| During World War II, the Japanese occupied the outer Aleutian
Islands of Attu and Kiska. That occupation stimulated the rapid construction of
a series of American strategic bases along the Aleutian chain, one of which was
Fort Randall, a large air base built on the shores of Cold Bay in 1942. At the
height of the Aleutian campaign, some 20,000 troops were stationed at Fort Randall
and the landscape still bears the marks of their passage in the form of a myriad
of roads and jeep trails, and dug-outs for Quonset huts. Aside from a small maintenance
contingency, the base was abandoned just after the end of the war. During
the 1950's and 1960's, control of the airstrip transferred from the Air Force
to Reeve Aleutian Airways, then to the Federal Aviation Administration, and finally
to the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. An
Air Force Distance Early Warning (DEW) Line station was established at nearby
Grant Point on Izembek Lagoon in 1958 until 1978 when the White Alice Communications
System was deactivated. In 1960, Flying Tigers, Inc., a private air freight
company, leased the lands adjacent to the airstrip and built facilities to serve
a military transportation contract until 1985. During the sixties, the growing
war in Southeast Asia brought a renewed flow of traffic through the Cold Bay airport
because of its location just off the great circle route between the West Coast
and the Orient. The end of American participation in the war in Southeast Asia
brought another period of decreased air traffic. Further drops resulted with the
advent of wide-body commercial aircraft capable of non-stop flights to the Orient. The
Izembek National Wildlife Range was created in 1960. The headquarters for the
Aleutian Islands National Wildlife Refuge was already based in Cold Bay at the
time. The Aleutians Islands Refuge headquarters were moved in 1975 to Adak. The
legendary Robert D.“Sea Otter” Jones, Jr. had been the Refuge Manager
since 1948. Bob Jones remained at the Izembek Range until 1975. |