Fort Wainwright facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fort Wainwright |
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| Fairbanks, Alaska near North Pole, Alaska (Yukon Training Area) |
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Aerial view of main post
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| Type | Army post |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1941 (as Ladd Field) |
| In use | 1941–present |
| Garrison information | |
| Current commander |
COL Nathan S. Surrey |
| Garrison | 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division United States Army Garrison Alaska |
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Military Installation
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 Fort Wainwright
Location in Alaska
Fort Wainwright
Location in North America
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| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Borough | Fairbanks North Star Borough |
| Area | |
| • Total | ~2,500 sq mi (~6,475 km2) |
| Population | |
| • Total | ~15,000 |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Alaskan (AST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−9 (AKST) |
| ZIP Code |
99703
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| Area codes | 907 |
Fort Wainwright is a United States Army installation in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fort Wainwright is part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the coterminous Fairbanks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The installation is managed by U.S. Army Garrison Alaska (USAG Alaska) and the senior command is 11th Airborne Division. Fort Wainwright was formerly known as Ladd Field (1939–1945) and Ladd Air Force Base (1947–1961); it was renamed Fort Wainwright in honor of General Jonathan M. Wainwright, a Medal of Honor recipient for his courageous leadership as commander of U.S. forces during the fall of the Philippines in World War II. Ladd Field was designated as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) on 4 February 1985 and Ladd Air Force Base was designated as Ladd Air Force Base Cold War District and was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on the same day. With over 1.6 million acres of land spanning across the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Southeast Fairbanks, Fort Wainwright is the largest U.S. military installation by area outside the contiguous United States.
Contents
Geography
Location
Fort Wainwright is located in Interior Alaska, between the Alaska Range in the south and the Brooks Range in the north. Fort Wainwright's boundaries are located within the Fairbanks North Star Borough. To the west is the City of Fairbanks, and to the southeast is the City of North Pole. Fort Wainwright resides on both sides of the Chena River, a 100-mile tributary of the Tanana River.
Demographics
The total population to include the workforce on Fort Wainwright is approximately 15,000 personnel. There are roughly 6,500 military members, 5,700 military dependents, 1,250 civilian employees including appropriated and non-appropriated fund employees and over 400 contractors.
Climate
Fort Wainwright is located in a subarctic climate with seasonal temperature extremes. Temperature extremes have been recorded from −66 °F to +94 °F (−54 °C to +34 °C). The average low temperature is in January at −17 °F (−27 °C) with the average high temperature is during July at +73 °F (+22 °C). The annual precipitation averages 12 inches (305 mm) of rain and 37 inches (94 cm) of snow. Fort Wainwright is approximately 190 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The hours where the sun is above the horizon averages 22 hours in June with twilight during the night hours and less than 4 hours in December. The climate creates a short construction season for installation projects. It also potentially contributes to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) among the workforce.
Geology
Fairbanks falls in a region with discontinuous permafrost, a condition where permafrost is broken by pockets of unfrozen ground. This, coupled with the periglacial effect of seasonal freezing and thawing, can drastically modify the ground surface. Construction engineering in this environment requires additional planning to avoid the potential for hazards of ground movement or collapse.
Cultural resources
Historic and archeological sites
Fort Wainwright has a Cultural Resources Management Program that is responsible for over 1.6 million acres of Army-managed land with a diverse array of resources including historical buildings, a national historic landmark, archeological sites, and properties of traditional religious and cultural significance. There are over 650 prehistoric archeological sites on Fort Wainwright and its training lands that date from the last ice age (14,000 years ago) to the Alaskan homesteading era. USAG Alaska have several agreements in place in regards to historical findings and archaeological digs. Partnerships include the State of Alaska Historical Preservation office and the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Museum of the North who curates the archeological relics.
Native Liaison
The U.S. Army Garrison Alaska (USAG Alaska) provides an Alaska Native Liaison that manages the Native Liaison/Government to Government program for Fort Wainwright. Fort Wainwright's cantonment and training areas is made up of Army-withdrawn land that support resources that have been utilized by the Alaska Native community for thousands of years. U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK) and USAG Alaska support the policy of tribal self-determination through support for Army's government-to-government relationship with tribes and implementing the Army American Indian and Alaska Native Policy, Department of Defense (DoD) American Indian and Alaska Native Policy, the policy’s Alaska Implementation Guidance, and DoD Instruction 4710.02: Interactions with Federally-Recognized Tribes.
Major tenants and supported units
11th Airborne Division ''Arctic Angels''
- HHC Reception Group
- 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division “Arctic Wolves”
- 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment “Bobcats”
- 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment “Blockhouse”
- 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment “Black Hawks”
- 2d Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment “Automatic”
- 70th Brigade Engineer Battalion “Kodiaks”
- 25th Brigade Support Battalion “Opahey”
- 65th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company “Dreadnought” (Higher HQ is in Hawaii)
- 1st Battalion, 52d Aviation Regiment, 16th Aviation Brigade
- 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Aviation Brigade
- 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion
- 402d Army Field Support Battalion – Logistic Readiness Center
- Northern Warfare Training Center
U.S. Army Garrison Alaska - Installation Management Command
Medical Department Activity – Alaska (Bassett Army Hospital/Veterans Center)
Dental Activity - Alaska
Veterinary Command
412th Contracting Command
U.S. Army Reserve Center
History
It was first established in 1939 as U.S. Army Air Corps as Ladd Field. In 1947 it was transferred to the newly established U.S. Air Force and renamed Ladd AFB, serving as a cold weather station to test aircraft under arctic conditions. In 1961 it was transferred to the Army and redesignated Fort Wainwright in honor of World War II general Jonathan Wainwright. From 1963 to 1972 it was home to the 171st Infantry Brigade, mechanized until 1969, then light. During that time, the 172nd Infantry Brigade was at Fort Richardson, in Anchorage. From 1986 to 1998 Fort Wainwright was the home of the 6th Infantry Division (Light), and served as the division's headquarters from 1990 to 1994. From 1998 to 2006, it was home to the 172nd Infantry Brigade, which was reorganized in 2003 as the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), part of the U.S. Army's transition program to include six SBCTs. In 2006, the 172nd was re-flagged as the 1st brigade of the 25th Infantry Division. Fort Wainwright was also the home of Task Force 49, an aviation brigade that provides logistical air support for U.S. Army Alaska, Bassett Army Community Hospital and the Bureau of Land Management's Alaska Fire Service which later transformed to become a part of 16th Combat Aviation Brigade with headquarters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA in 2010 with duty in Alaska.
