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  • August

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Alaska District and Range Support Center collaborated to remove unexploded ordnance from 337 acres of land in 2020 and 2021 at the Fort Glenn Formerly Used Defense Site on Umnak Island in Alaska. The environmental restoration project is the first in the state to be funded by the DoD Military Munitions Response Program. (U.S. Army Photo)

    Army engineers remove World War II-era explosives from national historic landmark on a remote Alaskan island

    Boom! Another explosion went off as a field crew for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District worked to safely clear and detonate munitions remaining from the World War II-era Fort Glenn, an abandoned military installation in the Aleutian Islands 850 miles from Anchorage.
  • A recently hatched common goldeneye duck rests in a researcher’s hand in North Pole, Alaska. Nest boxes installed at the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project are a key component of a scientific study of these birds conducted through a cooperative program between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region. For 25 years, field researchers have monitored the ducks’ use of the boxes, creating a long-term dataset for scientists. (Courtesy photo provided by Riley Porter)

    Army engineers partner for 25 years with federal biologists to study duck nesting ecology in Alaska

    The whistling sound of beating wings moves through the forest as a common goldeneye duck lands in a nest box mounted to the side of a tree near the Moose Creek Dam in North Pole, Alaska. Focused on laying its eggs within the cozy confines of this manmade wooden structure, the bird is unaware of its vital role in a unique scientific study.

  • May

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to measure winter snowfall levels and collect additional data from nine monitoring stations in the Chena River basin.

    USACE monitors flood risk from breakup conditions in Chena River basin after record snowpack

    When days become longer and temperatures get warmer in the interior region of the state near Fairbanks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District uses snow survey data to forecast potential flood conditions on the Chena River during the spring breakup season.
  • A newly installed boiler provides heat to a composite building on King Salmon Air Force Station in Alaska. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District worked with the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron to improve efficiency by equipping facilities with individual heating systems with the eventual goal of decommissioning the installation’s existing central steam plant.

    Army engineers upgrade heating system at remote air base in Alaska

    Something not often thought about is how buildings are heated on military installations in Alaska – that is, until the system breaks. At King Salmon Air Force Station, a central steam plant has kept the heat running since the Cold War. But, as the years have gone on, the job of keeping it operational has become increasingly difficult.

  • April

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District worked with the Alaska Army National Guard, state and local community to divest this facility in Koyukuk, Alaska. Real estate specialists researched information about the building from 1983 to properly terminate the leases and transfer ownership of the property to the local village.

    National Guard armories find new purpose on Last Frontier

    Across the vast state of Alaska, small parcels of federal land host buildings used by the Alaska Army National Guard after World War II and during the Cold War. Now that these properties are no longer needed by the military, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District is working to transfer the land and associated improvements to local communities, which in many instances are native villages in critical need of additional housing and community facilities.

  • March

    Mr. Pinkham with the Nome Eskimo Community

    Army’s deputy for civil works tours newly funded projects, emphasizes tribal partnerships in Alaska

    Members of the traveling party with Jaime Pinkham, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, witnessed this polar bear encounter near the community of Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, while touring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District’s Barrow Coastal Erosion Project. During the week of Feb. 21, the dignitary visited several civil works projects in the state that were recently funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. In total, this congressionally authorized funding will provide nearly $1 billion for civil works construction in Alaska.
  • Nathan Epps, acting deputy chief for the Engineering, Construction and Operations Division, stresses the importance of triangles while testing the load capacity of a student’s bridge design with a toy car on Feb. 22 at Clark Middle School in Anchorage.

    Army engineers promote STEM education, careers during Engineers Week in Alaska

    Armed with toothpicks and marshmallows, members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District conducted outreach events at four Anchorage schools to mark National Engineers Week from Feb. 20 to 26. The annual observance is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in science, technology, engineering and math careers.

  • February

    Recreators construct an ice fishing hut on Dec. 7 at the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project in North Pole, Alaska.

    Winter recreation thrives at flood control project in Far North

    As the cold wind blew and snow started to cover the landscape, the water that flowed through the Moose Creek Dam became stagnant. The freeze over at the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project was a clear sign that the icy grip of winter had taken hold and would last for months to come.

  • December

    From left: Col. Damon Delarosa, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District; Lt. Col. William Hassey, commander of Clear Space Force Station; and Randy Bowker, deputy for program management at the Alaska District; attend the initial fielding ceremony for the long range discrimination radar on Dec. 6 at Clear Space Force Station.

    Fielding event marks end of radar construction by Army engineers in Alaska

    At a military installation tucked along a remote stretch of two-lane highway in Interior Alaska, officials recently celebrated the achievement of a major milestone with a fielding event for a newly constructed long range-discrimination radar on Dec. 6.
  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District achieved the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating on the 354th Operations Support Squadron’s F-35A weapons intelligence facility at Eielson Air Force Base.

    Army engineers promote sustainable construction practices on Last Frontier

    Each year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District constructs projects for the military valued in the millions of dollars to support readiness, training and quality-of-life initiatives for service members in the Far North. For each of these endeavors, the agency works to meet sustainability goals by ensuring the construction practices and new facilities are as energy efficient as possible.