment,
and money was taken from other states‘ allotments and put into a pot for Alaska. ―You know,‖ Johnson had told
the legislature, ―we‘re putting a million dollar business into Anchorage and you can‘t see it.‖ 169
45

The Alaska Air National Guard was organized officially on September 15, 1952, as the 8114 th Air Base
Squadron. Five officers and eleven enlisted men answered the roll call at the first unit training assembly that day
at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the unit‘s first home. The 8114 th ‘s first plane of its own arrived in February, 1953,
a T-6G trainer. Federal recognition was granted on July 1, 1953, and the unit was redesignated as the 144 th
Fighter-Bomber Squadron. By this time five T-6G trainers were on the ramp, with busy flying schedules to get
everyone ready for transitional training into jet aircraft. The first jet, a T-33 jet trainer, arrived in October, 1953.
There were 15 officers and 49 enlisted men for field training that year. As the Air National Guard came into its
own, the public began to take notice. The local papers did features on men like ―Roger Pendleton, an Anchorage
engineer (who) has the fastest part-time job in the world. When the day‘s work is done he flies a jet plane, often
at night, in the sky over Alaska. For him it‘s more than a joy ride; it‘s part of 125 hours in the air he will put in
each year as a pilot in Alaska‘s only Air Guard squadron.‖ 179
Men like Wilbert D. McGee, an insurance adjustor. Men like Walter Cole, a concessionaire at the
Anchorage Airport, taking his first solo flight in a jet. Men like Maurice Carlson, an airline pilot. Like Harry
Huskey, a Civil Aeronautics Administration employe. Like Col. Larry Lars Johnson, commander of the 144 th ,
pictured wearing a jet pilot‘s helmet.
By the end of Johnson‘s two years as the Alaska National Guard‘s adjutant general, strength was up to
2,000 in 70 locations with training surpassing minimum requirements; 15-day field training now being
conducted annually for all units. ―The allocation and organization of the 144 th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at
Anchorage during the past year,‖ wrote the editor of the Daily Alaska Empire at Juneau at the end of Johnson‘s
term, ―was almost entirely due to the efforts put forth by Col. Johnson to obtain an Air National Guard for the
territory.‖ 170 He was selected for inclusion in Who‘s Who in America in 1952. 171
Besides the formation of the Air Guard, the Alaska Army Guard had seen the addition to the First Scout
Battalion of Company D at Barrow on January 25, 1952. The Second Battalion was shuffled about with
Company E at Bethel redesignated Company A; Company F at Dillingham was redesignated Company B and
Company D at Kalsag changed to Company C at Bethel.
The 207 th Infantry Battalion remained the same, while the 208 th saw the addition of Company C in
Juneau on June 28, 1951, and the change in designation of Sitka‘s Company B to Company D. In addition, a
medical detachment was formed at Sitka, and new units were formed at Lost River, Napakiak, Napaskiak,
Nunapitchuk and Kasigluk.
During 1951 and 1952, service schools outside Alaska were attended by 27 officers, three warrant
officers and 100 enlisted men. Twenty-seven men from 17 villages attended a non-commissioned officers school
in Nome in 1952.
Percy Ipalook of Wales was sworn in as the Army‘s first Eskimo chaplain. He was given a rank of
captain in his First Scout Battalion post.
Sophistication And Tragedy
On September 1, 1953, Brig. Gen. John R. Noyes took over as adjutant general under the new governor,
Frank B. Heintzleman. Johnson then became the Air Guard squadron commander, staying with the unit long
enough to get checked out in a jet. 177 The new general had served in the Army in Alaska from 1932 to 1934 when
he was in charge of the engineers district branch, supervising all rivers and harbors work in the territory. He
returned in 1948 as state commissioner of roads, accomplishing the first paving in the territory, numbering the
principal highways and opening Thompson Pass near Valdez to all season traffic. A native of Kenwood, N.Y., he
graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1923 and received a civil engineering degree from
Cornell University in 1926. 186 The four years of General Noyes‘ leadership would be years of sophistication for
the Alaska National Guard, and years of tragedy.
International tension still was being felt in 1953, and the cold war was perhaps colder in Alaska than
anywhere else in the nation. In the gray light of one January day in a remote village on the coast, a scout spotted
46

several vapor trails at least 25,000 feet up. He contacted Elmendorf Air Force Base, excited, but sure of what he
was talking about. There was no friendly aircraft flying in the area, so as the nation slept, the Western, Central
and Air Defense Commands were called to a state of readiness. Fighter pilots kept their engines running, staying
in the cockpits or under the wings. Listening posts strained for tell-tale sounds. Generals stayed by their
telephones.
Brigadier General John R. Noyes L to R: Captain Crawford, Governor Heintzleman, and General Noyes
Then, in the early morning hours, a radar station on the Eastern Seaboard spotted three unidentified
planes coming in from the Atlantic at 18,000 feet. All over the Eastern Defense Command, fighter planes roared
into the air. But the approaching planes were only three commercial airliners which hadn‘t identified themselves.
At daylight, after nothing further had developed, the alert was called off. Nothing had happened. But the scouts
had taken their place as part of a sophisticated system of national defense. 178
At the same time, their role as guardians of their own shores was becoming a new way of life. Little
Diomede Eskimos, who at the time of Muktuk Marston‘s visit there 10 years earlier had traded freely with their
Big Diomede relatives, now regarded the Russians as intruders. A National Guard scout spotted three armed
Siberians approaching Little Diomede over the Bering Sea ice one day early in 1954. As M.Sgt. David Trautham
quickly organized his Guard unit, the intruders turned off and disappeared back towards Siberia. 180
On June 22, 1955, a Navy patrol plane—a Lockheed P2V-5 Neptune with 11 crew members—was on a
routine flight out of Kodiak; a flight that would bring the Eskimo Scouts into the spotlight in national defense.
The Neptune was flying at 8,000 feet near the American side of the U.S.-Russian border, some 40 miles off
Siberia and 200 miles west of Nome, checking on American lighthouses, buoys and other navigational aids,
watching for icebergs and keeping an eye on the breakup of ice in the Bering Strait. A large fleet of ships of the
United States Military Sea Transportation Service was to pass through the fields of scattered ice and navigate the
treacherous passages of the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea with more than a half million tons of supplies and
building equipment, part of long-planned, gigantic and intricately coordinated Canadian-American maneuver to
set up the Distant Early Warning system. a
a ―…the DEW Line was a string of continental defence radars, ultimately stretching from Alaska to Greenland.‖ Source:
http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/aina/DEWLineBib.pdf
47

―MSG WILLIS WALUNG AND SSG CLIFFORD
IKNOKINOK, CO A, GAMBELL DURING THEIR VISIT TO
WASHINGTON D.C.‖
This undated picture was taken from the telescope that was in the Little
Diomede armory. The scene is of the Russian Army‘s outpost on Big
Diomede. One of their main tasks was to watch the Americans on Little
Diomede. Alaska Army National Guard photo.
As the Neptune was proceeding on its
mission, two Russian MIG jets from Siberia
suddenly pounced down upon it, spurting machine
gun bullets into the patrol plane‘s starboard engine.
It crash-landed on the ice shelf off St. Lawrence
Island, only a short distance from a party of
Eskimos which was hunting seals. The men were
members of the Gambell unit of the First Scout
Battalion, on duty even while hunting. They raced
into action. 196 Sgt. Clifford Ikokinok had an umiak
ready to go, and he raced to the scene, carrying with
him five other Guardsmen and an Air Force
representative. They got to the crash site in 20
minutes, finding the crew burned but alive; three
had bullet or shrapnel wounds. The pilot asked for
medical supplies and stretchers, and Ikoninok went
back to Gambell after them. But three other skin
boats already had left the village with medical
supplies, stretchers, more Guardsmen, a Public
Health Service nurse, more Air Force personnel
and other villagers. The entire population of
300 had been mobilized by M.Sgt. Willis
Walunga, the non-commissioned officer in
charge of the unit. By the time Ikoninok
returned to the scene of the crash, the crewmen
were being evacuated in the other boats. Since
his was the fastest, he took the most seriously
injured man. The Navy crew was treated at the
Gambell church and then evacuated to
Elmendorf Air Force Base by an Air Force
plane which had arrived from Nome. Their lives
had been saved.
An impressive ceremony was held at a
48
National Guard encampment at Dexter near
Nome on September 8 to honor the Gambell
scouts. Certificates of achievement and letters
of appreciation were presented to the 15
Guardsmen who participated in the search and
rescue by General Noyes on behalf of Maj. Gen. James F. Collins, commanding general of the U.S. Army,
Alaska. Commendations later were received from the Grand Observer Corps; from Adm. Robert B. Carney,
chief of Naval Operations in the Department of the Navy; and from Rear Adm. K. Craig, commander of the
Alaskan Sea Frontier. ―The high status of readiness and training and the fine spirit of inter-service cooperation‖
was recognized by them all.
Walunga and Ikonkinok received certificates of achievement. Letters of appreciation were given to Sgt.
1.C. Herbert Apassingok, Corporals Bruce Boolowon, Joseph Slwooko, Ned Koozaata, and Victor Campbell,
Privates First Class Roger Slwooko, Holden Apatiki, Lance Iyakitan, Vernon Slwooko, Donald Ungott, and
Woodrow Malewotkuk and to Pvt. Luke Kulukhon. 181 Later in September, Walunga and Ikonkinok were flown to

Washington D.C., where the Navy presented each with a commendation certificate. James H. Smith, Jr., assistant
secretary of the Navy, pinned wings on their fur parkas, making them honorary members of the Navy‘s air arm.
An army engineer, recognizing the importance of Eskimo units being almost within rifle shot of Soviet
territory in the Bering Strait, noted, ―Here the great indoor sport is to watch the opposite shore with a telescope.
No movement goes unobserved, and every observation is studied and evaluated.‖
For example, look at these entries from the log of a Little Diomede observer:
―Today one Russian was seen to go out to the weather station. Decision: To take weather observation.
―One unknown two-motored aircraft heard flying over Bering Strait. Decision:
Soviet patrol mission.
―Saw one Russian go out from shelter. Pretty soon he come back. Decision: No inside plumbing.‖
The Army evaluation noted that the village Guardsmen‘s reports covered every item of news, becoming
chronicles of village activities. So-and-so had a baby; so-and-so went hunting; the season is good for hunting and
fishing; so-and-so shot a polar bear. Visits of strangers or known persons always were reported, as well as the
conditions for traveling near the village either by dog team, boat or plane. 222
Meanwhile, the Air Guard also continued to grow in sophistication. By their second annual field training
period in November, 1954, the 144 th Fighter-Bomber Squadron had grown to 23 officers and 126 airmen and was
equipped with 14 F-80C Shooting Star jets, two
T-33As, three T-6Gs, two T-6Ds and the C-47A.
But the era of sophistication had a dark
side. It was during that second annual training
period, on November 16, that Lt. Albert Kulis,
leading a formation of three F-80s on a training
mission, disappeared while making a turn into a
cloud bank in the Goose Bay area, eight miles
from Anchorage across Cook Inlet. His two
wingmen, returning to Elmendorf, reported his
disappearance. Radio contact was lost.
Meanwhile, another plane—a two place T-33
trainer piloted by Lt. Roger A. Pendleton and
Capt. Lionel N. Tietze—also became lost on a
training mission. Its last report was from a
position 10 miles north of Fire Island just off
T-33 on static display on Elmendorf Air Force Base. Photo by Sgt.
Marc McNab, State Historian, Alaska Army National Guard 2009.
49
Anchorage in Cook Inlet. Fresh snow, icy rain
and darkness prevented an immediate search for
the two craft. An extensive search began at
daybreak, but bad weather hampered the effort.
Neither of the missing planes or their occupants ever was found. It was assumed they collided and plunged into
the water. 182
With the rapid and unexpected growth of the Air Guard, the facilities at Elmendorf had become much too
small. The National Guard Bureau had authorized construction of new quarters at Anchorage International
Airport, and ground was broken by Colonel Johnson, who tossed aside the traditional spade and jumped on a
traditional caterpillar to complete the ceremony. When the facilities were completed in February of 1955, they
became Kulis Air National Guard Base, named for the lieutenant who had perished in the Air Guard‘s first
tragedy. General Noyes officially dedicated the facilities at a ceremony on Memorial Day. Mrs. Kulis was there,
along with the territorial director of the CAA, Al Hulen. The Air Guard was undergoing its first training
encampment at the new site; there was an air show, a retreat ceremony and open house with displays by each
unit in the squadron. 183

The move to the new base was made in high spirits, with the news that the squadron was to convert to
more modern F-86 Sabre Jet fighters. By July 1, 1955, when the unit was redesignated the 144 th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron, it had already had received nine of the new planes, transferring eight of its F-80Cs to the
Wyoming Air National Guard. Fifteen F-86s was the final compliment of the squadron, with interceptor training
and joint exercises with the Alaskan Air Command completed in record time. This status was to continue until
1957. 184
Another tragedy struck the Air Guard on October 21, 1955, when Lt. Clermont A. O‘Born and Sgt 1.C.
Henry crashed in a T-6 into a wooded area near Eagle River. The spotter plane which carried both men to their
deaths had been flying a support mission for the 53 rd Infantry Regiment at Ft. Richardson when it went down.
Army Capt. Charles J. Lewis of Fort Richardson reached the scene of the crash in an H-13 helicopter and picked
up the body of Henry. O‘Born was still in the plane alive when a paramedic was dispatched. But he died before
the medic got there.
M.Sgt. Howard Slwooko, working as a missionary at Mekoryuk on Nunivak Island, in March of 1955
was named the student company commander at an Eskimo NCO School held on Fort Richardson.
Besides serving during the war as a land rescue scout with the Army Air Corps in the Aleutians and
working in Nome with Major Geist of the ATG, who had appointed him a special instructor at Gambell under
Capt. Warren Koozaata, Slwooko had been in on the organization of the National Guard in Nome in 1949. Too
old to retain his Territorial Guard officer‘s status, he was made a staff sergeant at that time. 188 Besides being a
missionary and the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Mekoryuk unit, Slwooko was the village welfare
agent, a Selective Service Board member, justice of the peace, hunter, trapper, commercial fisherman and
mechanic. 189
He had been a reindeer herder at his home on St. Lawrence Island at the age of 14. Immediately
following the war he was a civil service mechanic and welder with the Army in Nome and then foreman in the
Alaska Communication System‘s Nome motor pool. After joining the National Guard in Nome, Slwooko recalls,
―I looked around and saw how much I had: a wife, a home, a car; and I knew I had to do something to show my
thankfulness.‖ He started studying theological books in his spare time and then secured a course from the
Swedish Covenant Church in Nome. In 1953 he was accepted by the church as a missionary and was asked to go
to Nunivak Island. Thinking he would have a difficult time trying to explain such a move to his wife, he says, ―I
just prayed and walked in and said ‗The Lord has called us to go and preach the Gospel to our people and I have
accepted a call that will take us to Nunivak Island.‘‖ He says his wife‘s reply was, ―I have known for a long time
this would happen, and already have plans for giving up our home. When can we leave?‖
They left immediately after loading the things they would need into an umiak. He quickly mastered the
new language there—Eskimo dialects differ vastly from one region to the next--and then began the task of
interpreting the Bible from English.
Sgt. Slwooko in 1955 was traveling by dog sled and skin boat between Mekoryuk and Nash Harbor
holding National Guard drills and ministering the Word of the Lord at the same time. 191 The class he headed at
the NCO School at Camp Denali on the north end of Ft. Richardson included 55 Eskimos representing the finest
men from their villages. They came to learn methods of instruction as well as basic Army subjects. They also
were exposed to a culture they had by now learned much about but still were not living—in the clean and orderly
huts of Camp Denali were a contrast to their own small sod and frame buildings cluttered with fishing and
hunting gear. At camp, clothes were neatly hung, and shoes brightly polished. Even their white felt bunny boots
had been cleaned with tooth powder or cleanser. It was another step in the development of the National Guard
Scout units into modern, well-trained defensive elements. 190
The third major tragedy in the National Guard in two years took the life of the territory‘s top military
officer. General Noyes died in the Nome hospital on Jan. 30, 1956, just a few hours after a heroic rescue from a
barren mountainside. He was the victim of severe and extensive injuries and frostbite suffered in a plane crash
and four days and three nights of exposure to -10 degree weather.
50

Noyes was aboard an L20 Beaver, flying into Nome from an inspection visit to Shishmaref and other
villages in the area, along with Siegwart, August Richard and Kolb, all of whom survived. The weather was bad
and visibility poor as the small plane started icing up. ―We all knew we were going to crash,‖ Siegwart later told
a newspaper reporter, ―but there was no hysteria or panic. I know I said a prayer.‖ The plane finally grazed the
side of a snow field on a mountain and was down. ―I was thrown out of the plane, but both August and I were
conscious. We heard Kolb groan and as soon as we were able we laid him out in a sleeping bag. We believed the
general to be dead as we could feel no pulse.‖
The storm abated at five the next morning. Richard climbed to the top of the mountain but a heavy fog
lay over the valley and he couldn‘t tell where they were. Later that day they heard planes and took a parachute to
the top of the mountain to burn as a signal. Siegwart had a badly injured leg: ―I bet we fell 40 times before we set
fire to the parachute, but nobody saw our smoke. We also laid out a parachute and burned everything we could
around the plane.‖ Later that afternoon they discovered Noyes‘ pulse and Kolb gained consciousness. Siegwart
and Richard climbed the mountain again the second day in an effort to save the general. It was clear, and they
recognized Dexter Valley and a mining camp below them. They were about 25 miles north of Nome. The two
men began walking and made the camp in two hours. They spent the night there, building a huge smoky fire out
of three rolls of roofing material. Before they took off again the third day they left a giant lumber arrow pointed
the way they were walking, headed for Nome.
Meanwhile that day, a Civil Air Patrol plane piloted by Phillip Lancaster and his companion Martin
Olson of Nome located the downed plane. They landed on the mountain and were joined by bush pilot Bill Munz
and Boyd Hardwood, a druggist. Two paramedics were summoned by radio. General Noyes had head injuries,
cuts and a nearly frozen face, arms and legs. The paramedics gave first aid to both Noyes and Kolb, who were
taken up the mountain by stretchers to the waiting planes and flown to Nome. Shortly after the plane was
located, the other two men were spotted and intercepted on their walk to Nome. Siegwart was in good condition,
but August was suffering from extreme exposure. Noyes died hours later at the age of 53. 192
The general ―had definite ideas of what he wanted the Guard to accomplish,‖ Colonel Jelsma said in a
public tribute to Noyes, ―and he exerted every effort to accomplish these ideas. It‘s because of his ideas he was
on the ill-fated trip. He wanted to help all Guardsmen work out organizational problems.‖ 193 The general‘s body
was buried at his home in Oneida, N.Y. In 1966, his widow, Lily, received word that an unnamed 8,000-foot
mountain in the Mentasta Range near Tok was to be named officially Noyes Mountain in his honor. In 1970,
nine of the general‘s relatives, including Lily and two of his brothers, Charles and Richard, made an expedition
up the mountain. 194
During General Noyes‘ tenure, the National Guard had
seen considerable growth.
Field training camps were held in August, September
and October of 1953, by Companies A, B and C of the First
Battalion at Gambell, Camp Dexter near Nome and on St.
Lawrence Island. A battalion camp was held at Camp Denali on
Ft. Richardson from November 15-29. Most of the 207 th and
208 th attended a training camp at Denali from October 17-31 and
the Second Scout Battalion held a camp there from December 5-
19, 1953.
Training was held at Camp Denali for the 207 th and 208 th
battalions from May 22 to June 5, 1954. Some elements of these
battalions also attended a camp October 31 to November 4 with
the First Scout Battalion. Companies A and B of the First
Battalion attended a camp at Dexter from September 5-19.
The First Battalion‘s island units attended camp at Dexter in 1955, while the rest of the battalion camped
―ANG – 27 SEPT 52 – FIRING LINE – DEXTER
ENCAMPMENT – NOME, ALASKA‖
at Denali with the Second Battalion. The 207 th and the 208 th Infantry Battalions also trained at Denali that year.
51

Extensive repairs had been made at the Juneau and Sitka armories and the Nome building had been
moved. A U.S Fiscal & Purchasing Office motor vehicle storage building was constructed with federal funds in
1955 and construction was begun on a Seward armory, school and federal building.
General Noyes was succeeded by Col. Elvis M. Farmer, who was acting adjutant general from February,
1956, to November, 1957.
Right on the heels of the loss of the state adjutant general came the midair
crash of two Air Guard trainer jets and the death of Capt. Blinn F. Webster,
an Air Guardsman and veteran DC-3 pilot for Northern Consolidated Airlines
flying runs to Bethel and King Salmon. Three men had parachuted to safety after
the T-33s collided in the Chickaloon Flats area 20 miles southeast of Anchorage:
Lt. Col. John E. Vogt, the senior air advisor to the Air National Guard who was
being instructed by Webster, and two member of Elmendorf Air Force Base‘s
64 th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Capt. John T. Walker of Pittsburg, Penn., the
pilot, and Lt. Lloyd E. Harsh, Jr., of York, Penn. Webster had flown more than
10,000 hours and was a veteran of the Air Transport Command in World War II
in which he had won two air medals and a distinguished flying cross for 87
Colonel ELVIS M. FARMER,
Acting Adjutant General,
Alaska National Guard, Feb
1956 – Oct 1957
round trips over the hump in the China-Burma-India theater. 195
By the end of 1956, the Alaska National Guard had achieved a new state
of cooperation between its scout and infantry battalions. Maj. William H.
Crawford, commander of the First Scout Battalion, had a shield over the
headquarters doorway depicting a silver fox head on a blue background. Under
the head was the word ―Upinga,‖ which means, ―I trust you, you trust me. a ‖ 197
1 st Scout Battalion symbol is on podium at Nome‘s Armory. State
Senator Lester Bronson is speaking.
The year 1956 had seen more training at Camp Dexter and Camp Denali by the scout battalions. But the
207 th and the 208 th Infantry Battalions held their annual training camp at Fort Lewis, Washington, while Camp
Denali underwent relocation b across the Denali Highway a on Ft. Richardson.
a st
According to some former members of the 1 Scout Battalion at the 2009 Alaska Federation of Natives conference, an alternate
meaning of ‗Upinga‘ is ‗alert or ready‘.
b
The original location of Camp Denali (What is now Camp Carroll) is on the south side of Davis Highway directly across from its
present site. Source: Fort Richardson Department of Public Works.
52
Major William H. Crawford (center) witnesses an award.

Twenty-five members of the Guard attended military schools Outside during 1956. A non-commissioned
officer‘s school at Ft. Richardson was attended by 65 Guardsmen, and a pre-camp mess school by 14 men. At
the end of the year, 15 Alaska Guardsmen were taking six-month active duty training under terms of a federal
law enacted in 1955 which made such training possible for Guardsmen on a voluntary basis. The act called for
the program to become obligatory in April, 1957.
The Ketchikan unit moved in 1956 from the Coast Guard base to an old school in town. By the end of
that year, the National Guard had 150 federal employees. Col. Waldemar M. Mueller, senior Army advisor, had
a staff of six officers and 18 enlisted men. The U.S. Purchasing & Fiscal Office had 28 full-time employees.
But the Guard‘s existence had been tenuous for its first 10 years, with little support from federal
authorities until Alaska achieved statehood and voting representation in the nation‘s capital in 1957 b . Alaska‘s
scattered sparse population had made administration and logistical support a problem for the remote units. In the
larger towns and cities, the Guard was learning to handle a transient and highly mobile population with a
constant turn-over in membership and the result that training had to be held to basic levels. Fledging units
struggled along with little modern equipment and minimum financial support—a condition which would begin to
be corrected in the years following the organization period.
The Air National Guard had been left by General Noyes to shift largely for itself during this busy time. It
had built up to a payroll of $38,000 a year with 150 men in Anchorage and a $350,000 yearly maintenance
program. The new Kulis hangar had been completed at a cost of $317,000 and a $4 million building was
scheduled for construction. The Air Guard already was pumping support into Alaska‘s economy, a fact which
officials publicized well. The future of both the Army and Air Guard was to take a turn for the better in 1957,
and the next seven years would see great strides toward a well-equipped military on guard in Alaska. 198
Part V --- THE CARROLL YEARS
Thomas P. Carroll was appointed adjutant general of Alaska on
November 1, 1957.
Carroll, state maintenance officer for the National Guard, was
appointed from the technician ranks. He had a background in all phases of
the Army Guard and he knew its problems. He took an immediate interest
in the Air Guard as well.
Born in Edgemont, S.D., in 1918, Carroll enlisted in his state‘s
National Guard as a private in February, 1937. He was called to active
duty with the 34 th Infantry Division, South Dakota National Guard, in
February, 1941. The division was sent to Europe. In 1943 he returned to
the United States to attend Officers Candidate School at Ft. Benning,
Georgia, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in June. He returned
to Europe, working his way up the ranks from rifle platoon leader to
company commander and intelligence officer for the 315 Infantry
Division during the Normandy Campaign.
Released from active duty in June, 1946, he came to Alaska as an
intelligence officer for the Alaska Reserve Railway Grand Division. When
the Alaska National Guard was reactivated in 1949, he joined, serving
simultaneously as commander of the 207 th Infantry Battalion and as state maintenance officer until his
appointment as adjutant general
Major General Thomas P. Carroll.
Alaska Army National Guard photo
a The highway on Ft. Richardson is the Davis Highway, which is the roadway that still holds that name and adjacent to the present
Camps Denali and Carroll. There is a Denali Highway in interior Alaska, runs east and west, Paxton to Denali Park, completed in 1957
and is the original road to the park.
b Alaska achieved statehood on January 3, 1959.
53

Scouts Are Trained
At the request of Major Crawford from battalion headquarters at Nome, 70 members of the First Scout
Battalion in May of 1957 made a 3,000-mile trip to Ft. Ord, Calif., marking the first time active duty was taken
by the scouts.
Most of the scouts had been in the Guard for two years when they volunteered for the training. Their
history-making trip would provide an opportunity to meet the complexities and mixed blessings of the Outside
civilization while giving them training to better serve themselves and the country.
Early in May, with messages of instruction and confirmation crackling over their battalion radio net, the
volunteers began to move towards staging points from the coastal and inland villages scattered along hundreds of
miles of barren coastline. Umiaks—walrus hide propelled by outboard motors—brought the men from Savoonga
to the Gambell airstrip. Other villagers made overland hikes. Guardsmen from St. Michaels to Barter Island and
the Bering Sea island villages gathered in Nome May 8. Then came airlifts to Anchorage and Ft. Richardson,
Official U.S. Navy Photograph of the USNS James O‘Hara.
where they were joined by volunteers from Ft. Yukon, Kodiak, Seward and Anchorage for processing by Army
and National Guard authorities.
The sun was already high in the sky at 4 a.m. on May 13 as the scouts began whipping their quarters into
shape for an inspection by escort officer Capt. Robert D. Ellis, adjutant of the First Battalion. By 9 o‘clock they
were on a train headed for Whittier, where they boarded the Navy transport James O‘Hara to Seattle.
The voyage was enjoyable with overcast weather but calm seas. They liked the food and were just as
excited about pulling KP and other details—which they performed well—as they were about the movies, bingo
and other entertainment.
As the scouts filed down the gangway on the Seattle Army Terminal pier, they were met by eager
reporters and photographers. From there they took a train to California, with a harmonica playing ―Camptown
Races,‖ ―Nearer My God To Thee,‖ ―Love Me Tender‖ and other popular melodies. A ferry trip from Oakland
past big bridges, brightly lighted skylines and Alcatraz Island brought them to San Francisco.
About the same time, 20 Eskimos and Indians from 17 villages in the First Battalion successfully
completed the eight-week Yukon Command Non-Commissioned Officers School at Eielson Air Force Base. Sgt
1.C. Herbert A. Apossingok placed first in his class. Col. Thomas A. Rodgers told the natives,
―You non- commissioned officers are more on your own than most NCOs because you are operating in
54
Captain Robert Ellis and Pvt Wilbur Sampson

isolated areas. Your leadership must not rest on physical
strength, position, wealth or popularity, but must draw
also on the knowledge of your own history.‖ 200
Air Guard Goes Transport
So an Anchorage newspaper reporter described a
the violent death of Capt. Richard G. Otto, 33, an
operations officer for the 144 th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron, on Feb, 18, 1957.
Specks of the plane, which had been screaming
along at 500 miles per hour, remained ―like the little
frazzles red paper is part of the firecracker after the
bang.‖ 201
First Lt. Thomas E. Sudeth was watching from
the turret of a tank as Otto crashed during a ground strike
in Army maneuvers near Clunie Lake 15 miles north of
Anchorage. Sudeth suffered a broken jaw and finger and multiple face wounds. He was taken to an Army
hospital in the states the next day.
Otto‘s Sabre Jet had just completed a simulated strafing run, plunging from 4,000 feet over tank positions
with another jet flying wing. Witnesses saw it ram a tree, slide down a shallow hill and disintegrate. Johnnie
McAndrews, who saw the two Sabres dive, said, ―It looked like the plane had broken into 100,000 pieces when it
exploded. It was strewn all over the lake area.‖ A former city police officer, Otto left a wife and 5 children.
Four crewmen died on November 23, 1957, when an Air Guard C47 b returning with Army National
Guard personnel from a San Francisco conference crashed during a snowstorm on Icy Strait near Gustavus, 50
miles west of Juneau.
The wrecked plane was found by a search party hours after a message was received from the plane that it
was preparing to land at Gustavus during a light snowfall. Nearly all of the 32 residents of the village
participated in a search for the plane and its 11 occupants.
Cross country ski classes were part of the Yukon Command
NCO School on Eielson Air Force Base in March 1957.
―Arrival at Seattle, Reporter and Photographer‖ 2 nd Scout Bn training at Fort Ord in 1963.
a This is from a newspaper article and is quoted word for word for an extended length, but pulled for this version to avoid copywrite
infringement. The removed material describes the terrain the aircraft crashed into.
b The C-47 is the military version of the DC-3.
55

