Naval Facility Adak was commissioned on 1 December 1962. Adak, Alaska is a mountainous island of volcanic origin within the Aleutian chain. It is about twenty-five miles wide and thirty–five miles long with a very irregular coastline which varies from broad beaches to sheer cliffs. A treeless island, Adak is carpeted with tundra, a foot-high grass with a spongy base. This environment provides a home to many native birds and fish and combined with introduced game, provide a sportsman’s paradise. There is no civilian or native community on the island, but the military, their dependants, the federal employees and contract support personnel once numbered over five-thousand. After thirty years of ASW Excellence, Naval Facility Adak was decommissioned 30 September 1992.