Kodiak Alaska Military History
Fort Greely, Alaska
Fort Greely Kodiak Alaska August 1949Image from National Photo and News Service, San Antonio, Texas. Goldbeck Photo No. 81419492 (Print in museum archives)
Fort Greely Kodiak Alaska August 1949
WNRC RG-338, Box 386, Hist. of Ft. Greely, 1941-1944
Classified Secret 19 July 1944
The history of Fort Greely is compounded of the activities of many units and services, and is recorded in the chapters which follow. The establishment of the post, and a cronology of principal events, is set forth in this initial chapter.
Fort Greely was activated, location Kodiak, Alaska, effective upon the date of arrival of Alaska Defense Command troops thereat, 3 April 1941 (HQ ADC, General Order 85, dated May 23, 1943, par I, subject "ACTIVATION OF STATIONS, ALASKA DEFENSE COMMAND." thereis "confirmed and made of record").
S-2 journals and a diary kept by S-3 at the time record that on 3 April 1941, the U.S.A.T. St. Mihiel, with 5 officers and 164 enlisted men, Battery C, 250th Coast Artillery, and 1 officer and 5 enlisted men, 37th Infantry, arrived at the Temporary Dock, Naval Air Station, Women's Bay, Kodiak island.
Lt. Col. Malcolm F. Lindsey, Infantry, assumed command of the new garrison.
Conditions upon which the post was established: No enemy contact, normal peacetime landing. U.S. Navy had previously established outposts and naval installations.
Organization equipment began to be unloaded during the night, and at 1100 on 4 April 1941, troops debarked and moved to temporary quarters in the Naval Air Station. Gun positions were selected in the Buskin Flats area nearby; the guns were moved into position 6 April, and a reconnaissance made of Mill Bay between Spruce Cape and Miller Point.
On 9 April 1941, Colonel Lindsey, Captain Cook, and Lieutenant Roberts, the Latter from the Navy, reconnoitered Long Island for location of gun positions, accompanied by Mr. Dave Flood, U.S. Army Engineer, made reconnaissance by boat to Port Bailey on Kupreanof Strait. They stopped at Uzinke (also spelled Ouzinkie), a fishing hamlet on Spruce Island just offshore from Kodiak Island. Three days later, 17 and 18 April, Colonel Lindsey and Mr. Flood made a trip to Cape Chiniak, reconnoitered site of AWS station on the cape, and docksite at Isthmus cove, where there is sheltered water some 8 miles from Chiniak's rocky tip.
By 20 April, an initial defense plan was prepared.
Two months to the day after the arrival of the first Army troops at Kodiak island to form the garrison at Fort Greely, a Quartermaster officer, Capt. G.A. Engstroom, debarked from the St. Mihiel. It was 0200. Captian Engstrom was detailed as quartermaster, utilities officer, and supply officer. With him came Capt. H.F. McManus, Infantry.
Next day, 4 June 1941, headquarters of the U.S. Troops on the island were moved from the Administration building near the dock to Barracks number 8, Army Camp, some 2 miles inland, in what was later to be designated as Garrison 1.
Temporary quarters in the Marine barracks were vacated 10 June by Battery C, 250th CA, and searchlight section Battery G, 250th CA. These units moved into Barracks 3, 11, 18, and 25, Army Camp.
It was almost a month later, 6 July 1941, that the Medical Detachment Station Hospital arrived. They consisted of 61 enlisted men and 5 officers, and came on the USS Spica, along with 9 enlisted men for the 9th Ordnance Service Company Detachment, 1 signal officer, and 10 enlisted replacements of 65th CA(AA).
The Hospital Detachment occupied Barracks 4, using Barracks 5 as a hospital, as more fully set forth in the chapter on the history of the 184th Station Hospital.
A QM detachment of 49 men and 3 officers arrived on the USAT Clevedon 17 July 1941.
On 22 July, the garrison's headquarters moved out of Barracks 8 and into their own building, Headquarters Building A-10. There was shifiting about among the barracks already constructed, while Contractor employees, occupying several completed barracks themselves, worked to build more.
2nd Bn 37th Inf, less Co F and detachment already at Kodiak, and Battery C and a searchlight platoon of the 65th CA(AA) arrived the morning of 23 July 1941, aboard the hard-working USAT St. Mihiel, and were quartered in Barracks 3, 4, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, and 27.
