A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 participates in forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations during Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise (AECE) in Adak, Alaska on Sept. 18, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo

I am seeing strong indications that DOD may reopen the former US Naval Air Station Adak.

First there was this from Task and Purpose, “The Navy may revive this forgotten Alaskan base that sits halfway to Russia,” published April 17, 2025.

The this, “Shuttered Aleutian naval air base straddling Arctic and Pacific oceans may reopen,” from a more official source, The Watch, NORTHCOM’s on line magazine. 

There is more discussion here.

Adak, one of the Aleutian Islands, approximately 877 nautical miles South of the Bering Strait. About 901 nmi from Kodiak, about 2075 imi from Vladivostok.

Why do we care?

For the Coast Guard, it is a potential forward operating base for fixed wing aircraft monitoring fishing in the Bering Sea, and a fueling/replenishment stop for cutters on Alaska Patrol.

For Defense it puts assets in place to protect allied shipping and movements between the US and Asia and to prevent the passage of potentially enemy shipping and movements between the Russian Arctic and China, North Korea, and Russia ports in Asia via the Northern Sea Route and the Bering Strait.

The Coast Guard and DHS should add their voices in support of the idea. 

Ports along the Northern Sea Route have seen a quadrupling of cargo since 2003 from 26.4 million tons in 2003 to 104.8 million tons by 2019 (if slipping to 96 million tons last year (2020) due to Corona). They now handle as much cargo every year as the entire Baltics, which have stagnated for more than a decade.