The four crewmen who died were all from Anchorage: Capt. Robert E. Kafader, 37, the pilot; 1 st Lt.
Dennis V. Stamey, 29; S.Sgt Floyd S. Porter, 29, S.Sgt David O. Dial, 24. Five survivors were taken to St. Ann‘s
Hospital in Juneau: 2 nd Lt. Harry S. Aase, 29, a Regular Army man attached to an Army security station on the
Kenai Peninsula who was hitchhiking a ride to Anchorage; Capt. Robert D. Ellis, 33, staff assistant for the 208th
―Wreck of Alaska Air National Guard C-47 at Gustavus,
Alaska, 23 November 1957. The four crew members were killed
and six of the seven passengers were injured.‖
56
The C-47. Photo courtesy Miles Standish at
http://www.lmstandish.net/Old-times/C-47_days.htm.
Infantry Battalion in Juneau; and 2 nd Lt. William W. Caldwell, 27, staff assistant at headquarters, First Scout
Battalion in Nome. Two passengers were treated at the hospital and released: S.Sgt. James O‘Rourke, 39, unit
caretaker of Headquarters, of 207 th Infantry Battalion at Anchorage, and 1 st Lt. Wallace J. Harrison, 29, staff
assistant at Headquarters, Second Scout Battalion in Bethel.
O‘Rourke was quoted in an Anchorage newspaper as saying, ―The plane went into the trees and the trees
tore up the front of the plane...We examined the crew members to see if they were still alive. All were apparently
killed immediately.‖ 204
In June came word that the mission of the Air Guard was being changed July first from fighterinterceptor
to transport, with its new designation being 144 th Air Transport Squadron, Light. The F86 jets were
swapped for C47 cargo planes with a million dollar hangar in the offing.
The first of six C47s was brought from the states by Maj. Melvin W. Witham, Lt. Maurice L. Carlson and
M.Sgt. Clarence Ryherd, all members of the squadron, in October, 1957. Many long faces were noted during this
time, but the squadron was determined to make the best of what generally was thought of as a bad thing.
Training was the mission, transporting supplies, men and equipment anywhere and everywhere in the
territory. It soon became apparent the Alaska Air Guard would do anything from flying moose calves for the
federal wildlife people for restocking barren areas to paradropping supplies and equipment for the Bureau of
Land Management firefighters. They flew moose calves to Berners Bay near Juneau on May 28, 1958, for the
Territorial Sportsmen Association in a joint venture with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The moose had been
captured in the Kenai Peninsula and Susitna areas. In December the moose were reported doing fine. 202 On
August 25, the Air Guard assisted election commissioner David Pree in delivering ballots for a territorial primary
election.
Some controversy was raised by commercial airlines who objected to a three-stage airlifted clinic from
January 11 to February 3, 1959. The Air Guard‘s 1,500-mile round trips to Gambell in the Bering Sea brought 54
children to Anchorage for treatment. The objections, however, only raised the reply that there were no funds to
fly such a large number of children commercially. 203 The Air Guard was established in accomplishing public
service while completing its training, at least for the present.

By the spring of 1960, the Air Guard was chafing at the bit for larger aircraft, and in May the squadron
was notified it would be redesignated on July first as the 144 th Air Transport Squadron, Medium, with new
planes promised.
297 th Infantry Is Re-Established
The 297 th Infantry, which was the designation of the Alaska National Guard when it was originally
established in 1941 but dropped when the Guard was disbanded after the war, was re-established with the
consolidation of Army Guard units on February 1, 1959. The new 297 th included the First Scout Battalion, which
had been organized on July 14, 1949, and the Second Scout Battalion, which dated back to October 5, 1949. It
also included the 3 rd Battle Group, which was made up of the former 207 th Infantry Battalion (Separate),
organized January 25, 1950, and the 208 th Infantry Battalion (Separate), so designated on September 16, 1953.
The 3rd Battle Group included, besides a headquarters company, a combat support company, five rifle
companies and the 216 th Transportation Sled Company.
With authorized strength reduced from 1,857 to 1,616, the Alaska Army Guard at the time of
reorganization included units in the following cities and villages:
1 st Scout Battalion, 297 th Infantry:
Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment: Nome
Company A: Deering, Gambell, Wales, King Island, Little Diomede, Nome, Savoonga, Teller,
Shishmaref, Teller Mission.
Company B: Elim, Ft. Yukon, Koyuk, Shaktoolik, St. Michael, Stebbins, Unalakleet, White Mountain.
Company C: Kiana, Kivalina, Kotzebue, Noatak, Noorvik, Point Hope, Selawik, Shungnak.
Company D: Barrow, Meade River, Barter Island, Point Lay, Wainwright.
2 nd Scout Battalion, 297 th Infantry:
Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment: Bethel
Company A: Bethel, Akiachak, Akiak, Tulusak a , Kwethluk, Eek, Kasigluk, Tuntutuliak, Napaskiak,
Napakiak, St. Paul, Quinhagak.
Company B: Dillingham, Togiak, St. Paul, Kipnuk, Tununak, Unalaska, Chifornak b , Kwigillingok.
Company C: Bethel, Hooper Bay, Scammon Bay, Chevak, Mountain Village, Alakanuk, Mekoryuk,
Newtok, Kwiguk.
3 rd Battle Group, 297 th Infantry
Headquarters and Headquarters Company: Anchorage (formerly Headquarters and Headquarters and
Service Company, 207 th Infantry Battalion).
Company A: Ketchikan (formerly Company A, 208 th Infantry Division).
Company B: Sitka (formerly Company B, 208 th ).
Company C: Juneau (formerly Headquarters and Headquarters and Service Company and Company C,
208 th )
Company D: Kodiak (formerly Company A, 207 th ).
Company E: Fairbanks (formerly Company B, 207 th )
Combat Support Company: Anchorage (formerly Company D, 207 th ).
216 th Transportation Company (Sled): Seward (formerly Company C, 207 th ).
a ‗Tuluksak‘ is misspelled.
b ‗Chefornak‘ is misspelled.
57

Newly completed Kotzebue Armory. Alaska Army
National Guard Photo.
The 3 rd Battle Group would be redesignated the 3 rd
Infantry Battalion on January 17, 1964.
General Carroll sought and received $1,151,600 in
federal funds from the Headquarters of the U.S. Army,
Alaska, to construct armories in 48 villages. The Alaska
district engineer in late 1958 had been authorized to
proceed with the design for 51 of the required buildings. 206
By freezeup in 1959 the program, scaled down to 48
villages, was 80 per cent complete. Manson-Osberg Co.
was the contractor for the U.S. Army Engineer Alaska
District, erecting the 20-by-60-foot steel sheeted
buildings. Each had two space heaters and a generator.
The buildings were transported to the villages by barge,
umiak, and dog team. Some were hand carried
considerable distances.
The armories, which remain in use, doubling as
community centers, were built in the following villages:
Wainwright Koyuk Kweethluk a Hooper Bay
Point Hope Elim Napakiak Chevak
Kivalina White Mountain Napaskiak Nentok b
Noatak Shaktoolik Eek Tununak
Kiana Unalakleet Shishmaref Mekoryuk
Barter Island St. Michael Little Diomede Chefornak
Shungnak Stebbins Wales Kipnuk
Fort Yukon Mountain Village Teller Mission Tuntutuliak
Noorvik Kasigluk Teller Kwigillingok
Selawik Tuluksak King Island Quinhagak
Kotzebue Skiak c Scammon Bay Togiak
Deering Akiachak Alakanuk Dillingham 205
The people of Alaska had mounted a major effort to achieve statehood. Alaska entered the union as the
49 th state on January 3, 1959, generating a new and vigorous interest in the remote land and its National Guard.
The U.S. Army, Alaska, had to reexamine its responsibilities to the state military. And in the Pentagon, the
National Guard Bureau no longer could shunt Alaska. Two fighting United States Senators and a vocal
representative now represented Alaska where it counted: in the halls of Congress.
In January, 1960, the Alaska National Guard was paid great tribute by being chosen to represent Alaska
in the Presidential Inaugural Parade d . More than 100 Alaskan Eskimos from the famed and unique Scout
Battalions marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. In addition to gaining national publicity
and prestige for Alaska, they brought honor to the state and its people.
a ‗Kwethluk‘ is misspelled.
b ‗Newtok‘ is misspelled.
c ‗Akiak‘ is misspelled.
d President John F. Kennedy‘s inauguration, including parade, took place on January 20, 1961.
58

First and Second Scout Battalion marched in the
Kennedy inaugural parade on January 20, 1961.
Deplorable Condition
―The Scouts park momentarily in front of the ‗No Parking‘ sign
for a picture in front of Washington‘s most impressive and
beautiful memorials, the Jefferson Memorial building.‖
Training had been upgraded, with Scout Battalions emphasizing small unit patrolling, intelligence and
guerrilla warfare and the completion of non-commissioned officer academy training and maximum participation
in the six-month basic training. The 3 rd Battle Group, meanwhile, began to emphasize unit training rather than
individual.
But inspection reports on Alaskan units now were read with more than a passing glance. It became
apparent that all was not perfect. The United States Property and Fiscal Office had operated continually in a
borderline, unsatisfactory since 1955 under Lt. Col. Michael Burke, who then succeeded Lt. Col. Meredith H.
Jelsma, who had been U.S. purchasing and fiscal officer since 1951. Burke had been a budget officer at Ft.
Richardson before taking the office. 207 When the 1958 annual general inspection was rated unsatisfactory, Maj.
Gen. Edgar C. Erickson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, directed that all possible remedies be explored. He
dispatched Maj. Howard Holter to Anchorage. Holter reported after a 10-day visit to the USPFO that things were
in deplorable shape. He suggested an assistance team be sent to Alaska immediately.
The resulting action was the dispatch by Maj. Gen. D. W. McGowan of Lt. Col. R. S. Brockway, chief of
the Construction Branch of the Army Division, and Lt. Col. Charles W. Casper, executive officer of the Army
Logistics Division, to review the facilities requirements and determine what logistical support was required from
Anchorage. They arrived in Anchorage just in time to hear that Burke had sent his resignation direct to the
National Guard Bureau and would inform General Carroll of his action the following morning.
Casper now relates that when he and Brockway went to the office of the USPFO the following morning,
―it was apparent that Maj. Holter‘s report had understated the poor condition of the account.‖ The Army Audit
Agency, midway through an audit, found the account auditable but they acknowledged also that its condition
was deplorable.
In a building 90 feet by 60 feet were crowded 23 U. S. Purchasing and Fiscal Office employees. The
useable heated warehouse space and a pitifully inadequate state maintenance shop employed 15. The state
equipment concentration site was also located there. Desks were so crowded there was barely aisle space; all of
the equipment was of antiquated vintage. The storage compound was jammed with equipment stored in torn
tents, dilapidated shacks and in the backs of vehicles. All this, Casper relates, was buried under 15 inches of
snow.
59

The Eyes, Ears & Fist of the Alaska 3 rd Battle Group
The Combat Support Company of Anchorage, Commanded by 1 st Lt. George W. Easley, Jr., provides a
very unique type of service to the rest of the Third Battle Group, Alaska National Guard.
The service is unique in the fact that the Company is seldom committed as a complete unit. More
often than not, it is assigned throughout the Battle Group as needed to best support a given operation.
The Commanding Officer must then designate a junior officer in charge of each assigned team and
return to the Battle Group Training Section where the overall progress of the operation and positioning
of the support teams is kept current on maps and charts. By this method he can maintain radio contact
with his entire company and direct each accordingly. (The) Combat Support Company then acts as eyes,
ears and fists and is often referred to as the “Commander’s Special Forces”
The fist, or “Power Punch” is provided by the Tank Platoon, the Mortar Section and the Assault
Platoon. Each of these elements is assigned to the Battle Group as they are needed.
The Tank Platoon has 4 M41A2 tanks armed with 76mm guns capable of destroying targets to a
range of 4800 yards.
The Mortar Section is currently equipped with two 4.2 inch mortars with a range of 6,000 yards.
The Assault Weapons Platoon, unauthorized at the present time, is equipped with SS-10 guided
missiles capable of penetrating any known armor in existence.
The difference between victory and defeat may well be decided by the effective employment of the
invaluable Combat Support Company.
From the Summer 1963 edition of ‘The Alaska Guardsman’ magazine.
60

―(Left to right) Gen. John R. Noyes, Alaska Adjutant General; Gen. Edgar
C. Erickson, Chief, NGB; Behind Gen Noyes and Gen. Erickson; Lt
Edward Pagano and Maj. Francis F. Siegwart, CO 1 st Scout Bn Nov 1955‖
The tubes contain one round each for recoilless rifles.
61
Colonel Charles W. Casper
There were no internal or external standard operating procedures; new employes‘ training time was more
than double normal. Funds for the office were exhausted; many employes were being paid at one or two grades
below authorized levels. The team, says Casper, left Anchorage in low spirits, proceeding to Juneau for an exit
conference with Carroll. Casper told the adjutant general he was interested in appointment as the new USPFO,
and the general agreed to consider him. In a few days Governor Egan agreed to the appointment.
Casper was promoted to colonel, reporting for duty in Alaska on April 25, 1959. A board of officers that
had been appointed to settle the accounts of Burke completed its work and formally transferred them to Casper
on May 8.
Casper Goes to Work
Casper had begun his military career in October, 1942, as a basic trainee at Ft. Lee, Virginia. He attended
Officer Candidate School following basic, receiving a commission in July, 1943. He was assigned with the 3 rd
Army participating in the invasion of Normandy and serving in northern France, Ardenns, Rhineland and central
Europe. He was release from duty in 1946, serving with the Army Reserve until March, 1947, when he joined
the Montana National Guard.
In 1957 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned as G-4 and chief of staff to the adjutant
general in Montana. In April, 1958, he accepted the position as executive officer of the Logistical Branch at the
National Guard Bureau. 208
Casper dug in and went right to work upon his appointment as USPFO, providing much needed expertise
to solve staggering problems. The 3 rd Battle Group was given priority for remaining funds to permit it to
accomplish annual training in June. At Brockway‘s recommendation, the Guard Bureau allocated emergency
funds for a new

―USPFO 1959‖
Captain Anderson also reported on a multi-sport program
for the Alaska Air National Guard. From the Spring 1964
edition of the ‗Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
62
USPFO building at Anchorage which was
completed and occupied in October. A USPFO
standard operating procedure also was
developed and published and a comprehensive
audit procedure implemented. Casper visited
all major headquarters and took immediate
action to satisfy needs for essential individual
clothing and equipment and other logistical
requirements he could with available funds.
A major problem at Kulis Air Guard
Base was excess property which needed to be
disposed. Capt. William S. Elmore, base
detachment commander, was put in charge of
this task. Capt. Dempsey A. Anderson was
hired as comptroller for Kulis, removing fiscal
operations from USPFO.
Anderson‘s interest in sports continued after his career in the Air
Guard. An indoor double ice rink arena was built and named in his
honor in west Anchorage. Photo by Marc McNab, State Historian.

The Juneau Armory as it appeared in the April 1961 edition
of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
In the waning days of the Eisenhower Administration, funds were released to construct a new armory at
Juneau and design was started on an armory for Anchorage. These buildings were constructed and dedicated in
1960 and 1961.
Casper and Elmore were elected president
and vice president of the Alaska National Guard
Officers‘ Association in 1959. Together they
launched a program to rejuvenate the association.
In August, 1960, the association‘s annual
meeting was held in Nome, with invitations sent
to every adjutant general in the United States
three months in advance. The response was
overwhelming: McGowan and members of his
staff at the Pentagon attended, along with the
president of the National Guard Association of
the United States, Maj. Gen. William S.
Harrison, and 15 state adjutant generals.
For the first time, key members of the
―Alaska National Guard Officer‘s Association Conference – 1960‖
63
The Anchorage Armory as it appeared in the Summer 1961
edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
National Guard Bureau came to understand the
unique problems facing the Guard in Alaska. An
immediate result was allocation of the last new M38A1 quarter-ton trucks remaining in the Army‘s national
inventory. Besides these jeeps, the
commercial vehicle fleet received
some vehicles in the following six
months.
In 1960, the annual general
inspection of the USPFO received
a rating of excellent. Casper was
showing the signs of a champion.
The 48 armories that had
been built and occupied were
having, Casper recalls, ―a
multitude of problems.‖ Chief
―400 Feet above White Mountain, Alaska, l. to r. Sp/5 James Donahoo, Sgt
Richard Harper, Sfc Frank A. Caito of QM Air Items Br., Ft. Rich. push a set of
four oil barrels out of an AANG C-123 transport to supply the people of White
Mt., Alaska.‖ From the April 1961 edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘.
among them were a shortage of
fuel oil, poor maintenance of the
buildings and constant problems
with the electrical generators.

Arrangements were made with two agencies to supply fuel. These were the Alaska Command‘s Mona Lisa
supply operation, which supported the Dew Line sites, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose vessel North Star
supported BIA schools. Two men were hired, one in Nome and one in Bethel, to travel to the villages
maintaining buildings and generators, with a special service contract with the federal government providing
funds. In addition, the original generators, which were found to have a high failure rate, were replaced at a cost
of $280,000 in the summer of 1969 after a special trip to Washington D.C, by General Carroll a , Col. William
Crawford and Casper.
During the winter of 1960 it was
learned that
White Mountain had received no
fuel oil and none was available for local
purchase. Casper made arrangements with
Elmore to fly an air drop mission, and the
U.S. Army approved the use of its lash-up
crews, parachutes and drop materials. On
December 4 and 5, 58 heavy-gauge 55gallon
drums of Arctic fuel oil were
dropped near the village by three Air
Guard C123J with Sgt. 1. C. Isaiah
C-123 - This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee,
taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of
the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain.
the U6A plane assigned to the First Scout Battalion for return to Ft. Richardson.
Modern Planes Equip Air Guard
64
Oksoktaruk supervising the recovery on
the ground. Valuable experience was
gained by all parties. The mission was
considered a complete success. The
parachutes were later flown to Nome in
The first of ten of the C123J airplanes had arrived at Kulis Air Guard Base on May 9, 1960, replacing the
six C47s which had served for three years. Still in use by the Air Guard today, the twin-engine, high-winged Air
Force surplus cargo planes had been in use in Newfoundland and Maine. In addition to their piston engines, the
Alaskan models were equipped with wing-tip jet engines, enabling them to take off from strips as short as 600
feet. They also had retractable wheels and retractable skis. A 15-day training camp was held beginning May 28
for pilots of the new planes. The last of the 10 arrived June 1. 209
During the transition period to the new aircraft, Elmore, now a lieutenant colonel, received a phone call.
A bystander, overhearing the conversation, reports he said, ―Ice Island? Twenty thousand pounds of electronic
gear? Urgent? Sure, we‘ll do it. We‘ll be over at 0600 tomorrow with two planes to pick up the stuff.‖
The call had come from the Alaskan Air Command headquarters at Elmendorf. A contingent of scientists
left over from International Geophysical Year still was busy probing Arctic mysteries on a five-by-seven-mile
ice cube floating in the Arctic Ocean, ice island T-3. The Air Force had been called to make an urgent delivery,
but rain had rotted the surface of the ice island, making a landing too risky for its wheeled aircraft. Since the
Alaska Air Guard had the world‘s only ski equipped, jet-boosted Fairchild Provider planes in the world, how
about it?
a Either the time of the trip, ‗summer of 1969‘ (1959 fits in with the other events) is wrong, or General Carroll did not go on this trip;
he was killed in a plane crash on 25 April 1964.

Elmore and his crew were ready to go. The two planes had to claw through sticky weather—par for the
course in Alaska—to the island, some 400 miles north of Alaska. In subsequent months and years, the Air Guard
would achieve other remarkable accomplishments on a routine basis.
Manpower Problems
Although neither the Scout Battalions nor the Air Guard had worrisome enlisted problems, the 3 rd Battle
Group was hurting for manpower in 1960. Its 440 men represented about one-third authorized strength. Maj.
Larry Landry, energetic commanding officer of the battle group, pointed out that the greatest monster of attrition
was the transient population from which the group drew personnel. Most of the young, non-natives who joined
the Guard in this area were the sons of various construction workers, temporary employes or military men prone
to follow the seasons southward or change tours, taking their families with them. Others were inclined to migrate
Outside to college. Some would return; some would not.
Typical of the problem was the 4.2-inch Mortar Platoon which, instead of having six mortars with a
seven-man crew on each, had two mortars with a crew of four on one, and three on the other. 211
Casper, addressing the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce on June 7, said of these problems, ―We have
National Guard units which can be equipped if we have the people to train. Our Air National Guard needs 170
men now to give it the full capacity it must have to perform its mission. Our Army units in Anchorage need
125.‖ Casper had high praise for the scout battalions.
―It should be something to think about, for all of us,‖ he said, ―to know that we have waiting lists of
Eskimos who want to join the Guard. The native scouts outnumber their city brothers-in-arms two to one. Their
people are literally on the line. They can see Siberia on a clear day. Can we, in interior Alaska, turn our backs on
the fine, new armory buildings, half-strength units, stacked arms and idle aircraft in the face of a menace more
deadly than Hitler‘s Germany and his allies?‖
Making a strong plea, Casper also presented the chamber with statistics that indicated it is good business
as well as good patriotism to back the Guard. Civilian employes of the Guard at that time, he said, were paid a
total of $1.1 million a year with 110 in the Anchorage area. He said the Guard was spending $30,000 per year for
direct procurement, paid local airlines and bush pilots $250,000 year and spent another $500,000 a year in
military pay to Guardsmen. 212
The Guard rated much the same as Outside units in weapons. It had Browning automatic rifles, 105mm
and 106mm recoilless rifles, 4.2 inch and 81mm mortars, carbines, M1 rifles, .45 calibre pistols and, a new
addition, five Walker Bulldog M41A1 light tanks with 76mm cannons and assorted .30 and .50 calibre machine
guns. But the Guard had only a fraction of its authorized weapons strength. 213
One of the holdups to obtaining new equipment was resistance to the influx of new gear into the Army
Guard inventory by Col. Robert Gramzow, ordnance officer, and Col. William N. Redline, G4, at Alaska Army
headquarters. They maintained that the Guard could neither operate nor care for the complex equipment. Even a
routine requisition to the U.S. Army, Alaska, Support Command for 60 M1 rifles for new enlistees in the Scout
Battalions received no action for 60 days. Followup by Casper revealed the two officers would not approve the
requisition unless the National Guard Bureau first approved it, although they admitted they had adequate stock
on hand to permit the issue. This was contrary to Guard Bureau directives, and greatly incensed Casper. After a
series of phone exchanges between the Guard Bureau, USARAL Headquarters and the USPFO, the weapons
were issued immediately. From then on, supply transactions received a high priority and relations between the
Guard and USARAL steadily improved.
Civil Assistance
On January 3, 1961, with a deep swell running on a gray sea, a Coast Guard vessel unloaded a landing
craft carrying National Guardsmen who had been called out to search for men lost on a hunting trip. The 100-
65

man infantry unit at Sitka, led by Capt. Joseph Pike,
headed for the shoreline beneath snow-clad mountain
peaks as the sun broke through the overcast sky, to
traverse the least traveled wilderness in Southeast Alaska.
As community service became routine, the Air
Guard flew increasingly hazardous missions on an
increasingly regular basis. In April, 1961, Air Guardsmen
airlifted heavy equipment to the Yukon River for a dam
project near Rampart. One of the items airlifted off the Ice
Alley airstrip was a weasel transported to Ft. Wainwright
for repairs. Other items included a 12,000-pound core
drill. This mission was in support of U.S. Army
Engineers‘ preliminary study of an area proposed as the
site of a mammoth Rampart Dam, which would have been
the world‘s largest power project, generating an estimated
4.7 kilowatts. The project still is being debated.
Elmore was one of the pilots landing on the river
airstrip as the Guard hauled bulky equipment that couldn‘t
be handled by Interior Airlines, which was working under
contract to the Army Corps. 214
The Air Guard made three landings at Taku Glacier on the Juneau Ice Cap in August, 1961, delivering
supplies to a Michigan State University scientific team studying the glacier. Elmore took part in the airlift, along
with Maj. William McKee, Maj. Tom Norris, Maj. Dean Stringer and Capt. Don Fell. Besides the scientific
equipment, the Guard also delivered food, building materials and snow vehicles to Dr Maynard Miller and his
eight-.member party, which had
camps on three levels. They unloaded
18,000 pounds of cargo at the 4,500foot
and the 6,000-foot levels. They
had supported a similar expedition in
1960, flying four missions at the
request of the Air Force. Missions
would be flown in 1962 and 1963,
with Governor Egan riding along on
the final flight.
In 1960 and 1961 the
Air Guard received flying safety
awards, with Elmore receiving the
second one at Ellington Air Force
Base, Texas, from Maj. Gen. Winston
P. Wilson.
In May, 1961, Elmore‘s son
was killed in a freak auto accident
during an Air Guard annual training period at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks. Airman 1.C. William J.
Elmore was thrown from the back of a pickup on May 27. He died from a severe skull fracture two days later at
Ft. Wainwright Army Hospital. A commercial pilot, the 21-year-old Elmore was married and had a daughter. 219
From the Fall 1963 edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
66
Joseph Pike went on to command the 2 nd Scout Battalion
and attain the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In the photo
above Pike, center, awards 2 nd Scout Battalion soldier Paul
Albert. MSG Chris Mandregan is on the right. Pike was
Creek Indian from Oklahoma.