Ten days later, 3 August 1941, the first units of the 215th Coast Artillery (AA) arrived and were quartered in pyramidal tents in the warehouse area on the left bank of the Buskin river, while helping to clear brush and put in a fill near the base of Barometer mountain for a "Tent City" which that winter was to shelter thousands of troops.
With the first contingent, the 215th CA(AA) sent 2nd Bn Headquarters Battery, Batteries C. E. and G, 1 platoon of Battery A (searchlights), and attached medical section. The units of the 65th CA(AA) boarded ship the next day for change of station to Fort Richardson.
The post jumped to thousand-man size 3 September 1941, with arrival of the second contingent of the 215th CA(AA) and certain other units, as follows, aboard the USAT Grant:
OFF WO EM
Hq Det, ADC, DEML 4 10
Co E, 201st Inf 5 158
Band, 215th CA(AA) 1 28
Hq Btry, 215th CA(AA) 12 109
Btry A, " " " 4 160
Btry B, " " " 5 151
Btry D, " " " 5 140
Med Det 2 11
Co B, 151st Eng (C) 4 157
Med Sec, SC ADC 7 21
Co A, 69th QM Bn (LM) 2 55
10th Ord Serv Co Det 2 62
Finance Sec, SC ADC 1 8
TOTAL 53 1 1070
GRAND TOTAL 1124
Col. Wm. D. Frazer, 215th CA(AA), assumed command of Fort Greely, vice Lt. Col. Malcolm F. Lindsey, 37th Infantry. The Grant tied up at the Navy Permanent Pier in Women's Bay the night of 3 September, and the troops debarked the next day.
One 155 mm gun of Btry C, 250th CA, was moved to Long Island 3 September 1941, and the remaining 155 mm guns and personnel of that battery were moved to permanent positions on Long Island
15 September
Another thousand men arrived on the St. Mihiel 16 September 1941, and were quartered in the Tent City area, as follows:
OFF WO EM
Hq,HqBtry,and Am Tn,2nd Bn,215thCA(AA) 9 87
Btry F, 215th CA(AA) 6 154
Btry H, 215th CA(AA) 6 154
Hq,HqBtry,and AmTn,2ndBn,250thCA(155-G) 9 121
Bn Sec Med Det, 250th CA(155-G) 1 9
Bn Sec Sup Det, 250th CA(155-G) 1 7
Band, 250th CA(155-G) 1 28
Hq and Att Chap, 201st Inf 8
HqCo,201stInf (less 2 Bn Secs Comm Plat) 4 110
Serv Co,201stInf(less 3BnSecs,Transp Plat) 6 71
AT Co, 201st Inf (less 2 AT Plats) 4 63
Med Det 201st Inf (less 3 Bn Secs) 4 15
QM Det 1 113
Det 14th Sig Serv Co 25
Med Det 8 69
TOTAL 67 1 1023 [ 1026 ]
And the next day, nearly a thousand more, on the Grant:
Hq and Hq Det, 1st Bn, 201st Inf 4 39
Co A, 201st Inf 9 174
Co B, " " 9 176
Co C, " " 9 175
Co E, " " 6 168
Bn Sec Med Det, 201st Inf 9 79
Bn Sec Transp Plat, 201st Inf 1 14
TOTAL 47 811 [ 825 ]
Quarters for this latest increment were assigned as follows:
Hq and Hq Det 1st Bn, 201st Inf; Bn Sec Med Det, 201st Inf; and Bn Sec Transp Plat, 201st Inf were quartered in the Tent City area. Companies A, B, C, and E, 201st Inf, were quartered in Motor Sheds 1, 3, 5, and 6 -- so acute was the housing problem when troops first started pouring in to the partially constructed camp.
Strength of the Fort Greely garrison as of 20 September 1941 is broken down in the tables on the following two pages:
September 20, 1941.
