Fort Richardson, Alaska
Posted by: 
KJKlock
N 61° 15.418 W 149° 39.783
6V E 357159 N 6794321
Fort Richardson is located 5 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska. It currently serves as the headquarters for US Army Alaska (USARAK).
Waymark Code: WM79VG
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 09/24/2009
Views: 12
Fort Richardson was built during 1940–1941 on the site of what is now Elmendorf Air Force Base. Established as the headquarters of the United States Army, Alaska (USARAK) in 1947, the post moved to its present location five miles (8 km) northeast of Anchorage in 1950. The post then had barracks for 500 soldiers, a rifle range, a few warehouses, a hospital, and bachelor officer quarters. From 1986-1990 the fort was headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division (Light). Fort Richardson is now headquarters for United States Army Alaska (USARAK), a subordinate unit of United States Army Pacific Command.
Fort Richardson was named for the military pioneer explorer, Brig. Gen. Wilds P. Richardson, who served three tours of duty in the rugged Alaska territory between 1897 and 1917. Richardson, a native Texan and an 1884 West Point graduate, commanded troops along the Yukon River and supervised construction of Fort Egbert near Eagle, and Fort William H. Seward (Chilkoot Barracks) near Haines. As head of the War Department's Alaska Road Commission from 1905 to 1917, he was responsible for much of the surveying and building of early railroads, roads and bridges that helped the state’s settlement and growth. The Valdez-Fairbanks Trail, surveyed under his direction in 1904, was named the Richardson Highway in his honor.
Era: WW II
General Comments:
Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base were combined under the Joint Base Initative and are now one base known as Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, or JBER for short. (pronounced Jay-bear)
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