A dramatic emergency rescue was made by the Air Guard late
in 1961, when a team of University of Alaska scientists was forced
down on a flight to Barrow from an ice island known as Arlis II on
November 15. They had pumped diesel fuel into the plane‘s tanks,
instead of high-octane gasoline, and had to land on the ice pack 30
miles southeast of Arlis 500 miles north of land. Dr. Max Brewer,
head of the Arctic Research Laboratory at Barrow who was aboard,
drilled a hole and found the ice to be 20 to 30 inches thick. ―It was
then we didn‘t have much to worry about,‖ he later related. Wooden
crates and survival packs were used to make landing strip markers.
Brewer said, ―We dipped the pieces in gasoline and strung them out in
a line. All we had to do was throw a match to them.
The Air Guard C123J flew out to make the rescue during the
couple of hours of twilight that passed for day on November 17, with
an Air Force C54 from Elmendorf flying cover. Maj. Dean Stringer
was piloting the Air Guard plane, with Maj. Tom Norris as co-pilot
and Sgt. Bill Christia as crew chief. ―Those guys had stamped out a
runway for us,‖ Stringer said later, ―but I still had a little trouble
getting lined up on it.‖ He made three passes before landing. They
remained on the ice 18 minutes before taking off again. It was the first time this crew had ever made a landing on
the Arctic Ocean. ―In the short twilight there wasn‘t any horizon,‖ Stringer said, ―and you couldn‘t tell where the
sea quit and the sky began.‖ He said the Russians jammed their radios. ―They played Chinese songs and blew
bugles over the air.‖ The ice island was closer to Russia than Alaska.
On the return to Barrow, one of the skis of the C123J became jammed with snow and ice and wouldn‘t
retract. The obstruction was removed with a screwdriver. 215
The first time in Alaskan history that National Guard troops were called into state service to meet a local
civil emergency was on January 13, 1962. Governor Egan called Anchorage Guardsmen to break up ice that was
flooding a creek running through Debarr Vista subdivision, threatening homes with loss and destruction. Spec. 4
A. B. Cary drove a D7 bulldozer up and down the stream as other Guardsmen assisted local civilians in
removing the ice and other debris. 216
Airman William J. Elmore
The Debarr Vista flood. Soldiers using shovels to clear creek ice in the Debarr Vista
subdivision.
67

―AVALANCHE CONTROL The 106 Recoiless Rifle
Squad of Juneau‘s National Guard unit, Company C,
sighted their jeep mounted rifle in on the avalanche danger
area on Mt. Roberts about two miles from Juneau on the
Thane Road recently to prepare for avalanche control when
the snow covers the area.‖ From the Spring 1962 edition of
‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine
Forty-two men from infantry units of Headquarters and
Headquarters Company and the 3 rd Battle Group were
called out and airlifted by Air Guard planes to Kodiak
when the state seized a Japanese fishing vessel. Their
mission was to be on standby to prevent any trouble that
might have occurred.
Jeep-mounted 160mm recoilless rifles again were
called from Company C at Juneau at the end of January
in 1962 to check avalanche danger on Mt. Roberts, 21
miles from the state capital on Thane Road. They fired
10 shells into the snow to cause small slides. Thirty men
were called out to search for missing persons in Kodiak
in 1963, and again to fight a fire there. Both missions
were accomplished and public reaction was good. 217
The annual general inspection of the USPFO in
June, 1961, yielded the second superior rating in a row
for Colonel Casper. He would receive a total of eight
superior awards up to 1969, when the awards were
changed to be either satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
A number of scouts from both the First and
Second Battalions participated in the U. S. Army,
Alaska‘s annual winter exercise, designated Great Bear,
in February, 1962. Planning had begun in the fall of
1961 with an invitation from USARAL‘s commanding general, Maj. Gen. Ned D. Moore, after a small number
of scouts had successfully participated in exercise Willow Freeze the previous. Plans called for 325 scouts to
play the role of aggressor force behind the lines of USARAL maneuver forces. The plans were somewhat
disrupted, however, after a feud between Carroll and the commanding officer of the Second Battalion, Maj.
Robert Ellis, who ended up being discharged after a visit by Carroll‘s Army assistant, Colonel Reger. Capt.
Stanley Smith replaced Ellis, endeavoring to pull the battalion together for the exercise, then only three weeks
away.
Ground fog and freezing rain that covered most of the battalion‘s villages for five straight days as Great
Bear began further irritated the plans. Instead of 325 scouts, only 190 could be picked up. Their role in the
exercise was played to the hilt, however, and they received high praise from the USARAL commander. 272
Captain Smith was among four men killed on April 25, just two months later, when an Army H21
helicopter crashed and burned in a whiteout during a supply and training mission to outlying villages. Killed in
addition to the Second Battalion commander were Col. Thomas Dallas, newly appointed senior Army advisor;
Capt. Anthony S. Christiam, Army advisor to the Second Battalion; Sgt. 1.C. Aubrey L. Hobby, advisor sergeant
to the Second Battalion, and the helicopter crew. Surviving the crash was M. Sgt. James Active. Capt. Joseph
Pike was appointed commanding officer of the Second Battalion.
By now the 48 village armories had been brought into shape with the federal government paying the
entire cost, which reached $1.2 million. In addition, the federal government had paid 70 per cent of the cost of
new armories at Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak and Nome. The Seaward armory was
rehabilitated. Hardwood gym floors—installed during construction only at Seward, Sitka and Bethel—were
added to the Armories at Nome, Juneau, Fairbanks and Ketchikan during 1961 and 1962.
On February 1, 1962, the Alaska Guard completed minor reorganization under the Pentomic Concept.
Company D of the Second Scout Battalion was formed at Dillingham on July 1, 1960. The 134 th Public
Information Detachment was established on July 15, 1960, with its headquarters in Juneau. Company B of the
Second Battalion moved from Dillingham to Mekoryuk and Company C moved from Bethel to Kwiguk on
68

September 15, 1960. The 1 st Rifle Platoon of Company D was formed at Homer with headquarters remaining in
Kodiak. Haines on November 8, 1960, became headquarters for the Second Rifle Platoon of Company C. Three
support units were established in Anchorage on October 1, 1961: the 10 th and 11 th Ordnance Platoons and the
45 th Signal Detachment. The First and Second Scout Battalions were reorganized under new tables of
organization on January 1, 1962, with updated equipment authorizations.
A ‘High Level’ Adventure!
“Special Commendation”
TO COLONEL FRED OSWALD REGER
FOR Actions above and beyond the call of duty.
BY AUTHORITY OF: CHARLES W. CASPER
Colonel NGB
USPFO for Alaska
1. Summary of facts surrounding this commendation.
(a) Fred Oswald Reger is the junior federally-recognized full colonel
in the Alaska Army National Guard.
(b) Colonel Fred Oswald Reger travels frequently in lavish style to all the tourists Mecca’s of
Alaska.
(c) All travel is at state expense and seldom is this traveler alone. His usual entourage includes
at least one Major General and/or another colonel and sometimes both.
(d) Colonel Fred Oswald Reger is a sporty dresser and if the weather is good likes to wear his
suit while in Nome rather than any field uniforms.
(e) Colonel Fred Oswald is an Army licensed driver of light commercial vehicles to include
pickup trucks.
(f) Colonel Fred Oswald Reger has vision correctable to 20/20 – proven by his eagle eye
location of an abandoned railroad bed in the Nome area under somewhat cloudy skies, in
spite of vegetation which had overgrown said roadbed during the past fifty years.
2. Circumstances contributing to this commendation:
(a) On 15 August 1962, Colonel Fred Oswald Reger, 01825641, (Born in California, 9 November
1918, graduate of TD School Officers Motor Course 1943; Infantry School Basic Officer
Course 1949; Infantry School Officers Advanced Course 1951 and the Command and General
Staff Associate Officer Course in 1957) did proceed, accompanying two senior officers to
Nome, Alaska. Major General Carroll, Adjutant General, directed Colonel Casper, Senior
Colonel, to secure a vehicle and driver for use on 17 August to reconnoiter the Nome-Teller
road. Colonel Reger, showing much initiative, arranged for use of a recently issued (by the
USPFO) pickup truck. At 0900 on 17 August, Colonel Reger picked up Major General Carroll
and Colonel Casper at the North Star Hotel and proceeded to the apparent Nome-Teller road
69

y a devious circuitous route. Feeling somewhat insecure as a junior officer, Colonel Reger
made many attempts to make the reconnaissance a pleasant memory for Major General
Carroll. He was quick to observe ducks and ptarmigan, and stopped and explained all about
an abandoned train, took the General gold panning (no colors) and drove in a most
restrained manner at all times. At about 1100 hours the end of the road was reached and
Colonel Casper and the General started to work towards some abandoned buildings. Colonel
Reger, ever mindful that the “Old Man” wasn’t used to walking ran back to the truck and
drove down a vague trail and promptly stuck the truck up the axles, front and rear.
(b) Displaying great courage, he told the General – we are stuck! He then returned to the truck
and found that he had forgotten to check the OVM and no chains and jack was aboard.
Craftily, he shifted blame to the USPFO and Scout Battalion Supply Officer and while the
General was chewing the USPFO to bits, Colonel Reger located some railroad ties and a long
2x4 and some assorted old boards. He called joyously to the General and Colonel Casper of
his find – quickly loaded them with railroad ties, picked up the 2x4 and ran back to the
truck. As the others approached, he pointed out that he was in superb physical condition,
having arrived at the truck a full five minutes ahead of the tie-toters. He then organized the
work party and supervised the truck getting out of the mud.
(c) Upon returning to Nome, it was learned that the road taken was not the Nome-Teller and if
by resoursefullness – ingenuity and pure gall he had not been able to get the truck out, all
three of us would no doubt have been lost and starved to death since search parties would
have searched in another direction. Colonel Reger is to be commended for his true qualities
of leadership – adaptability and calm response during a period of great crisis.
In momento of this occasion, this plaque entitled “THE JACK” is presented to him on behalf
of those whose lives he saved. With this award goes the title of “Jack Reger” 1 st class.
SIGNED:
CHARLES W. CASPER
Colonel NGB
USPFO for Alaska
From the Fall 1963 edition of ‘The Alaska Guardsman’ magazine.
The need for better communication between the state capital and its population was first pointed up in
October, 1962, when President Kennedy for five days placed all commands on world-wide alert to press Russia
to remove missiles from Cuba. Army and Air Guard representatives in Anchorage met daily with the major
commands to keep abreast of the crisis. But in Juneau, the urgency of the situation was not felt. It was not until
the governor visited Anchorage on other business that he became fully aware of the seriousness of the situation.
On the evening of the deadline set by the President, Egan calmed the populace of Alaska in one of the finest
addresses he ever made. The crisis faded, but the problems it brought to light did not.
At the same time, USARAL‘s G2 had called each battalion commander and ordered him to place his men
on alert. The commanding officer of the First Battalion, Capt. Robert Steele, placed his men on drill status.
However, Capt. Pike ordered the Second Battalion to active duty and awaited release by USARAL. It was 11
days later that Juneau learned the men were on duty without proper authority. The state authorized drill pay for
70

the period and immediately reviewed and published procedures for the guidance of the Scout Battalions in
relation to the regular Army.
The National Guard aircraft storage hangar at Bethel, repeatedly damaged by floods and frost heave, had
to be abandoned in 1961 after the National Guard Bureau had ignored repeated pleas for repair funds. But there
were other improvements made. In Anchorage, the Guard‘s Supply and Maintenance Center was established,
including the USPFO office and warehouse, doubling the size of the standby storage compound. Scout Battalion
armories were equipped with new motion picture projectors, folding chairs and tables, bookcases and arms racks.
New radios and antenna poles were installed where needed. Clothing issues brought the Scouts to fully
authorized allowances for the first time in history. Two hundred fifty pairs of skis and 300 pairs of snowshoes
were provided and a snowmobile was purchased for Bethel.
The Third Battle Group, meanwhile, received tactical vehicles and wreckers along with ten 106mm
recoilless rifles which replaced the older 105s. Obsolete office machines and equipment were replaced
throughout the battle group and here, too, clothing issues were brought up to allowances and a basic load of
security ammunition was established at each battle group armory. The 216 th Transportation Sled Company
received nine huge prototype off-road cargo carriers and trailers which were so big they could not be shipped to
Fairbanks. Except for annual training, they never left the yard at the Supply and Maintenance Center.
As 1962 began, it was apparent that the regular Army at Ft. Richardson was taking a new and intense
interest in the National Guard. Much new equipment was released for training, and joint training was pushed
harder. A basic load of state security ammunition was allocated to each village, and Scouts‘ annual inspections
were made in greater detail. When 1,400 Guardsmen attended annual training at Camp Denali at Ft. Richardson
between March 10 and April 1, the regular Army for the first time administered ATTs to all units which revealed
considerable improvement over prior training periods. A Governor‘s Day parade on March 24 highlighted the
camp; it was the last parade of the entire Alaska Army National Guard ever held in downtown Anchorage.
A new armory was completed in Ketchikan in June, 1962, along with other projects, such as fencing gas
storage tanks and pumps at Nome, Bethel and Anchorage. By the close of 1962, new armories were in the design
stage for Barrow, Kwiguk and Nightmute.
In late 1962 the 216 th Transportation Sled Company was redesignated the 216 th Truck a Company. It
participated in maneuver hauling of supplies for Army units in January and February of 1963. About the same
From the Summer 1963 edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.
It was with great pride that the National Guard Bureau recently noted an account of the extremely effective
participation of 30 members of Company C, 297 th Infantry (1 st Scout Battalion), in Exercise Timberline.
These personnel performed a particularly valuable function in their augmentation of the 7 th Special Forces
Group, 1 st Special Forces, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, one of the groups acting as guerrilla forces in the Exercise.
Utilization in this capacity demonstrated to a highly significant degree the true value of the Scouts in the various
roles for which they are highly suited.
The hardiness and adaptability of the Scouts won the respect and admiration of the Special Forces personnel,
who themselves are noted for a remarkable degree of physical prowess.
You may be justly proud of these performances which add measurably to the image and reputation of the
Army National Guard. Further, they exemplify the true spirit of the ‘One Army’ concept.
Please express to all personnel concerned the sincere appreciation of the National Guard for their
noteworthy performances.
FRANCIS S. GREENLIEF
Brigadier General
Asst. Chief NGB, Army
a The 216 th Transportation Company is misnamed.
71

time Canadian field forces conducted exercises in conjunction with the First Battalion near Nome and the
battalion‘s Company C took part in USARAL‘s annual winter exercise Timberline.
Eight new commercial vehicles were issued to the Army Guard in early 1963, including a 37-passenger
bus. Two M59 armored personnel carriers were provided the Third Battle Group, permitting realistic training for
its armored infantry squads. Four van trucks were driven up the Alaska Highway from the Nevada National
Guard in early May to become part of the Alaska Guard‘s equipment.
Carroll made his first visit to the annual training site at Camp Denali during 1963 and was appalled at the
condition of the facilities. It was falling apart. Latrines were inoperative and mess halls were far below minimum
standards. But a proposal to General Moore at USARAL, forwarded to the Department of the Army, was denied
and funds were not forwarded for improvements. The camp continued to deteriorate.
In February, 1963, the Air Guard marked a first when S.M. Sgt. Jack Gray marked 10 years‘ continuous
service as a technician. Air Guard missions included a flight to Ice Island Bravo, 450 miles up into the Arctic
Ocean. Elmore received a fourth annual flying safety award in 1963, and the Air National entry in the Fur
Rendezvous parade at Anchorage won the sweepstakes prize for the fourth consecutive year. Air Guard annual
training support missions included the movement of buffalo in the Big Delta area as well as paradrops of
supplies to Special Forces units in maneuvers on the Arctic Coast.
Lt. John Schaeffer became the youngest captain in the Army Guard with a promotion on his 24 th birthday
in 1963. His father had
been a musher for Marston
in the Alaska Territorial
Guard, earning the major‘s
appraisal as ―the greatest
hunter and dog musher of
the Arctic.‖ At the same
time, a special waiver for
age was granted Rev.
Lawrence A. Nevue a , a
Roman Catholic priest at
Nome, who was drafted
into the National Guard by
various men in his parish.
The priest was given the
rank of captain at the age
Father Lawrence Nevuc. From the
Summer 1963 edition of ‗The Alaska
Guardsman‘ magazine.
Lieutenant John Schaeffer went on to
become Adjutant General from
December 1986 to February 1991.
72
of 49. He had come to
Alaska in 1947 on a fiveyear
assignment to Sitka,
then went to Montana for a
year, returning in 1953 to
Fairbanks and going to Nome in 1956. He was turned down by the Guard in 1948 because of his age. 221
An armory was completed in Fairbanks in the fall of 1963, with Governor Egan dedicating it in a
ceremony on May 18, 1963. It was the third one in the state.
Second Lt. John Hoyt made Alaska Guard history by graduating first in his class of 147 at the .Infantry
Officers Orientation Course at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
a ‗Nevuc‘ is misspelled. Source; Summer 1963 edition of ‗The Alaska Guardsman‘ magazine.

―An official mass ‗Swearing In‘ ceremony conducted 18 February 1964 inaugurated the first
National Guard unit ever located at Petersburg, Alaska.‖ From the Spring 1964 edition of ‗The
Alaskan Guardsman‘ magazine.
On January 17, 1964, Egan announced the reorganization of the Army National Guard whose Third
Battle Group had been reduced from five companies to three in preparation for the switch. Planning for the
reorganization had begun in October, 1972 a , to bring the Guard in line with the world-wide organizational
structure of active Army units. The Third Battle Group was redesignated the Third Battalion, 297 th Infantry, with
units in Anchorage, Kenai-Soldotna, Kodiak, Petersburg, Sitka and Ketchikan. In addition four new units were
added: the 910 th Engineering Co. (Combat) at Juneau, replacing a platoon-sized infantry unit, with a second
platoon in Petersburg; and the 36 th and 37 th Special Forces Detachments at Gambell and Kotzebue. The 38 th
Special Forces Detachment also was added, located at Anchorage. Guard units were added also at Tanana and St.
Marys while the King Island unit was disbanded.
Two companies of the Second Battalion participated in Polar Siege in 1963, a Department of the Army
winter exercise, being attached to active Army Special Forces units. The 144 th Medical Transport Squadron of
the Air Guard also participated, making aerial resupply drops.
The exercise was visited by the new chief of the National Guard Bureau, Brig. Gen. Francis Greenlief b ,
who spent a night with the troops in the field. Due to overzealous attention of his hosts, his tent became
overheated and a spark ignited it, burning a large hole. To the further impression of their visitor, the troops soon
found themselves in a whiteout and unable to travel by helicopter as planned, evacuating to maneuver
headquarters at Ft. Greely by armored personnel carrier. Greenlief was greatly impressed by with the spirit of the
Guard in Alaska. In a hastily arranged 15-minute meeting with him, Carroll, Casper and state maintenance
officer Colonel Crawford, made some direction that would change the Army Guard in Alaska profoundly.
Another first occurred on March 8 when all vehicles assigned to the 910 th Engineer Company in Juneau
were moved by convoy to Camp Denali for annual training. The Alaska Highway Department had to plow ahead
of the convoy through a mountain pass north of Haines, and the vehicles all had to be ferried on the Chilkoot.
The training began on March 11, setting the stage for the most turbulent period in the history of the Alaska
Guard and of the state.
a
Should be ‗1962‘. The historian‘s copy of the original document has a hand drawn circle and question mark around the ‗7‘.
b
The account of this exercise differs with the article, ‗Nat‘l Guard Chiefs Spend Hectic Week in Alaska‘ in the magazine ‗The Alaskan
Guardsman‘ on the same event. First, the exercise that included Greenlief experiencing a tent fire and whiteout conditions happened in
1964. The other difference is that Greenlief‘s title was Deputy Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
73
From the Fall 1963
edition of ‗The Alaskan
Guardsman‘ magazine.

PART VI – DISASTER
The 1964 annual training was normal, exceeding the expectation of regular Army officers as well as
those of the Guard. During the camp, General Carroll succeeded in getting the Army solidly behind the proposals
made to General Greenlief earlier in the year, including the training of Minnesota troops in Alaska. At the end of
the camp, on Good Friday, March 27, representatives of the Minnesota Guard arrived at Ft. Richardson for
preliminary talks about such training. Camp Denali was being closed down routinely and schedules calling for
troops to begin departing just after midnight were being reviewed.
At 5:27 p.m. the Minnesota party was driving to Anchorage from Camp Denali with Colonel Casper and
the state maintenance officer when the most cataclysmic earthquake in the history of the North American
continent roared across southcentral Alaska. It ripped open the face of Anchorage, making wounds whose scars
would remain forever.
Good Friday had started out with many citizens attending church and looking forward to spending Easter
with their families. The 1,350 Army Guardsmen at Camp Denali hardly suspected that the course of their lives
would be altered that afternoon in a disaster that would do $750 million dollars in damage and leave 118 dead.
It began with a small shake that caused motorists to suspect they had flat tires. People on foot had the
impression they had slipped on the ice. Those in buildings imagined heavy trucks passing when they felt the first
temblors. The full realization of what was taking place didn‘t register until an ominous rumbling began to fill the
air and great heaves of the earth caused everything to lunge and sway.
As merchandise tumbled from shelves, lights flickered and went out, children cried and mothers
screamed, the first reaction of shoppers was to flee from stores and at the same time to grab something stable. As
they waited in terror, they assured themselves from past experiences that it would be over in a few seconds. But
the rumble got louder, the tremors greater. This was to be a record-breaking earthquake, lasting a full four
minutes and registering 8.7 a on the Richter scale. The destructive power was to be felt as far away as Crescent
City, California b .
When the earth came to rest, everyone wondered how much damage had been done. They found radio
stations dead. The electricity was off. There was no telephone. No water. Those who weren‘t digging themselves
out of the wreckage of their homes or businesses were keeping their ears glued to battery-powered radios,
waiting for some word.
When a radio station finally came on the air, suspicions were confirmed. The news was that downtown
Anchorage had been inundated and a residential area totally destroyed. Civil Defense, at work setting up a
headquarters, had requested Alaska Guardsmen and skilled volunteers to report for duty to restore power, water
and communications. 222
Col. Fred O. Reger went at once to the War Room at the U.S. Army, Alaska, headquarters, and General
Carroll went to the Public Safety Building in Anchorage to confer with Mayor George Sharrock. 229
Within an hour, Adjutant General Carroll had alerted his troops to move to the downtown area, where the
earthquake had crumpled the Fourth Avenue business district, to guard damaged property and prevent looting.
Headquarters for the Guard and Civil Defense were established at police headquarters in the Public
Safety building. Guardsmen from the two Scout Battalions, the Third Battalion, the 216 th Transportation
Company, the 910 th Engineering Company, the 10 th Ordnance Detachment and the 36 th Special Forces
Detachment began moving to prescribed positions alongside active military forces. Their mission was keeping
people away from damaged areas, and they accomplished it diligently. Many who came without their passes
found that the Guardsmen meant business when they were refused entrance to their own shops. 222
a
The earthquake has since been recalibrated at reaching 9.2 on the Richter scale. Source:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1964_03_28.php.
b
The ‗destructive power‘ that hit Crescent City, California was in the form of a tsunami that killed 11 people and cost $5 million in aid.
‗Source: http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/0203/local/stories/01local.htm
74

―I‘ll have to admit those Scouts were just a scosh better than my men,‖ an active Army lieutenant later
said. ―You couldn‘t con them into anything. They did exactly what they were told. I‘ve got nothing but praise for
these Guardsmen.‖
The scouts from 61 scattered, remote villages had been ready to travel back home on Air Guard and
chartered commercial airplanes and a leap-frog system of bush planes, dog sleds and skin boats. But when a
force of more than 10 million times that of an atomic bomb struck, their plans instantly changed. All were alerted
and held in place.
The regular Army was the first to arrive in the downtown area, but there was some confusion before they
could be placed in the proper position as they tried to find out which of the various agencies was in control. The
Guard, wise to the ways of the community and used to working with city and state authorities, waited a short
while to coordinate with Civil Defense. When the Guardsmen hit town, they knew where to go and what to do.
Roadblocks were set up to cordon off the downtown area. Guardsmen were placed near severely
damaged buildings to bar entrance to looters. Some guarded a broken gas line. Others kept refugees and children
out of a high school that was considered unsafe. Sixty guardsmen were placed in the Turnagain residential area,
where many homes were jilted off their
foundations and slid into a ravine.
At the height of the activity about 700
Guardsmen were on duty, almost matching the
Army‘s contingent of 750 men. Sometimes lost in
the darkness and confusion, Eskimo Scouts stuck
to their sentry posts no matter what for as long as
36 hours without rest or food.
Radio communication was set up in the
Anchorage armory, which also was approved as a
shelter.
At a meeting at 2:30 a.m. March 28 at the
Kulis ANGB Warehouse is ready for earthquake refugees. Source:
Spring ‘64 edition of Alaska Guardsman
75
Public Safety Building it was determined a major
disaster had taken place. After the meeting
Colonel Casper authorized Maj. John Podraza to
purchase necessary operating supplies and rations for a refugee center at Kulis Air Guard Base. Contact was
made with Lt. Col. Atkinson at the National Guard Bureau, briefing him on all Guard activities. Contact was
sustained with him throughout the recovery period. The U.S. Purchasing & Fiscal Office continued to supply
gasoline, rations, combat rations, batteries and field wire.
Governor Egan and most of his cabinet arrived from Juneau the next day, establishing a command post in
a trailer on East Fifth Avenue. From then, operations for the Army Guard became routine. 230
An hour after the earthquake, the 216 th Transportation Company from Seward was ordered to hit the road
and look for homes where help would be needed. The convoy came to an impassable landslide 30 miles south of
Anchorage. They turned back and reported the condition to Ft. Richardson. It was the first news of it.
With the road blocked, it was determined to use the Air Guard to fly that unit to Seward as well as to take
Company C to its home in Kodiak. But a zero ceiling kept them from departing until 8 a.m. Saturday, and even
then, minimum ceiling forced the planes to twist through the mountain passes.
One member of the air crew who hadn‘t heard from his family and hadn‘t had time to get home to see
them asked the pilot of the Seward-bound plane to detour over his homestead. He found his house standing and,
as they flew low over it, the Guardsmen‘s wife and children ran out to wave. The officer served three more days
before going home. The plane landed on 3,000 feet of runway in Seward at 2 p.m. Saturday. They found that the
lethal force of the upheaval had ruptured oil tanks, setting the city ablaze in a fire that was smoldering still.
Virtually all of the major industry had been destroyed by a massive tidal wave that followed the earthquake. Of
the 10 sets of railroad tracks in the yards, only two remained. A 100-ton locomotive had been picked up and

tossed 60 feet by the water‘s tremendous force. Boxcars were washed hundreds of feet. Two of the city‘s three
45-ton Gantry cranes for unloading ships were washed away completely.
The Guardsmen were welcomed heartily. There were active Army people there, but it wasn‘t like having
men who were members of the community helping out. Casper, who directed much of the operation in
Anchorage, later said, ―When the Guard contacted the civilian population, it calmed them to know they were
talking to some of their own.‖ The unit immediately opened the armory as a refugee center, turning it over to a
skeletal detachment of active Army personnel stationed at the Army‘s Seward Recreation Area. They also set up
a local recreation center as refugee quarters and assisted in search and rescue missions. The National Guard
cooks worked with the Army to set up emergency messes. Guard electricians worked on vital generators at the
Seward hospital.
Company C was a welcome sight to Kodiak when it arrived. The island city was even more devastated
than Seward. The business district had been demolished by four 17-foot waves that struck without warning; the
armory was the only remaining structure suitable for emergency operations. It was opened immediately and
became the focal point for all activity, collecting clothing and food for distribution to those in need. A company
of Marines from the Kodiak Naval Base which had assumed security responsibilities for the city was relieved by
the Guard. A communications network was established with the Alaska State Troopers and the naval base,
giving the city contact with other areas of the state as well.
The Air Guard also was the first to get into Valdez, where a Provider landed on half the runway, all that
was useable. They brought in fuel oil and took off again, carrying valuable information back to Anchorage.
The 144 th mounted 25 missions, 77 sorties and 68 flying hours by Wednesday, ferrying 201 passengers
and 131,045 pounds of cargo, including food, blankets, clothing, fuel and generators.
At Kulis Air Guard Base all had been quiet at 5:30 p.m. March 27. Detachment commander Elmore and most of
his key staff were Outside at a conference.
One of the unit‘s planes had just landed after a trip to Dillingham, where it had dropped a load of food
and supplies to the natives, hard-pressed this winter because of a bad fishing season. When the earthquake
struck, Capt. Herb Bredow, the pilot of the returning Provider, and Capt. Joe Kuchta had changed their clothes
and were walking to Bredow‘s car, where his wife was waiting. At first they laughed at the small tremors, which
were so common. But then they were knocked to the ground and held there. The car bounced wildly and the
buildings bulged in and out as they rose and fell. When it was over, Bredow sent his wife home and got busy,
along with other Air Guardsmen, to make a survey of the base.
The two captains first ran to the personnel office, where they were joined by Oscar Holland, who had
been servicing the C123J they had just come in on, and Sgt. J. C. Hobson. They turned off broken water lines,
gas and electricity. Air Guard Maj. Jim Rowe rushed over from International Airport, just across the runway, to
tell them the airport terminal was damaged badly and the control tower had collapsed, trapping people inside it.
Sgt. Chuck Christy and Holland drove a Guard wrecker to the tower, removing chunks of concrete and
recovering three people, whom they drove to a hospital in an ambulance.
Meanwhile, Rowe realized the need for communication to any plane that might be approaching unaware
of the earthquake. He started a Provider to use as an emergency control tower. The plane‘s radio also alerted the
world to the disaster. An inspection was made of the runways, and then they allowed an airline pilot, whom they
were able to contact, to land. After that, they closed the runways to all traffic, notifying all the bases they could
to relay the information. The plane served as a control tower for several hours.
While they stood by for emergency flights at the pleasure of Civil Defense, the Air Guardsmen began
setting up emergency power plants, heaters and beds in the warehouse for refugees. Others prepared a dispensary
for the injured. Within 20 minutes of the earthquake, other Air Guardsmen began arriving without notice, leaving
their families who often were in need themselves. They provided teams to patrol the city, inspect buildings for
trapped people, and report damage.
76

