Amchitka Army Airfield is an abandoned airfield located near Amchitka

Amchitka

Amchitka is a volcanic, tectonically unstable island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska. It is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The island is about long, and from wide...

, in the Rat Islands

Rat Islands

The Rat Islands are a volcanic group of islands in the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska, between Buldir Island and the Near Islands group to its west, and Amchitka Pass and the Andreanof Islands group to its east, at about ....

 group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

.

History

The airfield was used as a transit base by USAAF/RCAF for the defense of Dutch Harbor.

American forces made an unopposed landing on Amchitka on January 12, 1943, although the destroyer grounded and sank with the loss of 14 lives. Despite facing difficult weather conditions and bombing from the Japanese, the airfield was usable by February 16. The Alaska Command was now 80 km (50 mi) away from their target, Kiska

Kiska

Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at . It is about long and varies in width from - Discovery :...

. The military eventually built numerous buildings, roads, and a total of three airstrips on the island, some of which would later be renovated and used by the Atomic Energy Commission

United States Atomic Energy Commission

The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...

. At its peak, the occupancy of Amchitka reached 15,000 troops.

Known USAAF units assigned to Amchitka AAF were:

• 343d Fighter Group (July 25, 1943 – January 22, 1944)
• 54th Fighter Squadron (March 12 – October 18, 1943) (343d FG)

• 21st Bombardment Squadron (February 18 – July 1943) (28th BG)
• 73d Bombardment Squadron (1942–1943) (28th BG)
• 36th Bombardment Squadron (June 4, 1942 – May 1, 1943) (28th BG)
• 404th Bombardment Squadron (June 4, 1943 – February 28, 1944) (28th BG)
• 77th Bombardment Squadron (September 11, 1943 – February 11, 1944) (28th BG)

The Aleutian Islands campaign

Battle of the Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands Campaign was a struggle over the Aleutian Islands, part of Alaska, in the Pacific campaign of World War II starting on 3 June 1942. A small Japanese force occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska, but the remoteness of the islands and the difficulties of weather and terrain meant...

 was successfully completed on August 24, 1943. In that month, a strategic intercept station was established on the island, which remained until February 1945. The Army abandoned the site in August 1950. The site later hosted an Air Force weather station in the 1950s, a White Alice

White Alice Communications System

The White Alice Communications System was a United States Air Force telecommunication link system constructed in Alaska during the cold war. It featured tropospheric scatter links and line-of-sight microwave radio links...

telecommunication system in 1959 to 1961, and a temporary relay station in the 1960s and 1970s.