Quality-of-life issues
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Concurrently, in 2019, the Army initiated a pilot program to target quality-of-life improvements at Fort Irwin, California; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Wainwright, Alaska. General Gus Perna, Commander for the Army Materiel Command (AMC), emphasized that increasing quality of life across the force remains a top priority for Army senior leaders.
General Perna stated that "Quite frankly, Fort Wainwright is in an austere environment, ...Fort Irwin and Fort Polk are also austere, but it is where we do all of our [brigade combat team] training. We send our best leaders at all levels that go train our BCTs ... to places that don't have a lot of quality of life."
On Fort Wainwright, USARAK and USAG Alaska implemented a number of Quality of Life initiatives that included blackout curtains barracks to boost the ability to sleep during the 24-hours of sunlight in the summer, planning the construction of winter maintenance facilities to improve workplace quality during extreme cold weather and generous leave policies for soldiers allowing for more time with family in an attempt to reduce an isolation effect in an austere environment.
By 2022, the Army and Defense Health Agency began hiring behavioral health providers as well as family life counselors to support the installation's soldiers and reduce wait times. This included temporary positions until full-time providers were made available all as part of the Army's recently established Mission 100 program. Additionally, resources were made available to new families to include loaner furniture, increased funding and expanded routes for the post shuttle, and increasing access to Alaskan ski facilities. The year prior, Option 20 became available to new Army recruits to enable them to choose Alaska as a duty station, allowing for more region-specific volunteers to be stationed there.
Environmental issues
Site contamination
Since 1978, Fort Wainwright has been participating in the Department of Defense Installation Restoration Program to investigate and clean up contamination. In 1985 and 1986, lead and chromium were detected in monitoring wells at the landfill. In 1987, chromium and tetrahydrofuran were detected in monitoring wells at the proposed housing area, and chromium was detected in soil. About 15,000 people live and work at the fort and obtain drinking water from wells in close proximity to contaminated source areas. The Chena River also runs through the contaminated area of Fort Wainwright.
National priorities listing
In August 1990 Fort Wainwright was registered on the national priorities list as a Superfund. In most source areas, groundwater is contaminated with solvents and petroleum products, in a few source areas, with pesticides and/or fuel additives. Soil contains some solvents, waste oil, waste fuel/petroleum products, pesticides, paint residues, fuel tank sludge and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Sediments contain PAHs and low level pesticides. Contaminants on the site also include mercury.
Taku Gardens
To meet the needs of new personnel and their families, construction of 128 homes on a 54-acre housing project known as Taku Gardens began in 2005 on the former communications site. In June, 2005 construction workers noticed "stained soil and unusual odors during excavation of a building foundation" and laboratory testing revealed the presence of PCB at concentrations of up to 115,000 mg/kg - Alaska's current clean-up standard is 1 mg/kg. Further testing of the site revealed the presence of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, chlorinated compounds including solvents, herbicides, pesticides, dioxins, and "munitions-related compounds" such as nitroaromatics and propellants. Construction was suspended August–September 2005 and continued until end of 2006. A January, 2007 Army audit questioned "the wisdom of building a family housing complex on top of a known 1950s-era military landfill" and concluded that "the situation with the Taku construction project is the direct result of multiple individuals failing to adhere to Army and federal regulations and guidance. From 2007 to 2010 drums and debris were excavated, PCB contaminated soil was removed and backfilled, but some fuel and volatile organic compound-contaminated soil and groundwater remains on site.
Construction of the housing project resumed during the summer of 2011. In the intervening years, many housing units between Taku Gardens and the main gate were reconstructed or renovated, with new housing built as well. Immediately northeast of Taku Gardens, Bear Paw was built on a part of the former site of Bassett Army Hospital, while construction of new homes began on the rest of the site in 2011. Immediately northeast of Bear Paw, Denali Village, a much larger development, was constructed between Glass Park and the former billeting. Taku Gardens area, the newer housing across from Bassett Hospital was renamed to Tanana Trails in 2015.
Hangar 6
In June, 2006, civilian construction workers at Aircraft Maintenance Hangar No. 6 – known by the Corps of Engineers to be a designated Hazardous Waste Accumulation point – were overcome by fumes described as "pungent, chalky and metallic tasting" and suffered nausea, headaches and other symptoms. A state health report concluded that "an unknown, volatile chemical likely caused nerve damage to the disabled workers." More than 30 workers were hospitalized and at least 4 have suffered lasting disabilities. The workers initiated a civil suit against the Army which was dismissed because the workers were limited to state workers’ compensation as their only relief.
Underground storage fuel tanks
EPA inspections found that from at least 2012 to 2013, Fort Wainwright failed to monitor underground storage tanks regularly, perform leak detection tests, and investigate suspected releases. The Army paid a penalty of nearly $158,700.