―Typical scenes where more than 75 homes tumbled (during the ‘64 earthquake) over a mile-long bluff overlooking Cook
Inlet.‖ From the Spring 1964 edition of ―Alaska Guardsman‖.
77

After radio stations announced that the Air Guard was receiving refugees and they had food, heat and
light, women and children
began arriving. By midnight
there were 97. On Easter
Sunday, Air Guardsmen had
got great armloads of candy
and Easter baskets from
merchants for the 35 children in
the warehouse. Some of them
colored eggs and hid them for
the children.
The National Guard
Bureau extended the Army
Guard‘s field training status for
three days, keeping it on
federal active duty. On
Thursday, April 2, when units
were helping mostly with
cleaning up and getting things
moving again in Anchorage,
the Guardsmen reverted to state
duty. The Scout Battalions
were moved to their homes as
soon as possible. They all had
to be moved by air and it was
feared that spring breakup
would hold up movement for as
much as a month if they
weren‘t flown right away. By
Wednesday, thanks to the
begging, borrowing and
ingenuity of Casper, all were
happily on their way to their
remote villages.
The Guard had
performed well in the face of
extreme disaster. ―The overall
impression of the Guard‘s
operation was one of discipline
and order,‖ reported the
National Guardsmen magazine
in May. ―It seemed that
wherever the Guard went, common sense, organization and efficiency became the rule. Immediate, directed
action was the Guardsmen‘s answer to every situation.‖
Guard units outside Alaska also sent help. The 146 th A letter from Governor William Egan to 2
Air Transport Wing of the California Air National
Guard at Van Nuys on Easter Sunday sent a C97 to Alaska with 19,000 pounds of medical and emergency
supplies. Three more heavy transports followed on Monday with about 30,000 pounds of food and clothing from
Van Nuys as well as the wing‘s squadrons at Salt Lake City and Phoenix. The goods had been collected quickly
nd Battalion thanking them for their efforts after
the earthquake.
78

y local radio stations working with the Salvation Army. The Californians even sent a pre-fabricated building for
the Alaska Civil Defense to use as its headquarters. The building is now at Camp Carroll, where it houses
personnel from the USPFO and the 134 th Public Information Detachment.
The Washington Army National Guard‘s sea-going forces on April 10 sent a 100-foot harbor tug with a
crew of 16, including 12 men who took time off from their civilian jobs. The 2,000-mile took 14 days. The tug
was used by the Alaska Railroad to help clear away and restore dock and pier areas in Anchorage. 223
An assessment of damage to National Guard facilities later revealed the Anchorage armory, USPFO and
CSMS and Camp Denali all had little damage. Armories at Seward and Kodiak sustained moderate damage
while Kulis Air Guard Base‘s received major damage. Emergency repair projects were initiated quickly, with the
hangar project taking more than a year to complete 231
.
Carroll Is Killed
Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Carroll, the adjutant general, and a three-man Air Guard crew perished a when their
Provider crashed into the water on take off from Valdez about 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25. The plane had been
carrying Carroll and Governor Egan, along with a dozen members of the governor‘s staff, including Abe
Romick, commerce commissioner, and Dwight Ink, executive director of the Federal Alaska Reconstruction
Commission who was on a tour of earthquake damage. Some newsmen were also aboard. They all were to be
guests in Valdez of a Fairbanks group at a barbeque of 600 pounds of steak. The plane had stayed under low
clouds on its approach to the Gulf of Alaska city, and landed only long enough for the governor and his party to
deplane, keeping one engine running. Egan had urged Carroll to remain with him in Valdez, but the adjutant
general joked, ―I didn‘t bring my own fork.‖
As the plane taxied for takeoff, Egan recalls, there wasn‘t the slightest bark or cough to indicate there was
any engine trouble.‖ A Ft. Wainwright soldier standing on the dock at Valdez later told the newsmen he watched
the plane flying low over the glassy water of Prince William Sound. There was a light snow falling. Then he saw
a splash as the plane hit the surface at a glide angle at full power. It floated for a few minutes and then sank. 224
Egan later recounted to Air Force investigators at Elmendorf, ―We left the airport and I wanted to see the
dock area. When we reached the dock and looked out toward the old townsite, we saw the plane in the water for
a few minutes before it disappeared. The bay was glassy and smooth. The ceiling was low.‖ 225
As the governor‘s entourage arrived at the dock, three small skiffs and a large fishing vessel were just
preparing to get under way for the sinking plane. As Egan watched the plane floating, he said, ―Thank goodness
they‘ll have a chance to get into a raft.‖ Friends had to restrain the governor from climbing into a boat with the
would-be rescuers of his personal friends, Carroll and the pilot, Lt. Col. Thomas E. Norris.
By the time the boats reached the crash site, however the plane had disappeared, taking its occupants with
it. They found only debris: an uninflated life raft, a parka, the planes two wing tanks, a shattered door, a brief
case and a head rest. 226 Despite a continuing search, nothing else was recovered. 228 Besides Carroll and Norris,
Maj. James Rowe, the co-pilot, and T.Sgt. Kenneth W. Ayers, crew chief, also perished. All were from
Anchorage.
Since Carroll‘s appointment as adjutant general in 1957, he had been recognized as a brigadier general in
December, 1958, and as major general in February, 1961. In July, 1963, he had been selected for the honor roll
in the Infantry Officers Candidate Hall of Fame at Ft. Benning, Ga., a distinction which placed him in a very
distinguished category for a National Guard officer. Later, in February, 1967, Camp Denali, the Guard training
facility on Ft. Richardson, would be renamed Camp Carroll in his honor. 227
a
Triumph and tragedy struck the Carroll family again when MG Carroll‘s son, Thomas C. Carroll achieved the rank of Brigadier
General as commander of the Alaska Army National Guard in October 1992, and then was killed in an Army Guard plane crash while
enroute to Juneau on November 12, 1992.
79

Col. Fred O. Reger assumed command of the Guard pending the appointment of a successor to Carroll by
Governor Egan. A memorial service was held at the Elmendorf Air Force Base Chapel for the missing and
presumed dead on April 28. 222
Forging Ahead
The following months were busy ones in getting damaged facilities repaired. Bids were opened May 6 for
Scout armories at Kwiguk, renamed Emmonak, and at Nightmute and Barrow. As the contractor commenced to
erect the building at Nightmute, that village was moved 20 miles and its name changed to Tooksook Bay.
Construction proceeded at the new location, with the name change later forwarded to the Guard Bureau, a
situation that caused confusion at the Department of the Army and the Department of the Defense for several
years. Summer construction in 1964 included
fuel dispensing facilities at Fairbanks, Kodiak,
Seward and Sitka.
POL sheds and vehicle wash pads were built at
Nome and Bethel. A small addition was made to
the USPFO building. The King Island armory
was dismantled in the fall, barged to Nome in
early October, loaded on an Air Guard plane and
moved to Tanana for re-erection. The project
was completed in late November, using native
labor exclusively. 233
―M/SGT Paul Kiunya (from Kipnuk), 1 st Sgt Co ‗B‘, receives
Eisenhower Trophy for ‗B‘ Co from Major Pike, 2d Scout Battalion
Commanding Officer at AFT 1965‖
80
The Eisenhower trophy for the most
outstanding Guard unit, instituted in 1948, was
won in 1964 by B Company of the Second
Battalion at Mekoryuk. It had been awarded
only three times previously when Sitka won it in
1950, 1952, and 1953. Mekoryuk won the award
again 1965. No unit qualified for the award in
1966.
Two M59 armored personnel carriers
were allocated to the Army Guard in April,
1964, permitting realistic training of armored infantry squads for the first time. The Third Battalion, after much
waiting, was reorganized to a mechanized battalion on September 1. Commanded by Lt. Col. Gordon W.
Webber, the battalion‘s units affected by the change were Headquarters and Headquarters Company at
Anchorage, commanded by 1 st Lt. James A. Wanamaker; Company A at Ketchikan, commanded by Carl W.
Mathisen; Company B at Sitka, commanded by Capt. David L. Anderson, and Company C at Kodiak,
commanded by 1 st Lt. Conrad J. Tuza.
The changeover required the addition of 50 of the armored personnel carriers to the units, giving them a
vitally needed capability and placing the Alaska National Guard in step with modern warfare concepts requiring
troops to be disbursed widely and capable of moving great distances on short notice. The authorization for
Alaska was made at a time when other Guard units were seeing similar requests turned down.
Each rifle company was authorized a maintenance section of 10 personnel trained as track vehicle
mechanics and radio repair mechanics. 234

Private Ben Nugasak of Barrow, Alaska fires the M-1 on Pedneau
Range, Fort Richardson, Alaska on 3 November 1956.
81
White thermal boots began to be phased
in the spring of 1964, replacing black thermal
boots on an attrition basis over a period of
several years. The changeover was made
complete in 1966. In addition, M14 rifles, which
had been issued to the Scout Battalions at the
March encampment but had been deferred for
the Third Battalion due to requirements
generating in Southeast Asia, were issued from
USARAL in October. All M1 rifles were
disposed of at that time. 235
Through June and July there was much
unrest in the ranks of the Guard over the acting
status of Colonel Reger as adjutant general.
Colonel Casper and Lt. Col. Elmore both had
applied. In mid-July, Governor Egan came to
Anchorage and announced at a meeting of
Guard officers in the Anchorage Armory that he
had selected Elmore for promotion to brigadier
general and that he would assume the duties of adjutant general on August 1.
Elmore had joined the Air National Guard in Anchorage in 1954, four years after coming to the territory.
He was a nuts-and-bolts, pull-up-by-your-own-bootstraps worker. ―Without his almost purely physical efforts,‖
the Alaska Guardsman later wrote, ―perhaps the Air part of our proud State Guard would not be. The man was a
real hell-fire worker, and you still catch some of that old fire from time to time around here.‖ 265
A former circus stunt flier and barnstorming pilot in Wyoming, his home state, Elmore supported himself
in his youth by dropping down on ranches and selling rides to cowboys and sheepherders. Later, after World
War II, he charged a penny a pound for rides over the city. When things got dull, he traveled as a flying stunt
man. His pet exploit was to kill the engine in flight. While gliding downward he would climb out of the cockpit,
crawl to the nose of the plane and crank the propeller back to life.
Elmore learned to fly in 1936, when he was 21. He called it ―the fulfillment of a life-long ambition,‖
trading his car for a Curtis-Robin. One winter he kept himself in gasoline by shooting coyotes for bounty. He‘d
land on the prairie and then tear through fences until he could take off again. Later, with another plane, he
developed a more suitable technique of jumping over obstacles. It was easier on the plane, he said, as well as
other people‘s property.
The flier joined the Army Air Corps in 1942, flying a B-24 Liberator bomber. He received his training in
jets after he joined the Alaska Air National Guard just a couple of years after it was formed. He soloed in a jet
after three hours. 266
Colonel Casper had recommended locating the adjutant general‘s office in Anchorage, a proposal that
was countered by a five-page single-spaced letter from Governor Egan setting forth the reason why he would not
approve such a transfer, thereby settling the matter for the duration of his administration. 236
The chief of the Guard Bureau‘s Army Logistics Division visited Alaska June 23-26 to select a site for an
Equipment Concentration Site, resulting in a decision to secure a closed RCA Communications repair facility off
Tudor Road near Campbell Airstrip in Anchorage for that purpose.
In mid November buildup of logistical support began in earnest for Guard units that would participate in
a Department of the Army Exercise Polar Strike, to be held out of Ft. Wainwright in conjunction with USARAL
and the Minnesota National Guard with transportation support from the Washington National Guard. USPFO has
secured 12 Arctic winterization kits for Otter aircraft belonging to the 881 st Transportation Company of the
Washington Guard.

Maj. Gen. Chester Moegelein, adjutant general of Minnesota, and members of his staff visited Alaska
December 6-11 to finalize plans for the exercise, which would
involve Companies A and D of the First Scout Battalion, and
the 910 th Engineer Company, the 10 th and 11 th Ordnance
Detachments, the 45th Signal Detachment and the 36 th , 37 th
and 38 th Special Forces Detachments, as well as the 216 th
Transportation Company and the entire Third Battalion.
The Minnesota delegation supported Guard efforts to
put adequate assets of heavy equipment in the new Equipment
Concentration Site and also to acquire Camp Denali on Ft.
Richardson for a training area. Chain link fencing, originally
intended for Seward, but unused due to failure to secure a
building permit there, was erected at the Con Site, and the
USPFO signed a license for the National Guard to use Camp
Denali on December 14. The Anchorage Special Forces
Detachment moved to the Con Site in January.
Final coordination of troop movement plans was made
at the end of December, with the Alaska Railroad agreeing to
spot six flatcars to carry armored personnel carriers north to
the exercise in January. Heater kits and radios were installed in
vehicles to be used in the maneuver. Detailed logistics
instructions were furnished all participating Polar Strike units
in January, with Capt. William Sharrow and Sgt. Larry
Gillespie coordinating with the Yukon Command. Sharrow and
Gillespie worked together at Ft. Wainwright through the
exercise, insuring all problems were addressed promptly and
properly to authorities.
Twenty-two Otters were brought to Alaska in January
for use by the Washington Guard, with final issues of
equipment made to all Polar Strike units in February. A near
disaster occurred on February 8 when a Cordova Airlines C46
contracted to move personnel out of Juneau had an in-flight
engine failure enroute to Ft. Wainwright. The pilot jettisoned
fuel to remain airborne. As it was attempting to land at
Gulkana, the nearest airfield, the second engine faltered several times, failing on touchdown. It was later found
that the aircraft had been overloaded with 1,000 pounds of cargo that should have been shipped earlier. As a
result the Federal Aviation Administration made inspections of all flights of this nature for the next several
years.
The Alaska Guard units did exceedingly well in their first full Department of the Army Arctic exercise.
There were two cases of frostbite, well below the Army average. Eighty-seven per cent of the Army Guard
vehicles taken into the exercise came out under their own power. Ten wheeled vehicles, two of the tracked
armored personnel carriers and seven of the Otters were recovered and evacuated in the following weeks by
teams from the CSMS. The planes, Casper recalls, were scattered all over the exercise area. He adds, ―The spirit
of the Guardsmen more than offset their lack of previous experience.‖
The most glaring deficiency noted in the Army Guard was that its equipment was not theater standard
and the active Army could not support Guard equipment in the field. Guard units also were without sufficient
POL or repair parts and, by the end of the exercise, had no communications net.
82
“Elmore is new Adjutant General – Governor
Egan appointed Lt. Col. William S. Elmore,
Alaska ANG, the Adjutant General, State of
Alaska, effective 1 Aug. 64. He was promoted to
Brig. General and will take up residence in
Juneau as a part of the Governor‘s Cabinet.
General Elmore replaces Maj. Gen. Thomas P.
Carroll who was killed in a plane crash at Valdez
following the Earthquake.
Major Harold E. Wolverton replaces Elmore as
Base Commander at Kulis ANG Base.‖
From the Spring 1964 edition of ‗The Alaskan
Guardsman‘ magazine

The Army was highly enthusiastic in planning for more Guard participation in future exercises, however,
and a planning conference was held in April, 1965, for Exercise Northern Hills, to be conducted the following
summer, again with the Minnesota battalion. Detailed plans followed, and the USPFO began to meet the
requirements on June 10. 237 Another planned joint exercise, Polar Sweep, was to have been conducted the
following year. It was scrapped by the Department of Defense in November, 1965, however, due to funding
limitations as a result of the war in Vietnam. 239
The National Guard Bureau in 1964 directed a nationwide conversion of all accounting systems to an
IBM system data processing system. Air Guard and USPFO technicians were trained at IBM schools and at the
Air Guard data center, which had been operating the equipment for over a year. A study was made in November
to combine the data processing facilities for the Army and Air Guard in one location, but user objections
grounded the plan. As a data processing room for the Army was constructed in one end of the USPFO warehouse
in December, General Elmore, Maj. Harold Wolver ton and members
of the Air Guard staff visited the Pentagon to request formally a
combined center. Colonel Casper, in a formal letter to Brig. Gen.
Charles Southward, expanded on the plea, but to no avail. The data
processing center for the Army Guard remains in the warehouse. 238
In late April of 1965 work started to rehabilitate Camp Denali
and quarters for a camp caretaker. USARAL transferred all camp
property to the National Guard in May, and at the same time the
National Guard Bureau authorized a technician supply officer to
maintain the account. In August, General Elmore directed Colonel
Casper to secure USARAL approval to rename the camp in honor of
General Carroll, a step that was taken a year and a half later. Casper
was named camp commander in September, with Capt. Darrell Van
Ness his executive officer, Capt. Edward M. Johnson his engineer
officer, Capt. Rodger T. Schnell transportation officer and W.O.
Major General Edward Pagano served as
Adjutant General from December 1982 to
December 1986.
were moved to the camp from the old Camp Denali area
across the Davis Highway in 1965 providing battalion
and company headquarters. A start was also made to
replace dining equipment at the camp. A long-range
construction plan for the camp was begun in October,
1966.
The year 1965 also saw the addition of 11 M151
quarter-ton trucks to the Alaska National Guard, making
it the only unit to have jeeps plus the M14, 7.62mm
weapons across the board. Multifuel vehicles were
received for the 216 th Truck Company a , bayonets were
issued to all units, and Maj. Edward G. Pagano was
designated project officer for publishing a history of the
National Guard in Alaska.
a The 216 th Transportation Company is misnamed.
Charles Washington supply officer. Casper submitted a design to
Elmore for a memorial to Carroll, which was constructed near the
camp headquarters during the summer of 1966.
Sixteen
Quonset huts
83
M-151 in Viet Nam. Picture is in the public domain. Source:
http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_m151.php3

The Petersburg weapons platoon was changed to an engineering unit and a new weapons platoon was
formed in Wrangall a . The Shungnak was totally destroyed by fire on July 29, 1965. The National Guard Bureau
released funds for reconstruction, which was accomplished the following summer.
Not all requests for improvements were granted, however. On October 28, 1964, Elmore had written the
commanding general of USARAL to request an upgrade in the priorities of the Alaska Army Guard to permit
equipping all units with theater standard items. USARAL lend its support to the adjutant general‘s request, but
the Department of the Army turned it down, citing Southeast Asia and Nato requirements as the reason. In
November, 1966, Elmore, fed up with the sub-standard aircraft facilities at Nome and Bethel, sent a strong letter
of protest to the Guard Bureau requesting immediate action to construct adequate hangars there. It went
unheeded. 241
The Alaska National Guard had its first retirement in 1965 when Col. Maurice W. Kelley b of Headquarters
and Headquarters Detachment at Juneau left the state service after 12 years. Kelly b had come to Alaska in 1950
with the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and Wildlife. He joined the Guard as a major in 1953 and was promoted to
lieutenant colonel in 1959
Another aircraft disaster on December 15, 1965, took the lives
of five Air Guardsmen. A Provider piloted by Maj. H. E. Bredow hit a
hillside while landing at Romanzof Air Force Station in a low, rugged
mountainous region 550 miles northwest of Anchorage about 2:30 in
the afternoon. The plane had been making a normal approach to the
short landing strip when radio and radar contact were lost. Four
minutes later a Northern Consolidated Airlines pilot reported he had
spotted the wreckage a mile and a half from the landing strip. A
ground party attempting to reach the wreckage that night was forced to
turn back by poor weather, rugged terrain and darkness. The plane had
been involved in a resupply mission for the Alaska Air Command. It
had left Kulis that morning, taking on cargo at Elmendorf and then
departing for Romanzof, a four-hour flight. Killed besides Bredow
were Lt. Col. J.M. Podraza, co-pilot; T.Sgt O. D. Holland c and T.Sgt.
F.L. Spradlin, mechanics, and S.Sgt. L.E. Harris, loadmaster. It was
the first flight ever made by Spradlin, who was in training. 212
Governor Walter Hickel
Necrason Takes Command
The elections in November, 1966, resulted in a narrow defeat for Governor Egan by Walter J. Hickel, a
Republican who became the state‘s second governor. The year ended with rumors that there would be a change
in National Guard leadership, and at Hickel‘s inauguration in January it was announced Maj. Gen. Conrad F.
Necrason, a retired Air Force officer d , would be the new adjutant general. He arrived at Elmendorf Air Force
Base the following Friday
―I‘ve known Governor Hickel for a long time,‖ Necrason said in an Alaskan Guardsman article that
spring. ―I know what his desires are, as far as the state‘s growth and development, and I believe in them so
thoroughly that there was no hesitation in my mind at all in saying yes when Governor Hickel asked me.‖ 243
a
Wrangell is misspelled.
b
This person‘s last name is spelled two different ways.
c
Holland‘s second initial appears as both a ‗D‘ and ‗B‘ typed over each other. ‗D‘ is the correct initial.
d
General Necrason served another term as Adjutant General, Dec 1974 to Dec 1982 under Governor Jay Hammond. Also history
repeated itself when Hickel was elected Alaska‘s Governor in 1990 and he again appointed an outsider, retired Air Force Major
General Hugh Cox as Adjutant General from February 1991 to December 1994.
84

Necrason was met at Elmendorf by Col. Seaborn J. Buckalew, assistant
adjutant general for air; Colonel Casper, the U.S. purchasing and fiscal officer; Col.
Dean Stringer, chief of staff for air, and Maj. William Sharrow, commander of the
Third Battalion.
Necrason immediately shuffled the Guard administration, first giving Elmore
the Air Guard slot that had been held by Buckalew. Soon Major Sharrow was
replaced by was replaced by Maj. Jacob Lestencoff. a The assistant adjutant general
for air, General Reger, left office and soon Elmore was replaced by a retired Air
Force colonel, Kenneth M. Taylor, himself being further downgraded to the position
of chief of staff. In May, retired Army Col. C. E. Reid was brought to Alaska to
become the assistant adjutant general for the Army side. In late August Colonel
Hankins was replaced as senior Army advisor by Col. H. H. Hardenbergh.
Necrason made a swing up through Anchorage, Nome, Bethel and many
outlying villages in April, 1967, flying in a C123J Provider piloted by Elmore and
Maj. Larry Campbell. The First Scout Battalion color guard was on hand to meet the
general when he arrived in Nome, and that evening the entire city turned out to
welcome the general at a cocktail party and dinner at the North Star Hotel. After a
briefing by Major Caldwell, First Battalion commander, the general visited Diomede,
Wales, and Teller, flying in a battalion L20 Beaver piloted by Caldwell.
The general recalled in an article published in the Fairbanks Daily News-
Miner, ―I landed on the ice in Little Diomede and was met by two men armed with
rifles.
Jacob Lestenkof went on to become Adjutant
General January 1995 to January 1999. Alaska
National Guard photo.
a ‗Lestenkof‘ is misspelled.
Left to right, Anchorage Mayor George Sullivan, Alaska Adjutant
General Conrad Necrason, Asst AG-Army William Sharrow. Alaska
National Guard photo. Photo was taken during Necrason‘s second
tour as Adjutant General, 1974-82.
85
Seaborn Buckalew, Sr
on 30 March 1958

―The village of Little Diomede with the airstrip in the foreground marked by oil drums.
The air strip is on the sea ice as there is no level beach and the air strip is only for about
two or three months during the winter as the sea ice keeps shifting and breaking up.‖
86
I asked them why and they said,
‗We‘re not going to let the
Russians get our major general.‘
It was, as far as they could
remember, the only time a
general had come to visit
them.‖ 244 The bodyguards had
been assigned by Sgt. James
Iyapana to watch over the
general during his stay on the
island, from which he could see
a Soviet soldier watching him
through a telescope.
Brief stops were made at
Wales and Teller on the return
trip to Nome, where Colonel
Hankins and his unlimited
supply of candy made him a big
hit the children. The general and
his staff on Friday visited
Gambell on St. Lawrence
Island, where Muktuk Marston had conceived the idea for using the Eskimos as scouts nearly 30 years before.
The village had been experiencing a fuel shortage, which Elmore remedied by flying in two plane loads
of oil. The following week the new adjutant general visited scout units at Barrow, Barter Island and Fort Yukon,
accompanied by Maj. Lloyd Ahvakana, executive officer of the First Battalion. The itinerary also included
Kenai, Kodiak, Dillingham, Bethel, Savoonga and Arctic Village.
Necrason discovered, as he later said, ―Some of the buildings are in disrepair due to weather and hard
use, but the morale and the capability of the troops is excellent.‖ 245 On his return from the periphery, Necrason
visited Casper, who recalls Necrason had been convinced fully that he had a National Guard of the lowest order
on his hands and could expect no loyalty from any officer. But after his swing through Anchorage, Nome, Bethel
and the outlying villages, ―He was astounded by the dedication and professionalism of all with whom he
visited.‖ 250
Air Guardsmen from Alaska in April, 1967, began participating in a program that required them to fly
C123s to the Philippines for use in Southeast Asia. A three-man crew which took the first flight on April 18
included Col. Dean Stringer, Maj. Lloyd Turner and S.M.Sgt. William Christy. The round trip for each crew,
which took 45 days involved flying the planes from Hagerstown, Maryland, where they were being modified.
The work being done at Hagerstown was similar to that which had been done on Alaska‘s C123s, which bear the
designation C123J and have wingtip jet-assist 1,000-pound-thrust engines. The Asian modification included the
addition of increased-tread landing wheels and inboard-wing jet-assist 3,000-pound-thrust engines. They bear the
designation C123K. Alaska Guardsmen were chosen for the mission due to a shortage of Air Force personnel
and because of their familiarity with the aircraft. 246
The Air Guard continued to be in the news in the spring of 1967 when Governor Hickel ordered them to
assist in delivering desperately needed meat to Arctic Village and Venetie. The project ended up with 59 caribou
delivered. A Provider on the initial mission picked up hunters at Fort Yukon and Arctic Village, who were
headed by Walter Newman, transporting them to a wandering caribou herd near Bettles. Eleven hunters killed
the 59 animals in one day, with a Guard plane arriving the next day to pick up hunters and meat. The big plane
could not land at Venetie, so the animals were air dropped over an impromptu drop zone on the river beside the

village, according to an account by Capt. Mike Hershberger, a Guardsman who wrote for the Anchorage Daily
News a .
Hershberger and Sgt. Bob Rennie prepared to heave the carcasses out the back of the plane, while up
front, Maj. Clayton Moore and Maj. Gene Heyworth piloted into position, settled down to the low level run and
roared over the bush and onto the river. ―The kaleidoscope of brown and white gave way to glaring white. I
watched the light blink out, then go green and with a heave I threw the caribou over the edge of the ramp. Rennie
had thrown another at the same time and we watched them spin, almost in slow motion against the blur below,
then hit the river with a puff of snow and skid crazily, end over end, down the river‘s length.‖ Governor Hickel
said of the feat, ―We are solving the problem in an Alaskan way—by making it possible for the people in these
villages to hunt.‖ 247 The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner called the Air Guard Provider a flying butcher shop.
Almost at the same time, however, a Provider got itself into hot water when it fell through the ice on
Tikehik b Lake when carrying some equipment for Alaska Fresh Water Fish Co., which was to pay $400 per
flying hour for the plane‘s service. The venture had been authorized by the Air Force in Washington, D.C. The
plane, piloted by Lt. Col. Harold Wolverton, had been taxiing on the lake 70 miles north of Dillingham 10
minutes after landing on February 14 when a ski broke through. A panel of experts by Air Force Col. Charles W.
Johnson, deputy commander for material for the 21 st Composite Wing at Elmendorf, and including engineers
from Georgia and the University of Alaska, immediately went to work on recovery, dubbed Project Rope. What
was not thought of at first to be a serious matter eventually involved 44 people living in a small tent city at the
site. A plan was formulated to cut away the ice and place flotation bags under the plane and then blast a channel
the 600 yards to shore and tow the plane with a winch. After the first blasting attempts damaged the plane,
however, that plan was abandoned and efforts began to lighten the plane by removing engines and other items.
Project Rope continued to encounter what newspapers called knotty problems, and it was temporarily
suspended on March 30. Flotation bags by then had been placed under the 119-foot span of the wings and the tail
surfaces of the 75-foot, $680,000 plane, as well as inside it. It finally was towed to shore on June 23, with plans
made to recondition it and fly it out after freezeup the following winter. 248
The incident raised the ire of some of the local populace, including Darrel G. Morris of Eagle River, who
wrote this letter to the editor, apparently before learning of the cost of the mission to the owners of the cargo: c
A dispatch in the Alaska Guardsman later gave details that, if made public by the press, could have
stemmed the criticism. ―Bob Brown, research assistant to Sen. Earnest Gruening explains that the senator had
received a request for assistance from Mr. James Irany, then the director of industrial development for Alaska,‖
the Guardsman said. ―Brown says that Gruening was told that no other aircraft in Alaska was large enough or
equipped properly to handle the cargo destined for the fishery on Tikchik Lake north of Dillingham. Indeed,
there is no other plane which could handle the situation, for the snow and ice, measuring as much as 30 inches
thick, required skis, and the cargo, a D-4 cat, weighs about 7,500 pounds. Not only was there no other plane
capable of making the first two ‗open-up‘ missions, no one else in the state wanted to try it. The C123J with skis
from the Air National Guard was a ‗natural.‘ Many similar landings have been made by pilots of the 144 th Air
Transport Squadron (Medium) in training exercises on lakes, rivers and glaciers.‖
The Guardsman story reported that most of the air transport work of the Air Guard is done at the
direction of the Alaskan Air Command. It said the private company made ―the standard agreement with the U.S.
government for reimbursement at published rates based on operating costs of the C123J. These costs are in
excess of $400 per hour. These monies are paid to the Treasury in Washington, D.C., and do not get any special
a
This is from an Anchorage Daily News article and is quoted word for word for an extended length, but pulled for this version to avoid
copywrite infringement. In the portion that was pulled, Hershberger describes the happy situation in the village immediately before and
during the arrival of the aid.
b
‗Tikchik‘ is misspelled.
c
The Letter to the Editor is quoted word for word in the original, but pulled for this version to avoid copywrite infringement. In the
letter the writer assumed that Air Guard resources were used for commercial purposes without compensation, so he goes on to suggest
another situation using the Air Guard to benefit an activity he supported.
87