A list of the units composing the garrison, and the strength thereof of September 20, 1941 is as follows:
DETACHMENTS: OFFICERS WARRANT OFFICERS ENLISTED
Headquarters Det (DEML) 5 10
Detachment 14th Signal Serv. Co. 1 37
Det QMC 5 125
Det Med Corps 19 144
Det Finance Dept 1 13
Det 10th Ord Service Co. 2 76
Co. "A", 69th QM Bn 2 60
1ST ENGINEERS:
Hqs, 1st Bn 2 3
Co. "B" 4 160
Med Det 1 12
1ST INFANTRY:
Service Co. 9 127
Hqs Company 14 153
Antitank Plat. 6 124
Med Det 9 79
Hqs Det, 1st Bn 4 43
Co. "A" 5 158
Co. "B" 6 167
Co. "C" 6 167
Co. "D" 6 166
Co. "E" 6 169
50TH COAST ARTILLERY:
Med Det 1 4
Hqs Battery 7 121
Supply Platoon 1 7
Band 1 28
Battery "C" 5 162
Battery "D" 37
Det Battery "G" 11
215TH COAST ARTILLERY (AA):
Hqs Battery 13 118
1st Bn, Hq Battery 11 87
Battery "A" 5 236
Battery "B" 5 155
Battery "C" 4 158
Battery "D" 5 153
2nd Bn, Hq Battery 5 74
Battery "E" 5 160
Battery "F" 4 154
Battery "G" 6 154
Battery "H" 4 153
Med Det 5 36
Band 1 28
37TH INFANTRY:
HQ Det, 2nd Bn 5 47
AT Platoon 1 47
Communications Section 1 17
Transportation Section 1 15
Company "E" 6 213
Company "F" 5 213
Company "G" 6 217
Company "H" 6 205
Med Det 2 29
TOTALS: 231 2 5031
Some of the difficulties of quartering and rationing the sudden influx of troops while the camp was still building are illustrated in the remarks in the War Diary kept by S-3 at the time. Eight additional officers and 210 enlisted men docked the evening of 27 September 1941 aboard the Chirikof.
"These troops remained aboard ship that night," explains the diary, "but starting September 28, 1941, were quartered and rationed as follows:
"Detachment, Finance Department, quartered and rationed with rest of Finance Detachment already here, viz.: quartered at Fire Station, rationed at Hospital (Medics) Mess.
"Detachment, Quartermaster Corps, quartered Row 13, Tent Camp. Rationed by Company 'A', 69th Quartermaster Battalion.
"Batteries 'D' and 'G', quartered in Motor Shed No. 1. These units were rationed by Battery 'G', 215th Coast Artillery(AA).
"As per memorandum, Hqs Ft Greely, dated 9/19/41, such rationing is to continue until these units are able to ration themselves."
Battery C, 98th Field Artillery Bn, arrived on the Grant with 4 officers and 179 enlisted men 7 October 1941. The day was marked in letters home, however, by the fact that 17 lieutenants of the Army Nurse Corps arrived on the same ship. 1st Lt. Maude E. Carraway was Chief Nurse. The posts small mimeographed newspaper, "The Weekly Sun," headlined the event.
Brigadier General Charles H. Corlett arrived 27 October 1941 to assume command of Fort Greely. He was accompanied by his aides, 1st Lieutenant Roy D. Craft and George I. Forsythe. Mrs. Corlett arrived on 17 November, and a few more families came to Kodiak island before the little colony that had been formed earlier by workmen's wives and children had to be evacuated soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The super-terse announcement on the Sunday morning of 7 December 1941, "PEARL ATTACKED," sent the men of Fort Greely out into the hills to field positions, outposts, and command posts. Japanese propaganda broadcasts on 10 December announced that Kodiak had been "leveled by bombs," but the soldiers made sport of this false claim in the first issue of Fort Greely's printed newspaper, the Kodiak Bear, which came off the small flatbed press of the civilian Kodiak Mirror plant 15 December 1941.
State of alertness is reflected in the "AMENDMENT TO ORDERS FOR CERTAIN SENTINELS," Hq Fort Greely, Kodiak Alaska, memorandum No. 2, dated January 2, 1942:
"1. Paragraph 2, a, (3), Memorandum No. 1, c.s., this
headquarters is amended to read as follows:
"'2. To all members of this command goes the following
important procedure:
a. To sentinels:
(1) Know your general and special orders, not
as so many memorized words, but for their real meaning.
(2) You as sentinel are completely in command
of your post. You are the boss. There are no exceptions.
(3) If someone approaches your post, call out
in a clear, commanding voice, "HALT". When the person halts,
command "WHO IS THERE?" After he has told you who he is and
given his official designation, command him to "ADVANCE TO BE
RECOGNIZED". When he is about 3 paces from you ( or a safe
distance at which you can positively recognize him) again command
him to "GIVE THE COUNTERSIGN" (If your post is in a countersign
area). If he gives the proper countersign, has authorized
business in the area, and you recognize him as friendly, then
allow him to pass. If not, order him to leave your post or
place him under arrest.
