The Alaska-based military branches that are patrolling the Arctic, buffering against an increasingly hostile Russia and standing ready to deploy to global trouble spots are coping with another adversary: a housing squeeze.
In testimony at the 2023 legislative session’s first hearing held by the Joint Armed Services Committee, Alaska military leaders on Tuesday described some of those housing challenges.
At Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, expanded operations will mean more strain on housing, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Nahom, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Alaskan NORAD Region.
“We still do worry about this as we bring more assets into the Fairbanks area, mainly our air fuelers that are coming in. One of my biggest concerns is dormitories,” said Nahom, who also leads the Alaskan Command and the Eleventh Air Force.
Some airmen have moved into contingency dormitories, the military term for overflow housing, and billeting rooms, which are rooms rented in non-military locations. But that is a temporary solution, Nahom said. “Those are not good for long-term for airmen to live in,” he said.
It also leaves Eielson without housing for visiting units that come in for exercises like Red Flag Alaska, he said. Visiting units often have to try to find downtown housing, which can be very expensive, even prohibitively so.
“The trend I’m seeing is units canceling Red Flag Alaska participation,” he said. “The key is we’ve got to get the dormitories built so that I have airmen living in proper dormitories and then I free up the contingency housing for the visiting units.”
Nahom said the Air Force want to get some more on-base housing at Eielson for junior enlisted personnel, and hopes to partner with local entities and the state to accomplish that. “It’s very hard for junior enlisted to afford downtown housing and to afford to live, based on their salaries,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commander of the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division, agreed that housing is tight in the Fairbanks area, home to U.S. Army Garrison Alaska – Fort Wainwright.
Along with securing housing, the Army is trying to make soldiers feel at home in Alaska, a place of growing military importance, Eifler said.
“The Army has volunteers that come to Alaska, right? But not everybody raises their hand to say, ‘Send me to Alaska,’” he said, noting that many people stationed in Alaska come from vastly different parts of the country. “We have to bring our soldiers into this from wherever they’re at and make sure they’re prepared to not just live here and operate with their family but also do their job here, and also be able to do it under fire.” That is one reason why exercises in outdoor Alaska conditions are so important, he said.
For the U.S. Coast Guard, which is expanding its Alaska presence, some housing needs are already being addressed with new construction that is underway or planned, said Rear Adm. Nathan Moore, who leads Alaska operations.
“We’re seeing growth and building to an extent we have never seen in the Coast Guard before, new assets for us. New cutters, new boats, new aircraft means new shore facilities,” Moore, commander of the Coast Guard’s 17th District, told legislators.
In Kodiak, where a cargo pier is being rebuilt in preparation for the arrival of new fast-response cutters and patrol cutters, construction work has already started on housing to support those new ships, he said. In Sitka, where a new fast-response cutter is to arrive, the Coast Guard just finished a land transfer on the waterfront that will support more facilities. In Seward, where another new ship is headed, the Coast Guard is acquiring some housing tracts, he said. “We have money in hand to purchase that property and build housing for the increased size of the crews that this new ship’s going to bring to Seward,” he said.
One tight spot may be Nome, where there are plans to expand the city port into a deepwater, Arctic-service port which Moore called a “fantastic opportunity” for Coast Guard operations.
The state could continue to help the Coast Guard meet its need for more housing there and elsewhere, Moore said. “What we are very interested in, as we build up these new assets and put them places, we will probably continue to need help coordinating for things like development of housing and logistics footprints,” he said.
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