disbursement in Alaskan Air Command or the Air Guard.‖ The private campaign against the Air Guard was base
primarily on lack of knowledge of the provisions of the federal regulations allowing the transport of commercial
and private articles in military aircraft under special conditions. The hullabaloo died out in a matter of weeks. 249
Juneau‘s 910 th Engineer Company, with a platoon at Petersburg, in April of 1967 built a 399-foot timber
trestle bridge across Eagle River 29 miles northwest of Juneau to provide access to a Boy Scout camp. The unit,
commanded by Capt. Wallace K. Williams, who at the time was chief road design engineer for the Alaska
Highway Department, also placed 10,000 yards of borrow for the approaches to the bridge. The company had
been reorganized from a rifle company in January 1964.
Fairbanks Goes Under
The Anchorage Daily News headline on Tuesday, August 15, 1967, carried the stark declaration,
―Fairbanks Goes Under.‖ The worst that had been expected for several days had come to pass.
All 300 residents of Nenana, just south of the big Interior city, had been evacuated the day before, fleeing
the flooding Tanana River, which completely submerged the village. Nenana—sung in Robert Service poetry—
was the first victim of disastrous Interior floods. For five days the Anchorage News published an extra 17,000
copies of its paper with the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner‘s nameplate. The papers, flown to Fairbanks by the Air
National Guard and then delivered by helicopter and boat to people waiting for the water to subside, carried
accounts of National Guard efforts to aid stricken homes and businesses.
Governor Hickel activated the men of Fairbanks‘ 216 th Transportation Company and a contingent of 47
was dispatched to Nenana on Monday, where the first battle with the flood was lost. The men returned to
Fairbanks to meet the growing challenge there.
The 109 Fairbanks Guardsmen were joined Tuesday by a 70 man contingent from the 2 nd Scout Battalion
headquartered at Bethel, along with 59 who came from Anchorage. Another 105 were activated and standing by
in the state‘s largest city, some 500 a land miles to the south, where Mayor Elmer Rasmuson had called an
emergency meeting of 50 community leaders. ―It‘s not what surplus materials and energies Anchorage can spare
for Fairbanks,‖ the mayor said, ―but how little we can retain in our city and still carry on.‖ The Army Guard‘s
Camp Carroll on Ft. Richardson was approved at that meeting as a mass mobilization center for refugees.
The Chena River, on whose banks Fairbanks is built, was 16 feet high by Tuesday, 3.5 feet over flood
stage. A crest of 17 feet was expected by midnight. The Tanana-Nenana River junction at Nenana also rose to 16
feet that day, with five feet of water standing in the village. Healy and Minto neared flood stages that day, and at
the crest of the water were within a foot of flooding.
Three Reeve Aleutian planes in Anchorage airlifted 50,000 pounds of food Monday night when the
highway and the Alaska Railroad were blocked by the flood. Air National Guard planes at Kulis stood by to
carry additional disaster workers to the flood.
One of hundreds of Fairbanksans whose homes were covered by the water, continually pouring in from
all directions, it seemed, was Mrs. Terri Washburn. She was on one of the first evacuation flights made by the
Air Guard with Maj. Lawrence Campbell as pilot. The mother of two, Mrs. Washburn operated a modeling
agency and finishing school. When her fashionable two-story home in Fairbanks‘ Taku Subdivision was flooded
by six feet of water, she and the children took refuge at the A-67 Exposition Site, where she had greeted
hundreds of visitors during the summer as Miss Hospitality of Fairbanks. A rescue boat picked her up Tuesday,
along with 70 others who were there. They were flown to Anchorage then by the Air Guard.
―The flight was full of children,‖ she told a reporter later, ―45 sick children. I helped them, but I knew
there would be others like them.‖ She asked if she could stay on, and the Guardsmen agreed, dubbing her their
own Florence Nightengale.
a
Anchorage is 358 miles south of Fairbanks via the Parks and Glenn Highways. In 1967 the Parks wasn‘t yet built, so Anchorage was
437 road miles from Fairbanks via the Richardson and Glenn Highways.
88

By Thursday the flights were stepped up to hectic pace, with thousands being moved. Eight Air Guard
planes had become involved, along with a Coast Guard plane and commercial airliners making steady round trips
carrying evacuees to Anchorage and returning to the stricken city with food and medical supplies. Wien,
Northern Consolidated and Alaska Airlines all made extra flights, arranged through the Civil Defense office.
Seven of the Guard‘s Providers made two trips each on Wednesday, carrying a total of 700 people. The Coast
Guard plane from Kodiak brought much-needed milk.
Governor Hickel and General Necrason flew up early Thursday to inspect the damage. With them was
Dr. Carmen Nicholas, a National Guard flight surgeon. The Anchorage Guardsmen, under direction of Lt. Ferris
McIver, commander of Third Battalion‘s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, worked to shovel mud and
protect property. The Guard recorded only one looting incident. There was no arrest, but the looter got his
reward. ―He met with a very unfortunate accident,‖ a Guard officer reported. ―His canoe got sunk.‖ The
Fairbanks newspaper said citizens wandering in the downtown area reported finding guns in their ribs when they
were mistaken for looters. ―It shook me up a bit,‖ one merchant admitted, ―but I‘m glad those boys are on the
job.‖
Back at Camp Carroll there were 63 evacuees by the weekend. They had been arriving in Anchorage via
the Air Guard planes since 4 a.m. Wednesday. Among them were a Fairbanks woman, Mrs. Allen L. Stevens,
and her eight-year old daughter, whose husband was working on relief in Fairbanks, and another woman, Mrs.
Carol Kious, who planned to stay in Anchorage, enrolling her six children in the local schools. Mrs. M. A. Ward,
at the refugee camp with her three daughters, reported the walls of her Fairbanks home had caved in during the
flood. Her 15-year-old son was still there, working with rescuers. She hadn‘t seen him all week. A Montana man,
doing summer work in Fairbanks, had checked into Camp Carroll for Red Cross care for a leg infection. He was
Clayton Wallis. Harry Morris, a Cordova man attending the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, also was among
the refugees, along with Kenneth Pitka, a sheet metal worker who planned to find work in Anchorage.
The following Monday, the Air Guard flew 39 children ages 3 to 13 to Anchorage in an operation dubbed
Kid-Evac, designed to relieve the parents of that responsibility while they worked to rehabilitate their homes.
Another 97 were flown Tuesday, 50 on Wednesday and still more on Thursday. The children were placed with
relatives and friends or in foster homes in Anchorage. By the end of the week, 4,000 evacuees had been checked
through registration desks at International Airport and Kulis Air Guard Base; some 500 came by other means,
with all being assured free transportation back home on the Alaska Railroad.
―For some the passage is a sad event,‖ a newspaper commentator reported of the Kid-Evac, ―but the
majority enjoy it. Everyone who is curious gets a look in the cockpit. The food is good and the workers do their
best to keep the youngsters smiling.‖ The Air Guardsmen were ―extremely considerate of their charges,‖ wrote
the Anchorage News‘ Janet Archibald a .
The Army Guardsmen remained on active duty in Fairbanks for six days. It had been anticipated Camp
Carroll would be used for 180 refugees, and meals were prepared in advance of the first returning Air Guard
aircraft. After the first 62 refugees were dispatched to the camp, however, succeeding planeloads were scattered
through Anchorage homes. An after-action report by Casper recommended several changes in state emergency
plans to correct deficiencies that arose during the flood emergency. 251
a
This article from the Anchorage Daily News is quoted word for word for an extended length, but pulled for this version to avoid
copywrite infringement. In the portion that was pulled, Archibald describes the unusual situation of the aircrew helping children cope.
89

Thomas C. Carroll (wearing glasses) as senior in 1966 at
East Anchorage High School. Source: 1966 East
Anchorage High School yearbook
Plaque at Carroll memorial. Photo by
Sgt Marc McNab, State Historian.
Carroll memorial was constructed by
an Air Guard unit from North Dakota
in 1969. Photo by Sgt Marc McNab
State Historian.
Memorial to Major General Thomas P. Carroll, constructed in
1969 on Camp Carroll. Photo by Sgt Marc McNab State
Historian, Alaska Army National Guard
90
Camp Carroll was
dedicated officially to the memory
of Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Carroll on
September 9, 1967, a step that had
been approved a year and a half
earlier. In addition to military
dignitaries, Mrs. Carroll and Lt.
Thomas Carroll a were on hand for
the ceremony, with Maj. Edward
Pagano escorting the widow. 253
Also in 1967 the Scout
Battalion‘s aviation sections were
upgraded by replacing their U6A
Beaver planes with U1A Otters,
which continue to serve them
today. And in 1967, the Air
National Guard reported a total
strength of 265 men. More than
100 of these were full time
technicians at Kulis. During the turbulent year, improvements had been made at Camp Carroll and the U.S.
Purchasing and Fiscal Office and adjutant general‘s office had been added to the autovon telephone system.
Armored personnel carriers and M41 b tanks had been placed on historical display on Camp Carroll and the
Anchorage Armory. M79 grenade launchers had been added to the Army Guard and state security ammunition
loads were increased. ―By year‘s end things settled down,‖ Casper muses, ―and key personnel had established a
workable relationship with the retired regulars who headed up the National Guard in Alaska.‖ 254
a MG Thomas P. Carroll‘s son, Thomas C. Carroll was not yet an officer when he attended this event. He enlisted in the regular Army
in January 1967, and then graduated from Officer Candidate School and received his commission on 5 February 1968. Source:
Biographical Summary of Thomas Charles Carroll, October 1991.
b The ‗1‘ of the ‗M41‘ is a hand drawn number over an original typewritten number.

U1-A ‗Otter‘ in the Bethel Hangar. Alaska National Guard photo.
91
Static Display of M-41 Tank on Camp Carroll. Photo by Sgt
Marc McNab, State Historian.
The year 1968 saw steady improvements in the Guard system. The Eisenhower Trophy, awarded to
Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the Third Battalion in Anchorage in 1967, again was awarded to
that company. The following year all units were eliminated from competition, the award having been presented
only seven times in 20 years in Alaska.
In early January, 1969, the Army Guard came again into full view of the public as it provided support to
a 600-mile snowmachine race from Anchorage to Fairbanks. More than 300 masked and bundled competitors,
two of them women, faced a sparse network of two-lane roads traveled as much by moose and caribou as by
men. a Beginning at Kulis on January 9, the race was to be the longest and toughest on record. Only a dozen
finished the trek, but nobody was lost. Two men that were injured as their machines ran off the road and flipped
were speeded to safety. The Army Guard, clearing cross-traffic in the fog shrouded cold, made way for the snow
vehicles to shoot safely by at speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour. The Guard also provided ambulance and
wrecker service.
Most of all, though, it was training in Arctic operations at temperatures that were estimated as low as -80
degrees. ―The Midnight Sun 600 represented a once-in-a-decade opportunity for cold weather training under
pressure,‖ said Maj. John Schaeffer, a Kotzebue native working in the adjutant general‘s office who later in the
year took command of the First Scout Battalion. ―For the Guard it was a real test of men and an opportunity to
evaluate military vehicles and equipment.‖ Schaeffer and Maj. Bill Caldwell were co-project officers for the
Guard‘s part of the mission. Even with chill factors as low as -150 degrees, no Guardsmen suffered frostbite,
something that struck all of the race‘s finishers. Many bugs were discovered in the Guard‘s equipment, however.
Truck tires froze and shattered; vehicle personnel heaters functioned inadequately. Recommendations were made
for changes of oil in transmissions and differentials on trucks. Some parts, found to be especially prone to
difficulty, were noted, with recommendations to carry spares in each vehicle along with emergency survival
gear.
About 40 Air Guardsmen participated in the race start. Thirty-six Army Guardsmen gave assistance along
the race course. The men from Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, the 10 th Ordnance Platoon and the
Third Battalion, served voluntarily on an up-graded drill status until January 12.
The Alaska Air Guard continued its unusual missions of civic assistance as it trained. Native dancers
were airlifted from St. Lawrence Island for the Fur Rendezvous celebration in Anchorage in 1965. Later that
a The present day Parks Highway, providing the most direct route from Anchorage to Fairbanks wasn‘t completed until 1971. Source:
www.rd.com

year, two passengers and 11,500 pounds of supplies were flown onto Mt. Kennedy, where the Museum of
Science and Hayden Planetarium were mapping the Hubbard-Kennedy area. The landing was made slightly
below the 5,000-foot level on a surface of hard-packed, windblown snow. 262
Clothing, books, food and building materials were airlifted to St. Mary‘s Mission on the Yukon River the
following winter, providing the air crew with valuable ski training. The Air Guard also flew missions to Holy
Cross, Grayling, Nightmute and Dillingham. It helped the state Fish and Game Department by airlifting 25
moose calves from Kulis Air Guard Base to Kodiak Island and 18 reindeer from Nunivak Island to Togiak. Two
computers, each weighing 19,000 pounds, were flown from Larson Air Force Base, Washington, to the
University of Alaska in Fairbanks. Twenty-eight thousand pounds of hospital equipment was flown to Point
Barrow. And when Mount Redoubt erupted near Anchorage that year, the Air Guard flew newsmen and other
personnel around the state to survey the effects. 263
Air Guardsmen in 1968 put the fringes and
embroidery on their well-earned reputation for
transporting unusual cargo, though, when they airlifted
50 musk oxen from a wildlife preserve 30 miles off the
mainland on Nunivak Island to the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge near Barter Island in Northeast Alaska.
Only 750 of the rare, exotic animals were living on
Nunivak, and the Alaska Fish and Game Department,
together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, had
wanted to get some of them back into an area in which
they had roamed before being killed off in the 1880s.
Helicopters and snowmobiles were used to find
yearlings and young adults. They were tranquilized by
dart guns and hauled in slings by helicopter or in sleds
by snowmachines to holding pens at Mekoryuk on
Nunivak. Army Guardsmen there aided in the chore in -
15 degree weather. From there they were taken 2,300 miles north by Lt. Col. Paul W. a Lindemuth. They
conducted a three-hour search on the return from their first flight for three snowmobilers who had been missing
on a trip from Point Barrow to Fairbanks. 255
The 216 th Transportation Company of Fairbanks and Seward was designated in November, 1965, a unit
of the Selected Reserve Force, which is made up of National Guard and Reserve units across the nation that have
100 per cent strength and equipment and are ready for a mobilization on a seven day alert. In order to reach the
required strength it was necessary to organize a truck platoon in Anchorage. Thus the 216 th became a split unit
with three segments. Accelerated training was instituted with Guardsmen participating in 72 training assemblies
a year, instead of the 48 required of other Guardsmen. By March, 1966, the unit was ready for testing and
successfully completed its Army Training Test conducted by National Guard and regular Army personnel. The
216 th was the first Selected Reserve Force unit in the nation to pass this test. 273
The 216 th , growing accustomed to using its two-week annual training periods in support of the regular
Army, in 1969 was asked by the U.S. Army, Alaska, to help with a planned equipment and supply transfer from
Ft. Wainwright to Ft. Richardson. The job was right in line with the unit‘s mission as a long-haul medium truck
cargo company. The National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., complied with the request. In November the
Guardsmen moved out to complete the assignment.
For several years the 216 th had given the Army logistics support during annual field training, but usually
in connection with U.S. Army, Alaska, winter maneuvers across the barren Alaska wilderness, living in tents and
hauling equipment and supplies under simulated winter battle conditions. But this time the Guardsmen spent two
LTC Paul Lindemuth went on to be promoted to Colonel and
commanded the Alaska Air National Guard‘s 176 th Wing from
1983-88. Alaska National Guard photo.
a The middle initial, ‗W‘ of Captain Lindemuth‘s name is handwritten.
92

weeks housed at Ft. Wainwright, hauling tons of military cargo in convoys more than 400 miles down the icy
Richardson Highway a . Fierce Alaska winter weather brought the expected dangerous road conditions as the
drivers wound through mountainous terrain of the Alaska Range and through tricky Isabell b Pass, where winds
can blow a five-ton tractor trailer completely off the narrow highway. Even with sub-zero temperatures, the
Guardsmen completed the mission without mishap. Another unusual feature was that the Guardsmen were
working side by side with Regular Army technicians, learning how a truck company operates. 256
About the same time, two dozen scouts from the First Battalion clashed with a company-size force of
regular Army troops from Ft. Wainwright in an exercise which, the National Guardsman magazine later reported,
―Regulars soon found that numerical superiority was not enough when dealing with experienced troops who
knew the lay of the land.‖ Dubbed Hawk, the field training exercise was held just north of Nome. The Scouts
portrayed aggressors with the tasks of the regulars being to track down and destroy them. While both sides were
hampered by lack of snow that made movement difficult, the Scouts took full advantage of their Arctic knowhow
to harass the regulars. Operating in the dead of night, they penetrated the Army camp and made off with
arms and ammunition and equipment. The next day, after being run down by the regulars, the Scouts used the
captured weapons to defend themselves. Maj. John Schaeffer, commander of the battalion, said ―While we really
gave them fits, we have to admit that we had every advantage except numbers.‖ 257
The Alaska Naval Militia
State legislation authorized the Alaska Naval Militia in 1968 after General Necrason revived one of
General Elmore‘s projects. 258 The first units were activated on March 20, 1970, as members of the existing Naval
Reserve Surface Division 17-1 and the Naval Reserve Officers School 17-2 affiliated with the Alaska Naval
Militia, giving the governor his first direct authority to use Naval trained forces for emergencies involving
natural disaster or domestic disturbance. Rear Adm. Rosenberg, commander of the Naval Reserve Training
Command, and staff representatives made a three-day visit to Alaska on April 20 to begin research into
homeporting a naval vessel in Alaskan waters. 274
Capt. Paul J. Wild was appointed the first commanding officer of the Naval Militia. Cdr. John N. Hale, a
Naval Reservist, had been placed on active duty by the commander of the Alaska Sea Frontier to assist the state
Department of Military Affairs in organizing the militia units. His orders terminated on June 3, 1971, leaving
that post vacant until August 13, when Lt. Donald G. Kaiser filled it.
The units were redesignated July 1, 1971, after the de-establishment of the 17 th Naval District, of which
they had been a part. Alaska became part of the 13 th District, with the surface division redesignated 13-171 and
the officer‘s school 13-172. A Naval Reserve Construction Battalion 502 was established on July 11, 1971, also
becoming an affiliate of the Alaska Naval Reserve and adding highly trained technical and construction
personnel. 259
Single sideband radio equipment was operating in 10 locations throughout the Army Guard by June,
1969, establishing a network that included the state headquarters in Anchorage, which had three sets, in addition
to Nome, Bethel, Kodiak, Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. It provided a net between all communities
that had National Guard units and all Army and Air Guard planes.
In January, 1969, the Guard assisted in fighting a flood in Soldotna and in July fought a forest fire in Big
Denver. The 910 th Engineer Company in October built a mile of gravel road to a car body disposal area outside
of Juneau, resurfaced a parking area at a tourist attraction, built a motorcycle race track and improved a pistol
range. The Air Guard flew 25 forest fire missions near Fairbanks in July and 14 flood control missions near
Aniak in the fall and winter.
a The Parks Highway, the most direct route between Ft. Wainwright and Ft. Richardson wasn‘t completed until 1971. The ‗more than
400 mile‘ journey would have also included many miles on the Glenn Highway.
b Isabel is misspelled.
93

Throughout the United States, National Guard units were being hard-pressed to maintain their requisite
strengths in 1970. Continuing reductions of draft calls through the Selective Service System and discussion of an
all-volunteer Army contributed greatly to the shortage of the draft-motivated enlistee in the National Guard. The
National Guard Bureau established a national recruiting campaign in the spring of 1970, suggesting quotas for
enlistments. At the end of the report period, the Alaska National units stood in the number-one position in the
national program. 275
The Second Scout Battalion, working in conjunction with the Western Alaska Council of the Boy Scouts
of America, in the spring of 1970 established a training program to develop leaders for Boy Scout programs in
the villages where elements of the battalion are located. A three-day course for prospective leaders was held at
Camp Carroll, involving over two dozen volunteers.
Construction began that July on three barracks and a latrine building at Camp Carroll, the first of a fiveyear
construction program there. The Central Maintenance Supply and the ATEP building was finished in
September and a hangar at Nome was completed as well. A hangar at Bethel was completed the following year.
Spec. 4 Melvin Walunga in May, 1971, became the first Eskimo to complete the airborne course at
USARAL jump school. He was a member of the 38 th Special Forces Detachment at Gambell. 260
The National Guard Bureau adopted the policy of accepting women on October 1, 1971. Alaska had its
first woman National Guard member—the second one in the nation—when PFC Mary Cunningham signed up. a
A veteran of seven years in the Navy, Miss Cunningham filled one of two positions that opened up for women in
Alaska, becoming secretary to Brig. Gen. Robert W. Steel, who became assistant adjutant for the Army. She now
has been joined by several other women who have taken new positions opening up for them. She also is a fulltime
employe in the office of the adjutant general. 261 When the headlines about the first women in the National
Guard came out, they gendered for some recollections of Muktuk Marston‘s female non-commissioned officers
in the old Alaska Territorial Guard. And Elizabeth S. Denny, part of the Selective Service Section in Juneau in
1962-1966, sent the adjutant general a friendly reminder that she had been there first.
The Alaska Guard Goes Cavalry
The Third Battalion, 297 th Infantry, a mechanized organization, was reorganized and redesignated as the
5 th Squadron, 297 th Cavalry, on May 1, 1972, under Maj. John V. Hoyt, commander.
Stationing of the units remained the same as under the infantry designation, with companies redesignated
as troops. The 216 th Transportation Company, however was deactivated and the Second Engineering Platoon of
the 910 th Engineering Company moved to Juneau. Personnel of the Fairbanks unit were absorbed by Troop C
under Capt. Virgil Umphenour, who had been commanding officer of the 216 th . In addition the 10 th Ordnance
Platoon in Anchorage was replaced by the 49 th Forward Support Maintenance Company. And, a somewhat
spectacular but much-needed development for the Alaska National Guard, was the addition of the 1898 th Assault
Helicopter Company in Anchorage with 23 UH-1 Huey and eight AH-1 Cobra Helicopters authorized. The
reorganization was based on recommendations contained in the Joint Army and Alaska Army Guard Alaska Plan
and the National Guard Bureau‘s direction to convert to tables of organization and equipment which would
support Department of the Army mobilization and contingency plans. The first of 18 M-551 Sheridan tanks b
were flown from Anchorage to Sitka and Ketchikan in August by C124 Globemasters from the Georgia National
a
The historian‘s copy of ‗Alaska Guard‘ has the following undated hand written note on a self-adhesive note: ―This information is
incorrect. 1970 Marjorie Paulson became 1 st woman officer in the Air Guard and July, 1971 Jennifer Huebner was sworn in by MG
William S. Elmore, AG as 1 st Enlisted woman in the Air Guard. M/Sgt Clifford A. Salisbury Historian, Alaska Air Guard Kulis ANG
Base, Ak‖ Salisbury is now retired and wrote ‗Soldiers Of The Mist‘, published by Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, a book of
military history in Alaska that concentrates on the Alaska National Guard.
b
The ‗551‘ is hand written over a crossed out ‗155‘, and the word ‗tanks‘ is crossed out in the historian‘s copy of the original.
‗Sheridan‘ is the correct name attached to the M-551 and is termed a ‗Light Tank/Reconnaissance Vehicle‘, due to being armored by no
more than 2 inches of aluminum. Source: ‗The World‘s Great Tanks‘ by Roger Ford.
94

Guard which were enroute home after training in Alaska. In addition, two M-113 armored personnel carriers and
two M-106 mortar carriers were flown to Sitka. The Sheridans came from USARAL armored units at Ft.
Richardson which were being deactivated. Regular Army troops later trained the National Guard tank crews
during the annual field training encampment.
95

APPENDIX A
Army National Guard Annual Strength
Scouts
Infantry
year EM off 1st 2nd 207th 208th HQ total
Dec, 31
1949 292 25 317
1950 1168 60 891 322
15 1228
1952 1473 74 591 521 112 304 19 1547
1954 692 553 223 295 20 1783
1956 1561
June
30,1956 1475 81 548 448 257 281 22 1556
1957 1409 73 535 474 254 207 21 1482
1958 1484 85 510 462 325 246 26 1569
1960 1560 81 569 574
3rd BG & 216th
473 25 1641
1962 1767 95 571 583
608
HQ &
DETS
100 1862
1964 1926 95 600 654 499 268 2012
1965 1864 88 618 619 484 231 1952
1966 2053 96 615 670 484 380 2149
1967 2051 98 2149
1968 1830 87 1927
1969 1692 124 1816
1970 1715 126 1839
1971 1672 138 1810
96

APPENIDIX B
Air National Guard Annual Strength
year off airmen total
Dec. 31
1952 8 20 22*
1954 111
1956 156
1957
1958
1959 25 111 136
Nov. 30
1960 29 165 194
1961
1962
1963
June 30
1964 27 222 249
1965 27 219 246
1966 23 229 261
1967 32 234 267
1968 47 221 268
1969 40 221 261
1970 57 410 467
1971 76 659 535**
*Correct total is 28 **Correct total is 735
Sgt Marc McNab, State Historian, Alaska
Army National Guard 2009
97

NOTES
APPENIDIX C
Army & Air National Guard Annual Spending
year federal terr/state total
1949
9,715.25 9715.25
1950
39,731.99 39,731.99
1953
4,595,321 133,290.89
1954 90,588.35
4,819,200*
1955
4,000,000.00 145,479.28 1956 111,038.29
4,256,517.57
1957
1958
5,192,250.00 335,485.00 5,527,735.00
1959
1960
944,515.00
1,217,215.00
549,365.91 2,711,095.91
1961 3,447,027.00 200,603.16 3,647,640.16
1962 3,659,629.00 219,767.72 3,880,396.72
1963 2,847,622.00 269,950.06 3,117,572.06
1964 3,078,255.00 293,670.33 3,371,925.33
1965 3,213,656.00 257,394.00 3,471,050.00
1966 3,827,200.00 308,200.00 4,135,400.00
1967 5,690,490.00 359,196.00 6,049,686.00
1968 6,444,541.00 550,438.00 6,994,979.00
1969 6,150,061.00 625,500.00 6,775,561.00
1970 7,158,644.00 687,839.00 7,848,503.00
1971 8,026,767.00 896,153.00 8,922,920.00
Part II – The Home Guard Years
1. James C. Elliot, the Modern Army & Air National Guard, D. Van Norstrand Co. Inc., Princeton, N.J.,
1965. Page 29. Z. J. Loussac Library, Anchorage, Alaska. 355.3.
2. Lyman Woodman‘s history of the Army in Alaska, Alaska Sportsman magazine, March 1969. Loussac.
3. Frank J. Clancy‘s story on Soapy Smith, Alaska Sportsman magazine, October 1955. Loussac.
4. Woodman.
5. Gov. S. F. A. Strong letter to 1 st Lt. L. M. Craig, March 26, 1917. Governor‘s File, 134 th Public
Information Detachment headquarters.
6. Strong wire to Interior Department, March 27, 1917, Governor‘s File.
7. Franklin K. Lane, Interior Department, wire to Strong, March 30, 1917. Governor‘s File.
8. Governor‘s File.
9. C. F. Cramer, secretary to the governor, letter to Army Supply Co., Salisbury, Calif., Aug. 30, 1918.
Governor‘s File.
10. Strong letter to Mayor C. J. Lomen, Nome, April 20, 1917. Governor‘s File.
11. Strong letter to W. M. Hunley, Council of Defense, Richmond, Va., June 22, 1917. Governor‘s File.
12. Strong letter to Mayor Arthur G. Shoup, Sitka, Nov. 19, 1917. Governor‘s File.
13. Governor‘s File.
14. Governor Rigg‘s letter to John P. O‘Callagahan, Eagle, June 25, 1918. Governor‘s File.
15. Col. T. L. Ames, Supply Division, Washington, letter to Riggs, June 18, 1918. Governor‘s File.
98

16. Riggs letter to Brig. Gen. C. C. Williams, acting chief of ordnance, Washington, July 1, 1918 and Riggs
letter to R. D. Chase, Anchorage, July 20, 1918. Governor‘s File.
17. Strong letter to Secretary of War, Washington, March 13, 1917. Governor‘s File.
18. Seward Home Guard. Governor‘s File.
19. Riggs letter to Chase, June 28, 1918. Governor‘s File.
20. Chase letter to Riggs, August 31, 1918. Governor‘s File.
21. Cramer letter to Captain Anchorage Home Guard, Sept. 6, 1918. Governor‘s File.
22. Davis, commander U.S. Troops, Anchorage, letter to Strong, Aug. 14, 1917. Governor‘s File.
23. Strong letter to Lt. Arthur Thompson, Anchorage Home Guard, Nov. 19, 1917. Governor‘s File.
24. Riggs letter to Chas. W. Bush, commanding officer, Anchorage Home Guard Feb. 17, 1919. Anchorage
Home Guard, Governor‘s File.
25. Department of the Interior shipping form, April 24, 1919, and Riggs letter to Bush, April 8, 1919.
Anchorage Home Guard, Governor‘s File.
26. Cordova Home Guard, Governor‘s File.
27. Home Guard Files, Governor‘s File.
28. 1917-1918 Governor‘s File.
29. 1917-1918 Governor‘s File.
30. Dobbs letter to Riggs, Feb. 18, 1919. Ketchikan Home Guard, Governor‘s File.
31. Cramer letter to Col. John B. Rose, National Guard Association, New York, Sept. 25, 1919. Governor‘s
File.
32. Copy of the bill. 1918-1919 Governor‘s File.
33. Riggs letter to Maj. George F. Chandler, State Police, Albany, N.Y., Dec. 13, 1919. Governor‘s File.
34. Gov. Scott C. Bone, Juneau, letter to Karl Theile, surgeon-general, Juneau, June 4, 1925. Governor‘s
File.
35. Col. E. J. Williams, acting chief, U.S. Militia Bureau, Washington, letter to Bone, April 15, 1925.
Governor‘s File.
36. James Steese, Anchorage, letter to Bone, June 1, 1923. Governor‘s File.
37. R. Sears, Office of Ordnance, Washington, letter to George A. Parks, Nov. 4, 1925. Governor‘s File.
38. Maj. Gen. Creed C. Hammond, Militia Bureau, Washington, letter to Parks, Jan. 19, 1926. Governor‘s
File.
39. (omitted)
40. Maj. Gen. Hines, commander 9 th Corps Area, Presidio, San Francisco, Calif., letter to Parks, Dec. 29,
1927. Governor‘s File.
41. Parks letter to Hines, Feb. 1, 1928, Governor‘s File.
42. Hines letter to Parks, May 16, 1928, Governor‘s File.
Part III – World War II & The ATG
43. Woodman History.
44. Report of conference of chief of National Guard Bureau, governor of Alaska and general of Alaska
Defense Command, Juneau, June 8-9, 1941, by Office of the Instructor, June 11, 1941.
45. E. L. Bartlett, action governor, letter to Henry Roden, attorney general, Juneau, April 14, 1941.
46. Lt. Gen. J. L. Dewitt, commander, Western Defense Command, Presidio, San Francisco, Calif., letter to
Gov. Ernest Gruening, Juneau, April 21, 1941
47. Gruening letters to Don M. B. Adler, Fairbanks, Aug. 29, 1941, and William N. Redling, Juneau, Aug.
30, 1941. Governor‘s File.
48. Report of Juneau Conference, June, 1941.
99

49. Gruening telegram to Gen. John F. Williams, National Guard Bureau, Washington, Aug. 1, 1941.
Governor‘s File.
50. Buckner letter to Gruening, Oct. 19, 1941.
51. Bartlett, Juneau, telegram to Gruening, Washington, April 12, 1941. Governor‘s File.
52. Report of Juneau Conference, June, 1941.
53. Dewitt letter to Gruening, Aug. 1, 1941.
54. Anchorage Times a , Sept. 7, 1949. Loussac.
55. Henry Varnum Poor, ―An Artist Sees Alaska,‖ Viking Press, N.Y., 1945, pp. 106-107. Loussac.
56. Muktuk Marston, ―Men of the Tundra,‖ October House Inc., N.Y., 1972, p. 49. Loussac.
57. Marston, pp. 17-18.
58. Marston, pp. 21-34.
59. Marston, pp. 38-39.
60. Marston, pp. 41-48.
61. The U.S. Army in Alaska, U.S. Army, Alaska, Pamphlet 360-5, p. 10.
62. Woodman History.
63. Dorothy Inman, Alaska Sportsman, December, 1943. Loussac.
64. Woodman history.
65. Marston, pp. 50-58.
66. Marston, p. 58
67. Marston interview with the author, 134 th Public Information Detachment File.
68. Marston, p. 57.
69. Marston Interview.
70. Marston, pp. 65-68.
71. Marston Interview.
72. Marston, pp. 74-123.
73. Marston, p. 58.
74. Jean Potter, ―Alaska Under Arms,‖ The McMillan Co., 1942, pp. 30-32. Loussac.
75. Potter, p. 91.
76. Marston Interview.
77. Marston Interview.
78. Marston Interview.
79. Marston message to the ATG, March 18, 1943. Geist File, University of Alaska Archives, Fairbanks.
80. Marston, p.220.
81. Governor‘s File.
82. Marston Interview.
83. Maj. Gen. S. B. Buckner, Jr., commander, Alaska Defense Command, Ft. Richardson, letter to Gruening,
July 18, 1942. Governor‘s File.
84. ―Regulation for Alaska Territorial Guard,‖ Headquarters, Alaska Territorial Guard, July 10, 1942.
Governor‘s File.
85. Marston Interview.
86. John T. Emel, Alakanuk, letter to Marston, Nome, April 5, 1943. Governor‘s File.
87. Rusty Heurlin interview with the author, 134 th Public Information Detachment File.
88. Marston Interview.
89. Poor, p. 52.
90. ―The Army at War,‖ U.S. Government Printing Office, 1944. Box 11, Geist File.
a
This publication was called the ‗Anchorage Daily Times‘ and the ‗Anchorage Sunday Times‘ up to 1976, when it became the
‗Anchorage Times‘. Source: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045547/
100

91. Poor, pp. 106-107.
92. Poor, pp. 109-112.
93. H. O. K. Bauer, M.D., Kotzebue, letter to Clement Clementson, Unalakleet, June 20, 1943. Box 2, Geist
File.
94. Poor, p. 113.
95. Marston, ―The Cruise of the Ada.‖ Governor‘s File.
96. Poor, pp. 121-124.
97. Poor, p. 119.
98. Marston Interview.
99. Poor, pp. 151-163.
100. Marston Interview.
101. Marston, ―ATG Mission to Point Barrow and Way Points.‖ Governor‘s File.
102. Poor, p. 204.
103. Marston, ―ATG Mission to Point Barrow and Way Points.‖
104. Poor, p. 262.
105. Poor, p. 272.
106. Maj. E. B. Fisher, Unalakleet, report to Marston, Nome, June 17, 1943. Box 4, Geist File.
107. Marston interview.
108. Marston letter to Capt. C. L. Crutcher, Kotzebue, April 15, 1943. Box 2, Geist File.
109. Crutcher letter to Marston, Jan. 9, 1943. Box 2, Geist File.
110. Marston telegram to Crutcher, Jan. 23, 1943. Box 2, Geist File.
111. Heurlin interview.
112. Headquarters, Alaska Defense Command, Table of Basic Allowances, Sept. 2, 1943. Geist File.
113. Table of Organization, Sept. 2, 1943. Geist File.
114. Marston Interview.
115. Earle M. Forrest, Akiakchuk a , letter to Nome, March 5, 1945, and report of supplies received at
Akiakchuk a , March 15, 1956. Geist File
116. Shipping receipts. Box 3, Geist File.
117. Marston Interview.
118. Charles J. Keim, ―Aghvook, White Eskimo,‖ University of Alaska Press, College, 1969, pp. 246-247.
Loussac.
119. Marston Letter to Geist, Fairbanks, June 21, 1944. Geist File.
120. Geist Letter to Marston, June 22, 1944. Box 7, 1944.
121. Tailings, NWCS employees newsletter, Fairbanks, July 1, 1944. Box 12, Geist File.
122. Geist, Nome, pencil draft of report to Maj. Perrui, Aug. 2, 1944. Box 13, Geist File.
123. Receipts for May, 1946, and June 1946. Box 3, Geist File.
124. Geist letter to Dr. Charles Bunnell, Fairbanks, February 26, 1946. Box 3, Geist File.
125. Geist notes. Box 3, Geist File.
126. Geist letter to Maj. Frank Daugherty, Gambell, Dec. 6, 1944. Box 1, Geist File.
127. Geist draft of letter to Jay Williams, Juneau, Jan. 4, 1945 (misdated Jan. 4, 1944). Box 13, Geist File.
128. Heurlin interview.
129. Heurlin, Barrow, letter to Marston, April 2, 1945. Geist File.
130. Leon S. Vincent, Department of Interior Indian Field Service, Barrow, letter to Marston, Jan. 8, 1945.
Box 1, Geist File.
131. Heurlin interview.
132. William Gilman, Arlington, Vt., letter to Geist, March 2, 1945. Box 9, Geist File.
a ‗Akiachak‘ is misspelled.
101

133. Miscellaneous correspondence. Box 5, Geist File.
134. Gruening letters to Patrick K. Hagiwona; Aug. 9, 1943; Leonard E. Soholt, April 26, 1946, and others.
Governor‘s File.
135. Geist letter to Neal, Ft. Richardson, Sept., 1946.
136. Williams letter to Geist, Feb. 5, 1945. Box 12, Geist File.
137. Marston interview.
138. George Goshaw, Shishmaref, letter to Gruening, March 21, 1946. Governor‘s File.
139. ―Recommendations For Organization of the National Guard of Alaska—Revised,‖ Nov. 7, 1946.
Governor‘s File.
140. Geist letter to all units, Jan. 2, 1946. Box 3, Geist File
141. Geist letter to Sgt. Frank Budas, Jr., Phillips, Wis. Box 3, Geist File.
142. Sgt. Robinson Blankenship, Unalakleet, letter to Geist. Box 4, Geist File.
143. Gruening letter to General Miltonberger, Washington, Dec. 31, 1946. Governor‘s File.
144. Huber, April 8, 1950. 1948-1951 Governor‘s File. Also Marston, p. 218.
145. Marston, pp. 205-206.
146. Hooper Bay letter to Gruening, Dec. 7, 1947. Governor‘s File.
147. Capt. O‘Connor, Hooper Bay, to Gruening, Dec. 7, 1947 (misdated Dec. 7, 1948). Governor‘s File.
148. Nome Nugget, May 30, 1945. Box 13, Geist File.
149. Goshaw letter to Gruening, March 21, 1946.
150. Marston, pp. 159, 224.
151. Geist letter to Goshaw, April 4, 1946. Box 4, Geist File.
152. Geist letter to Capt. Henry E. Nashalook, Unalakleet, June 15, 1946. Box 4, Geist File.
153. Geist letter to Goshaw.
154. Heurlin interview.
Part IV—Organizing the Alaska National Guard
155. Johnson report, Dec. 31, 1952. Governor‘s File.
156. U.S. Army, Alaska, pp. 101-102.
157. Lt. Col. Joseph D. Alexander, ―National Guard in Alaska.‖
158. Marston interview.
159. Norman C. Brown, editor, Anchorage Daily News, Feb. 21, 1949. Governor‘s File.
160. Louis R. Huber, article, April 8, 1950. Governor‘s File.
161. Goshaw letter to Gruening, Sept. 26, 1949. Governor‘s File.
162. Goshaw letter to Gruening, March 15, 1950. Governor‘s File.
163. Paul Dryden, Nome, letter to Gruening, Nov. 25, 1950. Governor‘s File.
164. Biennial Report of Military Department, Dec. 31, 1952. Governor‘s File.
165. Goshaw‘s letter to Gruening, March 15, 1950.
166. Col. Lars Larry Johnson, Juneau, report to Gruening, Nov. 19, 1951. Governor‘s File.
167. Biennial Report, 1952.
168. Johnson report to Gruening, Nov. 19, 1951.
169. Johnson interview with author, 134 th Public Information Detachment File.
170. Daily Alaska Empire, Juneau, Aug. 4, 1953. Lars Larry Johnson personal file.
171. Wheeler Sammons, publisher Who‘s Who In America, letter to Johnson, June 13, 1952. Johnson File.
172. Alaska Guardsman, Dec. 6, 1952, p. 2. Governor‘s File.
173. Marston letter to Gruening, Feb. 12, 1952. Governor‘s File.
174. Johnson letter to Marston, Anchorage Hotel, April 11, 1952. Governor‘s File.
175. Marston, Kotzebue, letter to Johnson, March 6, 1952. Governor‘s File.
102

176. Alaska Guardsman. Johnson File.
177. Johnson interview.
178. The National Guardsman, January, 1956. Scrapbook, Office of the Adjutant General, Alaska National
Guard.
179. Anchorage Daily News, April 19, 1954, p. 13. Johnson File.
180. The National Guardsman, January, 1956.
181. Alaska Guardsman, September, 1955. Scrapbook, Kulis Air National Guard Base.
182. Anchorage Times a , Nov. 16, 1954. Kulis Scrapbook.
183. Anchorage Daily News, May 27, 1955. Kulis Scrapbook.
184. Kulis Scrapbook.
185. Anchorage Times a , Oct. 21, 1955. Kulis Scrapbook.
186. Anchorage Times a , Jan. 31, 1956. Kulis Scrapbook..
187. Howard Slwooko interview with the author, 134 th Public Information Detachment File.
188. Slwooko interview.
189. National Guardsman, May, 1957.
190. Anchorage Daily News, March 8, 1956.
191. Anchorage Daily News, March 12, 1956.
192. Anchorage Times a , Jan. 31, 1956. Kulis Scrapbook.
193. Anchorage Times a , Jan. 31, 1956.
194. Alaska Magazine, July, 1972.
195. OTAG Scrapbook.
196. Emile C. Schurmacher, ―Yuh Yek Against the H Bomb,‖ Men In Danger magazine, June, 1956. OTAG
Scrapbook.
197. The Pioneer, Nov. 2, 1956. OTAG Scrapbook.
198. Charles W. Casper memoirs, p.1. 134 th Public Information Detachment File.
199. Johnson interview.
Part V – The Carroll Years
200. National Guardsman, May, 1957.
201. Pat Wolfe, Anchorage Daily News, Feb. 19, 1957.
202. Alaska Daily Empire, June 1, 1958. OTAG Scrapbook.
203. Alaska‘s Health, April, 1959. Kulis Scrapbook.
204. Anchorage Daily News, Nov. 26, 1957.
205. Alaska Sportsman, April, 1960. Loussac.
206. Casper memoirs.
207. Alaska Guardsman, September 1955. Kulis Scrapbook.
208. Alaska Guardsman.
209. Anchorage Times, May, 1960. Kulis Scrapbook.
210. Charles Coombs, ―Citizen Soldiers in the Land of the Midnight Sun,‖ National Guardsman, September,
1960.
211. Coombs.
212. Anchorage Times a , June 7, 1960. Kulis Scrapbook.
213. Coombs.
214. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April, 1961. Kulis Scrapbook.
a
This publication was called the ‗Anchorage Daily Times‘ and the ‗Anchorage Sunday Times‘ up to 1976, when it became the
‗Anchorage Times‘. Source: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045547/
103

215. Anchorage Times a , Nov. 17 and 20, 1961. Kulis Scrapbook.
216. Alaska Guardsman, Spring 1962. Johnson File.
217. Unit Histories, OTAG file 206-06.
218. Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1962.
219. Anchorage Daily News, May 29, 1961. Kulis Scrapbook.
220. Casper memoirs, p. 8.
221. Alaska Guardsman, 1963.
Part VI – Disaster
222. 1956, OTAG Scrapbook.
223. History of the Militia & National Guard in Alaska, HQ, DA, office, Chief Military History, Washington
D.C., April 12, 1966, Incl. 8, Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon.
222 (number is repeated). Capt. John L. McNairy, Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1964, pp. 18-20. OTAG
Scrapbook.
223 (number is repeated). National Guardsman, May, 1964, and Dempsey Anderson. Kulis Scrapbook.
224. Anchorage Daily News, April 27, 1964. Kulis Scrapbook.
225. Fairbanks Daily-News Miner, April 27, 1965. Kulis Scrapbook.
226. Anchorage Daily News, April 27, 1964.
227. General Orders No. 9, Headquarters, Ft. Richardson, Feb. 11, 1967. OTAG File.
228. Casper memoirs, p. 21.
229. Casper memoirs, p. 20.
230. Casper memoirs, pp. 20-21.
231. Casper memoirs, p. 21.
232. Casper memoirs, p. 21.
233. Casper memoirs, p. 21-23.
234. Alaska Guardsman, winter, 1964, p. 24. OTAG File.
235. Casper memoirs, pp. 21-23.
236. Casper memoirs, p. 22.
237. Casper memoirs, pp. 23-26.
238. Casper memoirs, pp. 23-25.
239. Casper memoirs, p. 28.
240. Casper memoirs, p. 27.
241. Casper memoirs, pp. 26-29.
242. Anchorage Times a and Anchorage Daily News, Dec. 16, 1965. Kulis Scrapbook.
243. Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1967, p. 14. Johnson File.
244. Fairbanks Daily-News Miner, April 27, 1967, Kulis Scrapbook.
245. Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1967, p. 25, OTAG Scrapbook.
246. Anchorage Daily News, April, 1967. Kulis Scrapbook.
247. Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1967. OTAG Scrapbook.
248. Anchorage Times a , Feb., March 30 and May 27, 1967 and Anchorage Daily News March 25, 1967. Kulis
Scrapbook.
249. Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1967, pp. 14-15. Johnson File.
250. Casper memoirs, p. 31.
251. Casper memoirs, p. 33.
a This publication was called the ‗Anchorage Daily Times‘ and the ‗Anchorage Sunday Times‘ up to 1976, when it became the
‗Anchorage Times‘. Source: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045547/
104

252. Anchorage Times a and Anchorage Daily News, Aug., 1967. Kulis Scrapbook.
253. Casper memoirs, p. 33.
254. Casper memoirs, p. 34.
255. National Guardsman, June, 1969.
256. Capt. Donald B. Hendricks, ―Alaska Guardsmen Haul Cargo on Perilous Route,‖ The National Guardsman,
Feb., 1970, pp. 34-35.
257. ―Alaska, Virginia Guardsmen Do Combat With Regulars,‖ The National Guardsman, Jan., 1970, p.34
258. Casper memoirs, p. 32.
259. History, Alaska Naval Militia.
260. Marston, p. 211.
261. Anchorage Times a , Nov. 4, 1971.
262. Department of Military Affairs Annual Report, Sept. 1, 1965, p. I-7
263. Department of Military Affairs Annual Report, Dec, 5, 1966, p. I-5
264. History of the Militia & National Guard in Alaska, Incl. 10.
265. Alaska Guardsman, Spring, 1967, p. 20. Johnson File.
266. Anchorage Times a , Kulis Scrapbook.
267. Sherwood Ross, ―Gruening of Alaska,‖ Best Books, N.Y., 1968, pp. 135-136.
268. Frank John, interview with Steve Richardson at Ft. Yukon, Jan. 26, 1973. 134 th Public Information
Detachment File.
269. Marston paper. Geist File.
270. Joseph Driscoll, ―War Discovers America,‖
271. History of the Militia & National Guard in Alaska, Incl. 9 ―Alaskan Scouts of the Territorial Guard and the
National Guard.‖
272. Casper memoirs, p.11.
273. Department of Military Affairs Annual Report, Dec, 5, 1966, p. III-1.
274. Department of Military Affairs Annual Report, 1971, p. 19.
275. Department of Military Affairs Annual Report, 1970, p.8.
a
This publication was called the ‗Anchorage Daily Times‘ and the ‗Anchorage Sunday Times‘ up to 1976, when it became the
‗Anchorage Times‘. Source: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045547/
105

The following are retyped draft copies of articles written by Army journalists. The originals are unbound 8x10.5 inch paper, printed by
‗ditto machines‘ also known as ‗spirit duplicators‘, that produced inexpensive copies and blue colored print.
By SP1 Paul E. Morrill 1957
Bethel, Alaska . . . . .
Regular Army can take a lesson from the members of the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard
when it comes to maintaining equipment.
Traveling from small isolated villages, where water is at a premium and cleaning materials must come
miles by air or dog sled, their rifles and radios, packs and web equipment are in tip-top shape. The pride they
take in their weapons and equipment is evident as they sit in a quonset hut here, cleaning and oiling as they wait
for a flight that will take them to Fort Richardson and their annual encampment.
How they do it is a miracle, but even their class A uniforms which they wear while traveling have a
neat pressed look and their canvas web equipment is spotless.
Probably the most popular National Guard Scout in the Bethel area is Sergeant Donald E. Elliot,
originally from Arizona and now an Alaskan resident. This popularity is due to a 1952 Ford dump truck.
Fording the overflow of the mile-wide Kiskokwim a river can lead to wet feet up to the knees at high
tide periods but other parts of the river are frozen solid enough to hold Elliot‘s truck.
Thus Elliot has been drafted by his buddies, most of them Eskimos from up and down the river, to ferry
them from Bethel to the CAA air strip for their flight to Elmendorf Air Force Base. He had been kept busy the
last two days hauling radio sets, ―C‖ rations, packs and duffle bags for the Scouts.
From Elmendorf the scouts will go by truck to Camp Denali where the men will hold their annual two
week encampment.
-30-
HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5 March 1957
Bethel, Alaska . . . . . . . . . . March 4, 1957
BY SP1 Paul E. Morrill
It‘s not really an Elks convention, but the atmosphere of buddies meeting after a year‘s absence has the
same flavor as a fraternal get-together.
This is an annual affair for the members of the 2d Scout Battalion, made up mostly of Eskimos from
Southwestern Alaska. Meeting at their annual encampment at Camp Denali, Fort Richardson, they are full of
stories about things that happened in their villages or to their fellow guardsmen during the year.
a ―Kuskokwim‖ is misspelled.
106

At the staging area in Bethel, the Battalion‘s headquarters, the men arrived from the villages amidst much
hand shaking and back slapping. After bed rolls were spread on the floor of a quonset hut men started to swap
stories, most of them about the size and number of fish their families and friends had caught.
Master Sergeant Adolf Johnson, noncommissioned officer in charge of the detachment at the village of
Quinhagak on the Kuskokwim River said in the presence of the members of the two other villages having
guardsmen that near his village there was the best fishing in the Territory. Eighteen other scouts from this village
of 250 population agreed. An outsider would have believed it until the men from Kwigillingok put in their bid.
The arguments were loud and persuasive but good natured, and ended with invitations to visit each other‘s
villages during the fishing season and ―see for yourselves‖. Sergeant Johnson then cinched the conversation by
telling of some of the exploits of his men during the sealing season.
Fourteen scouts from Napaskiak, not to be outdone, said they had a larger variety of fish which included
silver salmon, king salmon, cheets, pike, whitefish and dogfish. All in all, there were a lot of fish stories and a lot
of laughter, then silence set in as the men of Alaska‘s ―frontier‖ projected their thoughts forward to the strenuous
training they would receive during the next two weeks at Fort Richardson.
The scouts advance party is due to arrive at Fort Richardson Tuesday, March 5.
HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5 March 1957
Many members of the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard arriving from small villages in
Southwestern Alaska at Fort Richardson this week are ―judges‖ and ―city administrators‖.
Each village has a council which settles differences between the inhabitants and sets up policy for the
village operations. ―Men of distinction‖ from the villages, these men act as counselors, judges and councilmen.
Many are members of their village National Guard units.
Napaskiak, a village of 100 persons, has 14 guardsmen, 8 of them on the village council. Specialist Third
Class Charles Phillips of Kwigillingok, is vice president of the village council. Quinhagak, boasting a population
of 250 persons, has 20 men in the scout battalion with three of them on the 9-man council.
Leaders in their villages, they are also leaders in the Alaska National Guard.
-30-
107

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5 March 1957
by SP1 Paul E. Morrill
NOTE: Specialist Morrill is in Bethel covering the annual gathering of the Eskimo Scout Battalion prior to their
trip to Fort Richardson to attend two weeks training.
BETHEL, Alaska . . . . . . . Members of the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard are ready, willing and
able to leave their villages for their annual encampment held at Camp Denali, Fort Richardson, but the ―enemy‖
is moving a front in to delay their advance.
The ―enemy‖ is weather, and all sorts of it.
Originally scheduled to report to Bethel, the Battalion‘s staging area, on Saturday and Sunday, only a
third of the approximately 300 from the villages up and down the Kuskokwim River had arrived here at 3 p.m.
Sunday. Originally the group were scheduled to fly to Elmendorf Air Force Base Monday.
High winds up to 45 miles per hour hampered bush pilots flying the men in from the villages, while the
large commercial planes from Anchorage which were to fly them to Elmendorf Air Force Base could not land
here.
Late Monday night, however, bush pilots were flying men in. Early Tuesday, during a heavy snow the
bush pilots flew to some villages and picked up more. A DC was slated to arrive at Bethel later in the day.
Air transportation is not the only problem encountered here. Bethel, which sits on the Kuskokwim River
is a tricky place for navigation with the CAA landing strip on the opposite bank. Bush pilots land on the river on
the Bethel side to allow the men to be processed at the National Guard Armory. In the summer it‘s not so bad,
for ferrys a and ships navigate the mile wide river and flats. Tuesday, as the tide came in, water was almost three
feet deep on the overflow sections on both sides of the river. At other places the river has 6-feet of ice, capable of
holding a heavy truck.
Throughout most of the day the water is not quite so deep and can be forded with a large wheeled truck.
It took the ingenuity of 1 st Lieutenant Wallace J. Harrison, acting battalion commander, and the willingness and
brawn of the native Eskimo Scouts to get the men from Bethel to the CAA b strip. A makeshift bridge was made
and a boat, used for fishing in the summer was used. One group would travel the open water and then push the
boat back for the next group. In another spot a boat was tipped upside down and the men walked across the ice to
the boat and over the boat on the open water to the ice again.
For many of the Scouts the entire trip will entail dog sled travel, small plane flights, walking, fording and
flying by large commercial airplanes. Many have sledded into the villages where the bush pilots picked them up
and flew them to Bethel. After crossing the river they were flown to Elmendorf by commercial carriers.
The other staging area for the 2d Scout Battalion is at Dillingham. Coordination with the pilots and
Lieutenant Harrison is an around-the-clock operation during the staging period here. Bush pilots sneak in and out
when the weather permits slipping into a village and picking up 3 to 6 men and flying back between wind gusts
and snow. Lieutenant Harrison has to coordinate the movement of commercial carriers from Anchorage. If a
plane capable of hauling 22, 38 or 50 men is due to arrive, he and the bush pilots plead, talk, pray and curse at
a ‗ferries‘ is misspelled.
b Civil Aeronautics Administration
108

the weather to make it possible for enough trips by small plane to have the needed number of scouts available
for the commercial carrier.
Weather is again closing in and the scouts, pilots and Lieutenant Harrison are concerned about getting the
50 scouts in Bethel on their way soon.
HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6 March 1957
by SP1 Paul E. Morrill
BETHEL, Alaska -------- Electronically modern, yet reminiscent of the old fashioned rural partyline, the
receiver and transmitter in the National Guard Armory at Bethel is the pulse of operations for the airlift of
Alaska Scouts to Fort Richardson for their annual encampment.
Belonging to the CAA a , the set is on a net connecting CAA and the air strip across the mile-wide
Kuskokwim River, commercial bush operations offices and ACS b wireless.
The set makes it possible for 1 st Lieutenant Wallace J. Harrison, acting 2d Scout Battalion commander to
keep in contact with bush operations and flight conditions. By listening in on conversations of the bush pilots he
can estimate the number of Scouts who will arrive from remote villages. Then he can notify the airlines in
Anchorage through ACS wireless the size of transport planes needed for hauling the Scouts from Bethel to Fort
Richardson.
Weather reports from the different villages coming into CAA also gives the Lieutenant an estimate of the
number of villages the bush pilots can get into. He knows the number of Scouts in the village can requisition the
troop planes as needed. Because the large commercial cannot afford to lay over a long length of time, movement
between the bush operations and the airlines must be closely coordinated. The ―partyline‖ makes this possible.
-30-
a Civil Aeronautics Administration
b Alaska Communications System
109

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 6 March 1957
The Army‘s combat rations will include fish in the future, if the Eskimo Scouts have anything to do with
it.
The 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard, is gathering at Fort Richardson, Alaska, for annual field
training. Most of the men are fishermen, living in villages in the vicinity of Bethel on the Kuskokwim River.
They don‘t think much of the balanced diet offered by ―C‖ rations. Not enough fish.
Sergeant First Class Joseph Hunter, from Quinhagak, looked at the cans of ―C‖ rations in his hands at the
staging area in Bethel and said, ―If we are called to federal duty for any long time I make suggestion Great White
Father in Washington can salmon and other fish.‖
Sergeant John Necore, of Kwethluk, said he likes the chicken all right, but most of the other can he can
leave alone.
―I like the beans, but the doggone things don‘t like me. After I eat them it feels like I swallowed fish
bones and I get pain in belly.‖
Post food service officers at Fort Richardson have taken the Eskimo soldiers‘ tastes into account. During
the 15-day encampment the scouts will get an increased ration of fish.
-30-
HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7 March 1957
Ipchook, Togayak, Ayagalaris, Calaktienoff, Kasayuli, Tomaganuk and Rukovishnikoff are only a few of
the many unusual and unfamiliar names on the payroll of the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard, now at
Fort Richardson‘s Camp Denali for their annual encampment.
It‘s names like Wood, Jackson, Larson, McCann, McCall, Miller, Johnson and Smith that seem out of
place.
First Lieutenant Wallace J. Harrison, acting battalion commander, explained: ―Many of the natives had
just one name but as the missions made their way to the villages and towns, Eskimos were given Christian names
by the mission workers. You can almost tell the religion or denomination of the village by the names the people
were given.
―Then too, more than sixty years ago trappers, traders, missionaries, and settlers gave families Christian
names or married into one of the Eskimo families.
―Sometimes the names are hard to pronounce,‖ Harrison added, ―but the men all answer ‗Here‘ at pay
call.‖
30
110

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7 March 1957
Probably one of the most disappointed men in the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard, is Master
Sergeant Carl A. Kawagley, 35, who had high hopes until the last minute of attending the battalion‘s annual
encampment at Fort Richardson.
Carl, an Eskimo from Bethel, has attended six previous Guard encampments and had his bags packed for
this one. The morning he was to leave he walked into the office of the acting battalion commander, First
Lieutenant Wallace J. Harrison, reported and stood at attention for a whole minute as Lieutenant Harrison looked
at him with awe.
―You, Sergeant, will report to the Public Health Nurse immediately,‖ Harrison finally said.
Sergeant Kawagley reported back to the Lieutenant a little later with eyes moist and said, ―Sir, it‘s the
mumps.‖
The sergeant joined the regular Army in 1943 and served at Ladd Air Force Base a as a dog team
instructor with the Quartermaster‘s search and rescue team there. He made one trip himself into the remote area
of Fairbanks and rescued two fighter pilots who had been downed in that area.
He was discharged in 1946 and joined the Alaska National Guard in 1949. Fluent in both English and
Eskimo, Carl is well known in Bethel and has been Lieutenant Harrison‘s right hand man in dealing with Eskimo
Guardsmen from remote villages, especially during the staging period prior to the Guard‘s trip to Fort
Richardson.
―We‘ll sure miss him during the training period at Camp Denali, but mumps are mumps no matter where
you are from,‖ Lieutenant Harrison said.
a Ladd Air Force Base became Fort Wainwright in 1961. Source: http://fairbanks-alaska.com/fort-wainwright.htm.
-30-
111

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12 March 1957
―Nika‖ is probably the favorite subject of the Eskimo and Aleut soldiers of the 2d Scout Battalion,
Alaska National Guard, attending the Battalion‘s annual encampment at Camp Denali, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Nika is chow. It is served in a pleasant, well-lighted and spotless mess hall to the scouts from villages in
Southwestern Alaska. The mess was set up and is operated by the post food service office. Cooks are drawn from
mess halls throughout Fort Richardson.
The cooks enjoy their jobs as they listen to the Scouts tell stories of fishing, hunting, and trapping
exploits and native life in their isolated villages.
The scouts enjoy the stories mess personnel tell them about their stateside hometowns.
According to most of the Guardsmen the nika is excellent. Living mostly on fish and canned goods the
year around, the Eskimos consider their two weeks at Camp Denali, with the large variety of Army food as a
gastronomic vacation.
Food service has
set up a special menu for
them and an increase in
the fish ration has been
made. The scouts love
the fresh bread and stack
three, four and five
pieces on their tray at
each meal. They eat an
abundance of jellies and
jams and like tea as well
as coffee. Both are
served at every meal.
Canned fruits are served
daily as well as onions
which the scouts love.
Other than chili sauce
and catsup, the Eskimo
scouts do not use many
condiments or spices.
Nika or chow,
whatever word they use,
they clean their trays and
according to food service
people, have less garbage
in their cans than any mess hall on post.
―‗Nika‘ (chow) 2 nd Sct. Bn 12 Mar 58‖ Picture and caption are not part of the original article.
-30-
112

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12 March 1957
With Nokits (rifles) and tangloks (snowshoes), members of Company ―B‖, 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska
National Guard, were attentive and serious as Private Paul Charles from Nunivak Island, instructed the company
in squad movements at Camp Denali, Fort Richardson, Alaska where the Scouts are attending their annual
encampment.
The battalion is
brought together once a year
at the camp to learn
operations and procedures
which will help them to fight
effectively.
Basic military
subjects including the M-1
rifle, map reading, squad and
platoon tactics, radio
operation, compass reading,
sanitation and guard duty are
studied by the men during
their two week encampment.
These Eskimo and
Aleut Scouts, strung along
one of the nation‘s most
important and outermost
perimeters, are contributing
to the Territory‘s and
―Eskimo and Aleut Scouts of the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard, practice
stealth and noiseless walking as they make their way through Arctic snows during their
annual encampment at Fort Richardson, Alaska. The Scouts are from villages in
Southwestern Alaska. (U. S. Army Photo) AFT 57‖ Picture and caption are not part of the
original article.
113
America‘s first line of
defense by scouting and
surveillance done as they
hunt, trap or fish near their
villages.
The lessons and
training given the scouts at Fort Richardson are taught in both English and Eskimo.
As the instructor leads the class he gives a phrase from the lesson plan in English. An assistant repeats
the phrase in Eskimo.
―When you see group of birds leave ground and fly, don‘t run like everything,‖ said Charles in English,
―but be still.‖ ―Observe and listen, for maybe you scare birds. If you did, enemy will see you and tokuk (kill)
you. If enemy scare birds you can tell where enemy is hiding and tokuk him.‖ This was part of the instruction
Johnson and his assistant were giving to the class as National Guard advisors and Scout NCO‘s looked on.
When the class ended the scouts, like soldiers all over the world, broke into a run as the popular bugle
call sounded for ―Nika‖ or chow.
-30-

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12 March 1957
―(L-R) Sp3 Carl W. Johnson a , (AKIAK) and Sp3 Edward Peter,
(AKICHAK b ) both of Company ‗B‘ 2 nd Scout Bn practice firing the
M-1 rifle during their annual encampment at Camp Denali, Ft.
Richardson. 4 Mar 58‖
a ‗Johnson‘ is lined through and ‗Jackson‘ is handwritten above.
b Akiachak is misspelled.
Without preliminary rifle instructions which
average American soldier receives before firing on
the rifle range, members of the 2d Scout Battalion,
Alaska National Guard, have made an enviable
firing record at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
With 360 men firing, 116 made expert, 135
sharpshooters and 109 marksmen with the M-1 rifle,
during their annual two-week encampment.
Most of the Eskimos and Aleuts are from
small, isolated villages. They have been brought up
with the rod and gun, many shooting their first bear
or moose as a child. However, their shooting
positions when hunting are different from the
regulation Army positions used on the range. The
hardest thing, they claim, is to get really
comfortable in the Army positions.
114
-30-

HEADQUARTERS
UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA
Public Information Division
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 18 March 1957
The last of more than 400 members of the 2d Scout Battalion, Alaska National Guard, departed from Fort
Richardson this weekend.
The Battalion has completed the annual two-week encampment at Camp Denali Saturday.
Composed mostly of Eskimo and some Aleuts, the Scouts are from scattered villages on the mainland
and islands of southwestern Alaska.
While at Fort Richardson the Guardsmen reviewed Army basic training subjects with most of the time
being spent in the field and on the range.
The Scout Battalion, one of two in existence, participates in 48 armory drills and two weeks of field
training each year.
First Lieutenant Wallace J. Harrison, acting battalion commander and camp personnel officer, had
nothing but praise for the Scouts during the training period. ―They are good soldiers and willing learners. A little
patience in explaining what is desired and these boys go all out to accomplish their goal,‖ he said.
Lieutenant Harrison expressed appreciation to members of the Regular Army Advisors from Bethel who
accompanied the Battalion and assisted the Guardsmen in their training at Fort Richardson. Headed by Major
Warren P. Pauley, the group included Sergeant First Class Robert O. Rollenhagen, Master Sergeant Donald
Hale, and Specialist Second Class Thomas Haley, all from Bethel.
The Scouts left Elmendorf Air Force Base by commercial air for Bethel, the Battalion‘s headquarters and
staging area. From there the men will be flown to their villages by bush pilots. The St. Paul Island group fly
direct from Elmendorf to the Island.
Wednesday the second of the two battalions, the 1 st Scout Battalion, with headquarters at Nome, will start
arriving for their two week training program.
-30-
UNITED STATES ARMY ALASKA
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 1958
The Fort Richardson Noncommissioned Officers Academy will graduate 34 noncommissioned officers of
the Alaska National Guard Thursday, February 27.
The Guardsmen are part of the 2d Scout Battalion with headquarters at Bethel, and the 208 th Infantry
Battalion (Separate) from Juneau.
The NCOs will act as instructors for their units when the battalions arrive at Fort Richardson for their
annual encampments. The 2d Battalion from throughout the Territory‘s panhandle will arrive March 2. Members
of the 208 th Battalion, Alaska‘s ―Island Army‖, will start their training in April.
115

The NCOs are being instructed in leadership, tactics, map and compass reading, intelligence and
reconnaissance and in familiarization firing of the M-1 rifle.
Noncommissioned officers of the 1 st Scout Battalion, Nome, whose main body arrives for training on
March 30, and NCOs of the 207 th Infantry Battalion (Separate), Anchorage, will start classes at the Academy on
Thursday February 29 a . The 207 th will hold their encampment at Fort Richardson in April.
-30-
UNITED STATES ARMY ALASKA
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
APO 949, Seattle, Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 1958
Men who haven‘t seen each other for nearly a year will be telling tall stories of their hunting, trapping
and fishing exploits to each other at reunions which will start at Fort Richardson, Sunday, March 2.
The men are members of the 2d Scout
Battalion, Alaska National Guard. Composed
mostly of Eskimos and Indians, the majority of
them make their living off the land by hunting,
trapping and fishing.
More than 400 of the Guardsmen will
arrive throughout Sunday, weather permitting,
to start their annual two week training
encampment. Arriving from such isolated
places as the Pribilof, Nelson and Nunivak
Islands, the Hooper Bay and Kuskokwim and
Yukon River areas, the weather will have a
definite bearing on their arrival at, and
departure from, their staging areas, Bethel and
Dillingham.
The Scouts will be flown from their
―Scouts from the 2 nd Scout Battalion practice squad tactics during the
Annual Training encampment at Fort Richardson. AFT 63‖ Photo and
caption are not part of the original story.
116
villages with names like Kwigillingok,
Napaskiak, Alakunuk and Akiachak by bush
pilots to the staging areas. From Bethel and
Dillingham they will board commercial airlines
planes and be flown to Elmendorf Air Force
Base, then travel by truck and bus to Fort Richardson.
Commanded by Major Harry E. Voelker, with headquarters at Bethel, the Scouts‘ training period will be
extensive as regular Army tactical doctrines are learned and reviewed. Subjects will include tactics, map and
compass reading, intelligence and reconnaissance and familiarization firing of the M-1 rifle.
a The 29 th day of February happens only on leap years, and 1958 is not a leap year (1956 and 1960 are leap years). February 27 th was a
Thursday in 1958.

These natives who know their particular section of Alaska so well, need no ―scout‖ training. Their very
livelihood depends on scouting, keen eyesight, alertness and moving quickly and shooting accurately, since their
food and clothing often times must be stalked and killed. They must however, adapt this knowledge of scouting
to the requirements and operational techniques of a regular Army force.
The mission of these Guardsmen is that of constant surveillance in their home area and reporting rapidly
all information of a military nature, and to assist in emergency rescue missions.
While the Scouts are unique under the Army and National Guard programs, they do participate in 48
armory drills and two weeks of field training each year the same as other Guardsmen.
-30-
MONTHLY INFORMATION LETTER
NUMBER 4
HEADQUARTERS
2 ND SCOUT BATTALION
ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD
BETHEL, ALASKA
SECTION I
ADMINISTRATION
117
16 September 1957
1. Capt. Ivan M. Gilliam resigned as Battalion Commander on 1 September 1957 and moved to
Anchorage. 1 st Lt Wallace J. Harrison, the Battalion adjutant was assigned additional duties as the Commanding
Officer until another full time employee can be hired as Commanding Officer. This means that this headquarters
is short of employees for the amount of work that must be done. It also means that no one from this headquarters
will be able to come to your villages for awhile.
2. The NCO‘s are encouraged to write letters to this headquarters telling us of your problems or
informing us of things you need or giving us information about how your unit is doing. We will try to answer
your letters as we have time and take care of your needs so your unit can get in a good training year.
SECTION II
TRAINING
3. a. This headquarters has been notified by the Adjutant General‘s Office that no funds are available for 6
months Active Duty training for the Scout Battalions during this calendar year. This means that no one from the
2 nd Scout Battalion can go to Fort Ord, California this year because the Guard is short of training money.
b. There are a total of 17 men from Dillingham, Unalaska, Scammon Bay and Hooper Bay who
submitted their names to this headquarters before 25 August. These names were sent to the Adjutant General but
he informed this headquarters that they cannot go to training this calendar year.
c. All NCO‘s should talk to their men and try to get a group to go to this training in January or February.
Their names must be sent to this headquarters before 25 November 57 to get them in training during January.

This is a very good opportunity to get some good training and make some money at the same time. This training
will make your unit a much better unit.
3. Your Monthly Information Letter for August told you to have 3 drills in September 1957. Since that time
some changes have come about at this headquarters. You are now instructed to have no drills in September. Your
drills will start after the first day of October. NCO‘s must get this information to all their men and tell them to be
ready for drills after 1 October 57.
4. It is the responsibility of the NCO‘s to see that all their men attend the drills and that good lesson plans
are made and good instruction is provided.
SECTION II
TRAINING (Cont‘d)
5. In the last part of July you received a letter from this headquarters dated 15 July 57 with Subject:
―Organization of 2 nd Scout Battalion‖. Paragraph 4 of that letter states, ―When only one squad is authorized in a
village there cannot be more than ten men in the National Guard at that place. If there are more than the
authorized number then some men must be discharged.‖ The Adjutant General and the present commander do
not agree with that statement. NCO‘s should take that letter from their files and draw lines through paragraph 4.
The only time men will be discharged is when they have a physical disability (such at T.B.) or if their 3 years are
up and they don‘t want to reenlist. If the NCO‘s have men who are no good to the unit this headquarters must be
informed so proper action can be taken. Otherwise all guardsmen who do a good job will be kept in the guard.
6. NCO‘s should take the SOI from their files and change the part that says, ―For National Guard
Use Only‖ to read ―For Official Use Only‖.
7. NCO‘s should take the 1957-58 Training Schedule and look under the column that says
―Uniform‖. They should change ―Class C‖ to read ―Class D-1‖. Also take the Battalion SOP and change ―Class
A‖ to read ―Class C‖. The new names for the classes of uniform are explained under Supply section of this letter.
SECTION III
INTELLIGENCE
8. One of the main jobs of the 2 nd Scout Battalion is daily radio reporting. Be sure to report every
day. If your radio is not working write a letter right away.
SECTION IV
SUPPLY
9. Shown as Inclosure a 1 to this letter is a reprinted copy of the table of clothing for Winter Wear by
National Guardsmen. Along the left hand column is the name of each article of clothing. Across the top on the
right is listed the classes of uniform. Read down these columns from top to bottom. If you find an X you know
this item of clothing is part of that class of uniform. Shown as Inclosure a 2 is the table for the training uniform
that you wear for drills and other training. Read it the same as Inclosure a 1
a Enclosure is the correct word.
118

10. Some of these clothes on these lists you do not have yet. Some day you will get them.
11. You must take good care of your clothing and equipment. The Government is trying to cut down
on spending so we must help by taking good care of our things. If you lose anything or wear your clothing when
you are not supposed to wear them, you will have to pay for them. Keep your things in good shape and be a good
looking guardsman.
SUBJECT: Information Letter #2
TO: OIC‘s & NCOIC‘s
All Units, 2d Sct Bn, 297 th Inf
Alaska National Guard
ARMORIES:
(handwritten signature)
Wallace J. Harrison
1 st Lt Inf-NG
Commanding
HEADQUARTERS
2D SCOUT BATTALION, 297 TH INFANTRY
BETHEL, Alaska Army National Guard
119
21 AUGUST 1959
1. FEDERAL MONEY FOR THE PROPOSED BETHEL ARMORY HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED YET.
WE HOPE MONEY WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY SO CONSTRUCTION WILL BE FINISHED BY
NEXT FALL OR EARLY SPRING. (1962)
2. MR. HERNING, DISTRICT ENGINEER REPRESENTATIVE HAS NOTIFIED US THAT ALL 24
VILLAGE ARMORIES HAVE NOW ARRIVED AT VILLAGE SITES. THE KWETHLUK ARMORY IS
FINISHED. THESE ARE FINE BUILDINGS. A DIRECTIVE WILL BE SENT TO EACH VILLAGE ON
THE CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF THE BUILDINGS. CHAIRS AND TRAINING AIDS WILL BE
FURNISHED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
PAYROLLS:
PAYROLLS WERE COMPLETED IN JULY. ALL VILLAGES HAVE NOW BEEN PAID. IF ANY OF
YOUR MEN HAVE QUESTIONS ON THEIR PAY NOTIFY US RIGHT AWAY SO WE CAN
STRAIGHTEN OUT ANY MISTAKES.

6 MONTHS TRAINING a :
WE NOW HAVE 127 APPLICATIONS FOR 6 MONTHS TRAINING AT FORT ORD, CALIFORNIA.
DILLINGHAM, QUINHAGAK AND TUNUNAK WILL FURNISH THE REMAINING 23 MEN TO FILL
THE NOVEMBER QUOTA. WE APPRECIATE YOUR INTEREST IN HELPING US FILL OUR SPECIAL
QUOTA OF 150 MEN. WE WILL SEND YOU THE INFORMATION WHEN YOU WILL LEAVE YOUR
VILLAGE, WHAT CLOTHING YOU WILL TAKE AND HOW YOU WILL TRAVEL. SEE INCLOSURE**
#1 FOR THE LIST OF VILLAGES THAT ARE SENDING MEN TO CALIFORNIA.
OFFICER SCHOOL:
This photo of Bill Hately is not part of the original information letter.
Alaska National Guard photo.
120
SFC WILLIAM HATELY, HQ & HQ DET,
BETHEL, SUCCESSFULLY GRADUATED
FROM OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL, FT.
BENNING, GEORGIA ON 11 AUGUST 1959.
SFC HATELY WILL BE COMMISSIONEDA
2D LT IN THE ALASKA NATIONAL
GUARD. CONGRATULATIONS SGT
HATELY!
RECRUITING:
DURING JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST THE
FOLLOWING NUMBER OF MEN WERE
ENLISTED FROM THESE VILLAGES:
CO ―A‖ BETHEL 1 MAN QUINHAGAK 2 MEN
AKIAK 9 MEN EEK 4 MEN
AKIACHAK 8 MEN KIPNUK 12 MEN
TULUKSAK 4 MEN KWIGILLINGOK 5 MEN
KWETHLUK 11 MEN CHIFORNAK 7 MEN
KASIGLUK 8 MEN TUNUNAK 14 MEN
NAPASKIAK 10 MEN CO ―C‖ BETHEL 2 MEN
NAPAKIAK 8 MEN HOOPER BAY 7 MEN
TUNTUTULIAK 9 MEN
a ‗6 MONTHS TRAINING‘ is when the Scout soldiers went through Basic Training and Infantry School.

2 nd Lt. Albert Romer watches 2 nd Bn
soldiers on the Fort Richardson firing
line during the annual encampment of
1958. This photo is not part of the
original information letter. Alaska
National Guard photo.
BATTALION HEADQUARTERS:
LT. ALBERT C. ROMER JR., ADJUTANT, HAS APPLIED FOR
ARMY PILOTS TRAINING AT CAMP
RUCKER, ALABAMA.
LT. SHANTZ, SUPPLY OFFICER AND LT. ROMER HAVE LEFT
FOR KALSKAG TO GO MOOSE HUNTING.
M/SGT KAWAGLEY, SUPPLY SGT IS GOING HUNTING NEXT
WEEK.
Scenes of the Bethel armory as it was in 1961. Photos are not part of the original Information Letter. Alaska
National Guard photos.
121

PFC NICK EPHAMKA, PERSONNEL CLERK IS GOING TO FORT ORD, CALIFORNIA, FOR SIX
MONTHS TRAINING.
1 st Lt. Harold Samuelson observes training
on Ft. Richardson during the 1958 annual
encampment. Photo is not part of the
original Information Letter. Alaska
National Guard photo.
LAST WEEK COLONEL DALTON, SENIOR ARMY ADVISOR AND MAJOR SECOR, EXECUTIVE
OFFICER TO THE SENIOR ARMY ADVISOR VISITED BETHEL, KWETHLUK, TULUKSAK AND
AKIAK.
1 ST LT HAROLD SAMUELSON JR., EXECUTIVE OFFICER, 2 ND SCT BN WAS PROMOTED TO
CAPTAIN IN JULY. CONGRATULATIONS CAPTAIN SAMUELSON!
TRAINING:
M/SGT STEVEN MAXIE, NAPASKIAK IS GOING TO JUNEAU NEXT WEEK TO HELP WITH THE 2D
SCOUT BATTALION LESSON PLANS FOR THIS YEAR.
NEW LESSON PLANS, TRAINING SCHEDULE AND FORM 10‘S WILL BE SENT TO ALL UNITS IN
SEPTEMBER.
Exterior of the Bethel armory in 1961. Alaska National Guard photo.
122

35 MEN ARE GOING TO NCO SCHOOL AT FT. RICHARDSON, NEXT MONTH. THEY WILL STUDY
THE NEW LESSON PLANS FOR ARMORY DRILLS THIS YEAR.
THIS WILL RESULT IN BETTER TRAINING AND INSTUCTION
IN THE VILLAGES. WE WANT 1 OR 2 MEN FROM EACH UNIT
TO GO. IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY SENT IN THE NAMES OF
MEN TO GO, DO IT RIGHT NOW!
PROMOTIONS:
FOR MEN THAT WERE PROMOTED DURING THIS PERIOD SEE
INCLOSURE a #2.
RADIO:
NEW RADIO FREQUENCIES AND CALL SIGNS ARE BEING
WORKED ON NOW AND WILL BE FURNISHED TO EACH
VILLAGE SHORTLY.
1 ST SERGEANTS & NCOIC‘S:
SEE INCLOSURE b FOR CURRENT LIST OF 1 ST SERGEANT‘S AND VILLAGE NCOIC‘S.
INCLOSURE a #1
---TOI---
(hand written signature)
ROBERT D. ELLIS
Major Inf-Alas ARNG
Commander
LIST OF VILLAGES WITH MEN FOR CALIFORNIA
KWETHLUK: TUNTUTULIAK:
THOMAS PLEASANT ADAM MILLER
NICOLAI A. EVAN NICK DAVID
NICOLAI K. EVON NICK FRANK
PAUL E. KOPUK DAVID DAVID
PETER EVAN MICHAEL WASSILIE
JOSEPH GUY CARL JIMMIE
MATTHEW N. ANDREW JESSE N. CHARLES
a Enclosure is the correct word
123
M/SGT Steven Maxie. Photo is not part of
the original Information Letter. Alaska
National Guard photo.

WILLIAM FRANK DAVID JIMMIE
PETER J. DANIEL
AKIAK: JAMES A. CHARLES
ADAM DAVID JAPHET EDDIE R. ANGAPAK
JOHN PHILLIP
JOHN BRIGHT QUINHAGAK:
PAUL EVAN JOHN ROBERTS
JESSE WILLIAMS JIMMY CROWE
FRANK KAWAGLEY JESSE CARTER
GEORGE W. PLEASANT
AKIACHAK:
TOM S. FREDERICK TULUKSAK:
HARRY LOMACK NICOLAI JAPHETH
ROLAND NOSE CARL M. NAPOKA
TOM WASSILIE
ADOLPH NICK KASIGLUK:
JIMMY LOMACK SINKA HURD
JIMMIE P. STEVENS IVAN N. WASSILIE
JOHN W. KEENE
NAPASKIAK: JOSEPH MOCHIN
MANLEY LEE NICOLAI EVAN
ALEXANDER CLARK HENRY TIKIUN
PETER BERRY YEAKO ANDREW
WILLIAM WASSILIE JOHN J. ANTONE
WASSILLIE STEVEN MATTHEW ACTIVE
ALEXIE LARSON
PETER WILLIAMS
KIPNUK:
NICHOLAS EVAN HENRY KANUK
NICK PETLUSKA DANIEL ANAVER
PAVEL NICOLAI JAMES MESAK
TOMMY DOCK a
NAPAKIAK: ROBERT AMIK
PAUL PARKA ADOLPH PAUL
WESLEY WILLIAMS CARL KARL
JACOB BLACK CHARLIE PAUL
PETER KERNAK ISAAC KALISTOOK
WALTER FRYE PETER WHITE
GABRIEL W. STONE
KWIGILLINGOK:
JOHNNY ATTI
EEK: JACOB ATTI
ALBERT BEEBE EDWARD K. DAVID
JOSEPH BROWN EVON OTTO
a Tommy Dock appears on 2 lists.
124

CARLIE PLEASANT JOHN R. MUTE
JOSEPH PETLUSKA
JOHN BEEBE
CHIFORNAK: ALAKANUK:
JOHN ERIK WILLIE P. SUGAR
DAVID PANRUK BERNARD GEORGE
MARK AGIMUK LAWRENCE EDMUND
EVAN WISEMAN XAVIER CHALLIAK
PETER TIECHK JOHN J. BUSTER
TOMMY DOCK a FRANK J. LEE
PAUL TUNUCHUK HENRY J. PHILIP
JOSEPH MUKLUK PAUL JAMES
EMANUEL STANISLAUS
BETHEL: FRANCIS L. DAMIAN
NICK EPHAMKA FRANK J. JOHNSON
ANTONE PITKA JOSEPH E. ODINZOFF
BOBBY YAKO STANLEY CHARLIE
CURTIS AUGLINE
TUNUNAK: EDMOND PAUL
GEORGE B. HOOPER FRED ROCK
ROBERT ANGAIAK
JOHN J. FLYNN KWIGUK:
ANDREW CHIKOYAK JOHN LUKE CRANE
SIMON BILLY EDMOND KAMEROFF
SIMEON J. FAIRBANKS IGNATIUS PHILIP
THOMAS OSCAR PETER M. MOORE
JOHN WALTER EVAN J. UISOK
LEO P. KANRILAK CORNELIUS BENEDICT
DAVID F. CHAPANAK AMBROSE SHORTY
PHILIP G. IMMAMAK
CHEVAK: EMANUEL J. MOSES
JOHN KAIGUK LAWRENCE WASULI
JEROME AMIGAK EDWARD J. ANDREWS
HOOPER BAY:
RAYMOND V. TINKER
PAUL NUKUSUK
PATRICK HOELSCHER
PETER BLACK
INCLOSURE b #2
PROMOTION LIST
AKIAK: BETHEL:
SGT WASKA WILLIAMS SFC THOMAS F. HALEY
SGT ARTHUR CONQUEST
AKIACHAK: SP4 DAVID FRIENDLY
a Tommy Dock appears on 2 lists.
b Enclosure is the correct word.
125

SFC WASSILLIE GEORGE SP4 ABRAHAM HAWK
SP4 MOSES HENRY PFC ANTONE K. ANVIL
SP4 MOSES NICK PFC JOHN B. BOB
SP4 WILLIE F. NICKOLIE PFC JOHN GREGORY
SP4 JAMES PETER
PFC JESSE GEORGE
KIPNUK:
TULUKSAK: SP4 JIMMIE J. ANAVER
SGT PETER ALEXIE SP4 ADAM KASHATOK
SGT WASSCA ROLAND
SP4 ALEXIE ANDREW KWIGILLINGOK:
SP4 FRANK FLY PFC KUGSTON, TEDDY
SP4 JAMES JAPHET PFC TOMMY PHILLIP
SP4 PETER LOTT
SP4 PETER WASKIE ST. PAUL:
SP4 NAZARY MELOVIDOV
KWETHLUK: SP4 GABRIEL FRATIS
SGT PETER NICK PFC NECTARY GALAKTIONOFF
SP4 TIMOTHY NICK
SP4 HARRY LARSON HOOPER BAY:
SP4 ALFRED TOGAYAK SGT LOUIS BUNYAN
SGT JULIUS GREEN
KASIGLUK: SP4 CORNELIUS BLACK
SGT JOHN J. JACKSON SP4 EDWIN SMITH
SP4 ESAI TWITCHELL SP4 FRANCIS BELL
SP4 WALTER WALKER a
NAPASKIAK: PFC GEORGE NAPOLEON
SGT FRANK M. BAREZKIN PFC WALTER WALKER a
SP4 JACKIE BERRY
SP4 DAVID NICHOLAI SCAMMON BAY:
SGT DAVID H. KAGANAK
NAPAKIAK: SP4 THOMAS AKERELREA
SP4 FRITZ N. ANDREW SP4 BRUNO T. KASAYULI
SP4 ALLEN AYAGALRIA PFC FRANCIS X. AGUCHAK
PFC CARL MOTGIN PFC JOHN AMUKON
PFC WILLIE KASAYULI
PFC LEO ULAK
TUNTUTULIAK: ALAKANUK:
SFC NICK ALFRED SFC PHILIP PHILIP
SP4 THOMAS ANDREW SFC ANTHONY SHELDON
SP4 CARLEE MCCALL SGT PLACIDE JOSEPH
SP4 JELUFFIE OLICK SGT PATRICK ALEXIE
PFC JOHN DAN
a The Hooper Bay unit had 2 soldiers with the same name or one soldier is listed twice.
126

EEK:
QUINHAGAK: PFC DANIEL FOSTER
SP4 CARLIE CLEVELAND PFC EVON WHITE
SP4 SAM FRIENDLY
SP4 JOHN ROBERTS
SP4 PAUL TRADER
INCLOSURE a #3
M/SGT JAMES T. ACTIVE 1 ST SGT CO ―A‖ BETHEL
M/SGT TIMOTHY WILLIAMS NCOIC AKIAK
SFC JOHNNY LOMACK NCOIC AKIACHAK
SFC JACOB NELSON NCOIC TULUKSAK
M/SGT NICOLAI E. NICOLAI NCOIC KWETHLUK
M/SGT STEVEN MAXIE NCOIC NAPASKIAK
SGT PETER WILLIE NCOIC NAPAKIAK
SFC NICK ALFRED NCOIC TUNTUTULIAK
M/SGT ADOLPH JOHNSON NCOIC QUINHAGAK
SGT CARL MCINTYRE NCOIC EEK
M/SGT FRED MULKEIT 1 ST SGT CO ―B‖ DILLINGHAM
SGT EVON APOSIK NCOIC TOGIAK
M/SGT PAUL KIUNYA NCOIC KIPNUK
SFC DICK KIUNYA NCOIC KWIGILLINGOK
SGT RALPH KYLOOK NCOIC CHIFORNAK
M/SGT PAUL ALBERTS NCOIC TUNUNAK
M/SGT CHRISTOPHER MANDREGAN NCOIC ST. PAUL
SFC LARRY J. SHAISHNIKOFF NCOIC UNALASKA
M/SGT EDWARD SALLISON 1 ST SGT CO ―C‖ BETHEL
M/SGT RICHARD NANUK NCOIC HOOPER BAY
SFC LARS E. HUNTER NCOIC SCAMMON BAY
M/SGT MATHEW PETERSON NCOIC MT. VILLAGE
M/SGT CLEM JOSEPH NCOIC ALAKANUK
M/SGT HOWARD I. SLWOOKO NCOIC MEKORYUK
PVT E-2 JACK T. EVAN NCOIC NEWTOK (ACTING)
a Enclosure is the correct word.
127

SGT LAWRENCE PAQUETTE NCOIC KWIGUK
CURRENT AS OF 31 AUGUST 1959
SECOND SCOUT BATTALION
297 TH INFANTRY
ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD
Bethel, Alaska
DAILY BULLETIN 15 April 1963
NUMBER 1
1. Officer Candidate School— There are presently five (5) Scouts undergoing OCS at Fort Benning,
Georgia. There are; SGT John J. Jones of Dillingham, SGT David J. Anvil of Bethel, SGT John O. Kinegak of
Bethel, SGT Samuel T. Kinegak of Bethel and SGT Ivan Owen of Akiak. We wish them lots of luck, they will
be returning around the 5 th of May.
2. School— Captain Joseph N. Pike will be leaving for Fort Benning, Georgia shortly. He will be
going through Officer Career course, which upon completion will make him eligible for Major. He will return in
October.
3. New Aviator— 1 st Lt William Hately has successfully completed the Army Aviator School and
will be back shortly. Upon his return him and Major Gappa will be making orientation trips to different villages.
4. NCO School— NCO School has been cancelled till fall. All personnel interested are to submit
their names to their NCOIC for submission to the Battalion Headquarters. (OFFICIAL NDAT ADJ)
5. Maintenance Superintendant— MSG James T. Active is back from Letterman General Hospital
San Francisco, California and is back working again.
6. Radio Contacts— The members of the ―ALASKA‘S FINEST‖ have done exceptionally good job
in maintaining daily radio contact with this Headquarters. All concerned are Commended for doing such an
outstanding job and hope other units will join the March for 100% Daily Contacts. Units are authorized to take
radios to Fish camps so they can maintain daily contact. (OFFICIAL NDAT ADJ)
7. Partial Pay— A check was made during camp to see if partial pay helped in personal appearance.
After partial pay had been received there were lots of people still with long hair. Basing on this, the proper use of
partial pay was neglected and therefore no partial pay will be received until next year camp. (OFFICIAL NDAT
ADJ)
128

8. Shortages— All known clothing shortages are to be submitted before 30 June 1963 by name and
size. ATTN Supply. (OFFICIAL NDAT ADJ)
9. Outstanding— Mt. Village Unit is commended for outstanding job of taking care of their clothing
and equipment.
10. The recruiting effort by all concerned is very commendable. The 2d Scout Battalion the ―Alaska‘s
Finest‖ has proved it again we are up to the required 80% full strength. All NCOIC‘s are to keep a list of
prospective members in the event that we should require more Guardsmen in the future.
11. THE OPERATION OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND—
a. The Colonel to the Executive. At nine o‘clock tomorrow there will be an eclipse of the
sun, something which does not occur every day. Get the men to fall out in the
company street in their fatigues so that they will see this rare phenomenon, and I will
explain it to them. In case of rain, we will not be able to see anything, so take the men
to the gym.
b. The Executive to the Captain. By order of the Colonel, tomorrow at nine o‘clock there
will be an eclipse of the sun; if it rains you will not be able to see it from the company
street so then, in fatigues, the eclipse of the sun will take place in the gym, something
that does not occur every day.
c. The Captain to the Lieutenant. By order of the Colonel in fatigues tomorrow at nine
o‘clock in the morning the inauguration of the eclipse of the sun will take place in the
gym. The Colonel will give the order if it should rain, something which occurs every
day.
d. The Lieutenant to the Sergeant. Tomorrow at nine the Colonel in fatigues will eclipse
the sun in the gym, as it occurs every day if it is a nice day; if it rains, then in the
company street.
e. The Sergeant to the Corporal. Tomorrow at nine the eclipse of the Colonel in fatigues
will take place by cause of the sun; if it rains in the gym, something which does not
take place every day, you will fall out in the company street.
f. Comments among the Privates. Tomorrow, if it rains, it looks as if the sun will eclipse
the Colonel in the gym. It is a shame that this does not occur every day.
12. Announcement is made that PVT Frank Bavilla, Co D 2d Sct Bn 297 Inf. Is awarded Brigadier
General John R. Noyes Medal for 1963. Our congratulation to the finest all around soldier of
―Alaska‘s Finest‖,
13. The following villages have paid their quota on donation for the Armory P.A. System.
AKIACHAK, KIPNUK, NIGHTMUTE.
129

130

131

Honorable Ernest Gruening
Governor of Alaska
Juneau, Alaska
Dear Governor Gruening:
This is a retyped copy
ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD BIENNIAL REPORT
March 22, 1949 to December 31, 1950
OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL
ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD‖
TERRITORY OF ALASKA
Military Department
Office of the Adjutant General
Juneau, Alaska
I have the honor and duty of submitting the following biennial report of the Military Department of the
Territory of Alaska for the period from 22 March 1949 to December 31, 1950.
Respectfully yours,
J. D. ALEXANDER
Colonel, Infantry
Acting Adjutant General
132

The Alaska National Guard is at present authorized two Scout Battalions, two Separate Infantry
Battalions, and a Territorial Headquarters, which includes the Adjutant General‘s Office. Supporting units
assigned by the Department of the Army are the Office of the Senior Army Instructor, designated Army Unit
8361, with headquarters at Juneau and the United States Property and Dispersing Office, commonly called
USP&DO, with headquarters at Anchorage.
National Guard units have a dual status. As members of their state or territorial Guard, they serve as the
military force of that state or territory with the mission of internal security. Concurrently they are members of the
National Guard of the United States, a civilian component of the Army of the United States. Normally the
National Guard remains under the control of the Governor but is subject to induction into federal service upon
call or order of the President.
The federal government is responsible for the proper training of the National Guard as well as for its
logistical support, i.e., providing supplies and equipment.
The Territory, in accordance with the National Defense Act, is responsible for the procurement of
personnel, housing (armories) and administration. In Alaska practically all of the housing used for the storage
and care of government property on loan to the Territory has been furnished by the federal government.
The National Guard, as a Reserve Component of the United States Army, functions under National Guard
regulations governing pay, supply, standards of performance and qualifications of men, officers, and units.
Centralized control by the National Guard Bureau, an agency of the Department of the Army, requires a detailed
system of administration, which in turn requires substantial staffs in the Adjutant General‘s and unit offices.
As of 31 December 1950, three rifle companies, two heavy weapons companies, and two medical
detachments remain to be organized in the Infantry Battalions. The two Scout Battalions are completely
organized. Expansion of the presently organized companies is contemplated as additional towns and villages
receive sub-units of established companies.
1 July 1949 to 31 December 1949
At the beginning of the fiscal year 1949, the Alaska Territorial Guard was in an inactive status, having
been disbanded by order of the Governor on 31 March 1947 after the completion of its wartime mission. In 1941
the Alaska National Guard, which consisted of the 1 st Battalion, 297 th Infantry, had been inducted into federal
service and was later integrated into various units of the Army of the United States. Hence, the Alaska National
Guard was also in an inactive status.
In 1948 the Governor of Alaska, in official correspondence with the War Department, urged the reestablishment
of the Alaska National Guard, requesting an allocation of troops for the territory.
The Chief of the National Guard Bureau in correspondence dated 30 July 1948 notified the Governor of
Alaska that the formation of the two Scout Battalions had been authorized. Later, at the request of the
Commanding General, U. S. Army, Alaska, and with the concurrence of the Governor, two additional Battalions
of Infantry (the 207 th and 208 th , Separate) were authorized by the Department of the Army.
On 10 August 1948, the Department of the Army, with the approval of Governor Gruening, assigned Lt.
Col. J. D. Alexander, Infantry, U. S. Army, as the Officer in Charge of the National Guard Affairs for Alaska. He
was given the mission of establishing the National Guard in Alaska and assisting the Governor in matters
133

pertaining to its organization. Headquarters of the Officer in Charge of National Guard Affairs was established in
Juneau on 15 September 1948.
The Governor appointed Lt. Col. J. D. Alexander, Acting Adjutant General, Territory of Alaska, when he
published General Order Number 1 on 4 November 1948.
Legislation. Early discussions with Territorial Officials and the Commanding General, U. S. Army,
Alaska, concerned the fact that Alaska had no National Guard enabling legislation and consequently no funds for
its support. Accordingly, the Officer in Charge was given the assignment of preparing a suitable draft of a
Military Code. In collaboration with the Attorney General the suggested legislation was prepared and submitted
as ―An act establishing the Alaska National Guard, providing for its organization and administration; making an
appropriation and declaring an emergency.‖
The bill was introduced to the Territorial Legislature on 28 January 1949 as House Bill 22 by Territorial
Representative Amelia Gunderson. After the third reading and after several amendments, HB 22 passed the
House by a vote of 14 to 10. HB 22, after first reading in the Senate, was referred to the Senate Judiciary
Committee which in turn requested the author to redraft the bill. This was done, and on 20 March 1949 the new
version, under title ―Senate Judiciary Substitute for HB 22‖ was introduced and promptly passed by the House.
The new bill came up for final vote in the Senate on 22 March 1949 and was passed unanimously on that date.
This legislation carried an appropriation of $75,000 for the support of the Alaska National Guard.
Between August 1948 and January 1949, National Guard Headquarters was established in Juneau. Also
several surveys of West Coastal, Yukon and Kuskokwim area were conducted to determine in advance the
attitude of the people in those regions and the possible problems which might later be encountered in actual
organization. These surveys were conducted by officers of the Territory and U. S. Army, Alaska.
The passing of enabling legislation and the formal acceptance of the troop allocation by the Governor of
Alaska permitted the actual establishment of the Alaska National Guard. The first unit activated was the
Territorial Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment at Juneau, Alaska, on 11 May 1949.
Established units of the National Guard on 31 December 1949 consisted of the following, with dates of
federal recognition as shown:
Hq and Hq Detachment, Alaska National Guard, Juneau 11 May 1949
Hq and Hq Detachment, 1 st Scout Battalion, Nome ......... 14 July 1949
Company A, 1 st Scout Battalion, Nome .............................. 14 July 1949
Company B, 1 st Scout Battalion, Unalakleet .................... 6 Oct 1949
Company C, 1 st Scout Battalion, Kotzebue ....................... 3 Oct 1949
Hq and Hq Detachment, 2 nd Scout Battalion, Bethel ........ 5 Oct 1949
Company E, 2 nd Scout Battalion, Bethel ............................. 5 Oct 1949
_________________
Mission. The mission of the Alaska National Guard is:
a. Scout Battalions: To constantly exercise surveillance of Western and Northwestern coastal
areas; to report by most rapid means all information of a military nature; to augment certain
activities of the U. S. Army engaged in the development of techniques and clothing and
134

equipment for use in mountain and winter warfare, particularly as applied to the climatic and
terrain peculiarities of Alaska; and to assist in rescue missions during emergencies.
b. Infantry Battalions: To attain proficiency in mountain and winter warfare and to augment forces
of the U. S. Army in protection of vital installation.
_________________
Recruiting. An active recruiting program inaugurated early in 1949 was executed by the Adjutant
General, Assistant Adjutant General and members of the Instructor Detachment by carrying the program into the
Western and Northwestern coastal areas. Some fifty villages were visited and several hundred men were
interviewed for enlistment, with final processing to be accomplished upon availability of competent medical
personnel and facilities.
Organization, Plans and Training: Initial plans were to conduct recruiting, supplying and training
concurrently. Training Directive Number 1 dated 1 March 1949 and prepared by Headquarters, U. S. Army,
Alaska and forwarded to the Chief, National Guard Bureau for approval. This training program outlined the
mission, general plan, and detailed plans for training the Alaska National Guard.
Armory Drills: Regulations permit each unit to hold 48 drills per fiscal year, in addition to field
training.
Personnel: The total authorized strength of the Alaska National Guard was 132 officers and 2675
enlisted men. The actual strength on 31 December 1949 was 25 officers and 292 enlisted men.
Supply Points and Real Estate: During 1949 contracts were awarded for two warehouses to be used as
supply distributions points. Both buildings were constructed with federal funds. These supply points are
strategically located at Nome and Bethel from whence support can most logically be given to each of the Scout
Battalions.
Armories, Warehouses and Buildings: During this period, buildings were constructed or renovated in
Bethel, Deering, Kivalina, Kotzebue, Nome, Point Hope, Shishmaref and Unalakleet. Much of this was
accomplished by unit voluntary labor under supervision of the Assistant Adjutant General.
The lack of space for assemblies and the facilities for the proper storage of property was one of the
greatest limiting factors to the expansion of the Alaska National Guard. Where possible, original buildings
procured for the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II were rehabilitated and rebuilt for use in Scout
Battalion areas. Housing for units in other areas constituted a serious problem.
Conclusion 1949: The year 1949 was one of organization. From absolute beginning, the Alaska National
Guard progressed into an operating unit with much accomplished, particularly in personnel and administration.
Supply and housing continued as pressing problems for the year 1950.
_________________
1 January to 31 December 1950
The activities of the Territorial Military Department during 1950 were highlighted by continuation of
organizational efforts; procurement and issue of supplies; procurement of surplus Army housing and its
rehabilitation for unit armories and supply rooms; new construction of warehouses and an aircraft hangar; basic
training in accordance with National Guard Training Programs and Special Training Plans for the Scout
Battalions.
The lack of housing for training and supply storage purposes continued to seriously handicap
organizational efforts. All new construction and the greater portion of surplus building rehabilitation for
135

warehousing and unit storerooms was accomplished with federal funds. In addition, several of the buildings
occupied by the Territorial Guard during World War II, now being used by Alaska Scout Battalion units, were
rehabilitated through use of territorial funds.
The supply of the Alaska National Guard during this period improved steadily in spite of the tremendous
problems posed by shipping, storage and trans-shipment. Through special arrangements a large amount of
supplies and equipment were airlifted from supply depots in the states.
The Adjutant General’s Office: The responsibilities and volume of work of the Adjutant General‘s
Office in Alaska corresponds somewhat to that of a Regimental Headquarters with added responsibilities due to
the special Alaska situation.
The Adjutant General‘s activities consisted of supervising administration of the Alaska National Guard,
supervising personnel procurement, obtaining housing, planning and organization of new units, numerous
inspections of newly organized units and coordination with Headquarters, U. S. Army, Alaska.
In addition, the Acting Adjutant General of Alaska was appointed Director of Civil Defense by the
Governor on 20 July 1950.
_________________
At the end of 1950, the Adjutant General‘s Office consisted of seven employees:
1—Acting Adjutant General (also Senior Army Instructor)
1—Assistant Adjutant General
2—Administrative Assistants
1—Clerk, Fiscal
1—Stenographer
1—Custodian and Maintenance Man
U. S. Property and Disbursing Office: The United States Property and Disbursing Officer, required by
law, is appointed by the territory or state, subject to approval by the Secretary of the Army. This officer is
required to be a federally recognized officer of the National Guard or Officer Reserve Corps.
He is responsible for receiving, storing and issuing federal property. He is accountable for all federal
property issued to the territory and performs certain other miscellaneous functions of a federal nature, including
purchasing and contracting for the federal government.
On 19 November 1949, Major Meredith H. Jelsma, was ordered to active duty as the Acting USP&DO
for Alaska. His office was established on that date at Anchorage, Alaska. During this period, the Office of the
USP&DO employed eleven employees, all paid from federal funds:
1—Administrative Assistant
1—Chief Clerk
1—Field Auditor
1—Clerk, Purchasing and Contracting
136

1—Clerk, Technical Supply
1—Clerk, Supply
1—Clerk, Stenographer
1—Clerk, Typist
1—Truck Driver
In December 1950, one clerk-technical-finance, two clerk typists, one storekeeper, supervisor and two
truck drivers, material handlers were authorized to be hired early in 1951 in addition to those listed above.
Personnel and Administration: The Alaska National Guard during this fiscal year experienced a
gradual growth. The organization of new Scout Battalion units was somewhat handicapped by the absence of
housing and lack of medical facilities for the conduct of physical examinations.
The actual strength of the Alaska National Guard, 31 December 1950, totaled 57 officers and 1168
enlisted men as follows:
Officers and Enlisted
Warrant Officers Men Total
Alaska Scout Battalions ............................................................. 21 870 891
Conventional Type Infantry Bns................................................ 32 290 322
Hq, Alaska National Guard Unit................................................ 7 8 15
_________________
Permanent Duty Assistants with Units: The following full-time federal personnel were employed as
permanent duty assistants with units:
Position Unit Location
Battalion Level Admin. Asst. 1 st Scout Battalion Nome
Company Level Admin. Asst.* Co A, 1 st Scout Battalion Nome
Unit Caretaker Company Level Co A, 1 st Scout Battalion Nome
Battalion Level Admin. Asst. 2 nd Scout Battalion Bethel
Company Level Admin. Asst.* Co E, 2 nd Scout Battalion Bethel
Unit Caretaker Company Level Co E, 2 nd Scout Battalion Bethel
Battalion Level Admin. Asst. 207 th Infantry Battalion Anchorage
Unit Caretaker Co B, 207 th Inf. Bn Fairbanks
Unit Caretaker Company Level Hq, Hq & Sv Co, 207 th Inf. Bn Anchorage
Battalion Level Admin. Asst. 208 th Infantry Battalion Juneau
Unit Caretaker Company Level Co A, 208 th Inf Bn Ketchikan
* To be converted to Battalion Level retroactive to 1 December 1950.
137

Unit Caretaker Company Level Hq, Hq & Sv Co, 208 th Inf. Bn Juneau
Unit Caretaker Company Level Co B, 208 th Inf Bn Sitka
_________________
Organization of Units: The number of federally recognized units increased steadily throughout the year to make
a total of fourteen. These new units were federally recognized at stations indicated:
Unit Station Date of Federal Recognition
Hq, Hq & Sv Co, 207 th Infantry Bn (Sep) Anchorage 15 January 1950
Co B, 207 th Infantry Bn (Sep) Fairbanks 10 April 1950
Co A, 208 th Infantry Bn (Sep) Ketchikan 11 May 1950
Co F, 2 nd Scout Battalion Dillingham 15 May 1950
Hq, Hq & Sv Co, 208 th Infantry Bn (Sep) Juneau 12 July 1950
Co B, 208 th Infantry Bn (Sep) Sitka 13 July 1950
Co D, 2 nd Scout Battalion Kalskag 19 December 1950
_________________
Officer Procurement: The procurement of officers in Alaska presents a serious problem due to the
wide dispersion of qualified personnel, as well as the scarcity of eligible individuals in the more remote areas.
The majority of officers commissioned in the Scout Battalions have been appointed with waivers of professional
qualifications on the basis of being the best qualified personnel available. Regulations require the retirement of
such waivers within two years by the successful completion of appropriate correspondence courses or by passing
a proficiency test.
_________________
Alaska National Guard Instructor Detachment: The Alaska National Guard Instructor Detachment
is composed of five officers, two warrant officers, and thirteen senior enlisted men, including Colonel J. D.
Alexander, the Senior Army Instructor and one civilian stenographer. Personnel composing this Detachment are
located at the various points throughout the territory as listed below:
Juneau 2 Officers, 1 Warrant Officer, 3 Sergeants
Anchorage 1 Officer, 1 Warrant Officer, 2 Sergeants
Fairbanks 1 Sergeant
Bethel 1 Officer, 4 Sergeants
Nome 1 Officer, 3 Sergeants (one additional Sergeant to be assigned and stationed in
Nome).
Members of this Detachment, although normally assigned for the purpose of training and training
supervision, are, during this organizational period assisting materially in the organization of new units,
administration and receipt and distribution of supplies. Since these functions are essentially National Guard
responsibilities, the Army instructors are training key National Guardsmen in these duties in order that they may
soon function in accordance with established procedure and permit the Army detachment to devote its efforts in
achieving necessary standards of training and combat readiness in Guard units.
138

Training by members of the Instructor Detachment in the Scout Battalion areas is accomplished
through frequent visits by Instructor personnel, who on these visits hold one or more drills at each station in
accordance with battalion training plans. However, in many cases, their training mission has been submerged in
the tremendous task of supplying the small, scattered units and, in some cases, actually performing the duties of
battalion administrative personnel while training them to carry on those activities.
_________________
Construction Program: Armory and warehousing facilities consistent with requirements for adequate
training and proper security of government property are still critically lacking.
The Alaska National Guard as of 31 December 1950 was operating in the following buildings:
Location Building Mode of Support Year Placed in Use
Anchorage USP&DO Office Federal 1949
Anchorage USP&DO Warehouse Federal 1950
Anchorage Warehouse-Armory Federal 1950
Bethel Warehouse-Armory Federal 1949
Bethel Hangar Federal 1950
Juneau Warehouse-Armory Federal-Territorial 1949
Ketchikan Armory Federal 1950
Nome Warehouse-Armory Federal 1949
Barrow Armory Federal-Territorial 1950
Fairbanks Warehouse-Armory Federal 1950
Sitka Warehouse-Armory Federal 1950
*Deering Armory Territorial 1949
*Kivalina Armory Territorial 1949
*Kotzebue Armory Territorial 1949
*Point Hope Armory Territorial 1949
*Shishmaref Armory Territorial 1949
*Unalakleet Armory Territorial 1949
*Built by the unit, voluntary labor, under supervision of the Assistant Adjutant General.
_________________
Conclusion: The close of 1950 finds the Alaska National Guard strengthened on every side. With
approximately 75% of the units organized, the improvements in the supply situation, and the influx of new
recruits, the National Guard stands ready to assist the territory and the nation whenever the need arises.
The coming year will continue to be a challenge. New units must be formed and supplied, and old units
filled to authorized strength.
139

1949
1950
TERRITORIAL MILITARY FUND
BIENNIAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT
ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD
1949 and 1950
OPERATING EXPENSES and SUPPLIES...$ 637.88
PAY ROLL and PERSONAL SERVICES ... 6,075.87
TRAVEL and PER DIEM ............................. 2,370.25
STRUCTURE and EQUIPMENT ................. 631.25
________
TOTAL VOUCHERS PAID—1949 .... $ 9,715.25
OPERATING EXPENSES and SUPPLIES..$ 5,516.95
PAY ROLL and PERSONAL SERVICES ... 26,662.75
TRAVEL and PER DIEM ............................ 5,131.12
STRUCTURE and EQUIPMENT................. 2,409.62
VEHICLE OPERATIONS ........................... 11.55
_________
TOTAL VOUCHERS PAID—1949..... $ 39,731.99
PAID INTO MILITARY FUND FROM
APPROPRIATION ................................. $ 63,000.00
PAID INTO MILITARY FUND FROM
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS............. 469.85
PAID INTO MILITARY FUND – BANK
LOAN .................................................. 5,000.00
___________
TOTAL AMOUNT PAID INTO
MILITARY FUND................... $ 68,469.85
TOTAL AM‘T. VOUCHERS PAID
--1949 AND 1950—(Including re-
payment of Bank Loan).................. 54,447.24
___________
BALANCE ON HAND DECEMBER
31, 1950........................................... $ 14,022.61
__________
__________
REMAINING TO BE TRANSFERRED
FROM APPROPRIATION INTO
MILITARY FUND ............................... $ 12,000.00
140