(4) Be calm and use your head. We do not
want to hurt an innocent person. If the person is an enemy and
makes or threatens any hostile action, you are authorized to
shoot, but it is better to take him alive. Try to capture and
arrest him. We would like to talk to him.'"
So zealous, in fact, did the sentries become that according to one widely circulated report, never officially denied, a guard refused the Commanding General entry to the ammunition area one night, requiring the General to return to headquarters and procure the new countersign. Areas for use of the countersign, as listed in Hq Fort Greely Memorandum No. 1, 1942 series, were: All ammunition dumps and magazine areas, the airport and Buskin beach area, the gas tank "farm", the fuel oil tank, and the water tank.
Under the alert-status imposed by wartime conditions, the problem of supplying the men with a certain amount of entertainment, of diversifying the monotony, so to speak, emphasized the need for a post radio station along the lines later set up all over thw world as "armed Forces Radio Stations". In January, 1942, a small radio station, self-styled KODK, went on the air with music, entertainment, and news programs. The station was a gift of contractor employees, and was ordered from the States through direct efforts of J.C. Henry, superintendent of construction for Siems-Drake at Kodiak. Many carpenters donated their time on their days off to erect the studio on the west end of Lake Louise.
Expectation of attack did not decrease as the months since Pearl Harbor wore on. In fact, the likelihood of direct attack increased with widespread Japanese successes in Asia and the Pacific, and became particularly definite for Alaskan troops in the spring of 1942. In recognition of the long months of day-in and day-out digging, drill, fatigue, and guard duty, but in full cognizance of ever-present danger, Hq Fort Greely Memorandum No. 8, dated February 1, 1942, covered the subject "Relaxation Periods".:
"1. In order to minimize the danger of the enemy taking
advantage of our customs an habits the following procedure will
be placed in effect immediately:
a. On Sundays and Holidays, calls will be the same
and training and administration will continue as for other days
of the week.
b. Each company, battery, or seperate detachment
will institute measures to provide one day of relaxation from
drill and training for each individual per week. Not more than
15% of those present for duty will be permitted to leave the
organization during any one day.
c. Messing facilities will be so arranged that
sufficient personnel to man gun crews, observation and command
posts and other alert posts are on duty and free to operate
at all times.
d. Organization commanders are responsible that
personnel are guarded while concentrated in one building for
mess or other purposes."
"Precautions to be Taken in the Event of Falling into the Hands of the Enemy" were set forth in Hq Ft Greely Memorandum No. 15, dated February 26, 1942, with the admonition in paragraph 1: "The following information is forwarded to you to convey to the troops thru company and battery commanders. It is desired to stress the subject matter of this memorandum, however it is suggested that it be presented diplomatically when the first opportunity presents itself." Fort Greely dug foxholes and devised and camoflaged holes in the hills with no apparent intention of acceding to the necessity of giving Name, Rank, and Serial Number to any sons of Nippon. Many of the men had more than one personal foxhole -- one near his barracks or tent, another near the headquarters of motor shed or other place of assigned duty. Some designed "sitting-down slit-trenches," where a particularly adamant vein of Kodiak rock left a ledge after hours of picking and shoveling. A series of low hills between Garrison 1 and Buskin lake farther inland was homeycombed with catacombs, each large enough for a squad, and with wooden bunks, providing an area to which ground troops could retire if their barracks area should be destroyed.
The 2nd Battalion, 201st Infantry, consisting of 53 officers and 1533 enlisted men, arrived at Kodiak via the General W. C. Gorgas on 28 February 1942.
That same month, the American Red Cross established an office at Fort Greely. The office was at first limited to quarters in room 10, BOQ 2.
Joe E. Brown, first entertainer to reach Kodiak, took the island by storm, playing to packed houses at both Army and Navy installations. He accompanied the Fort Greely boxing team to the Alaska Golden Gloves championship matches in Anchorage, where Greely entrants took 3 of the 7 weights for the 1942 starter.
Plans were started in February, too, for a post garden. Lt. Eugene L. Russell, a graduate of Oregon State College of Agriculture, was put in charge the first year. The Fort Farm was continued each year thereafter.
The Army at Kodiak got it's own docking facilities on 20 March 1942, when property located one-fourth (1/4) mile southeast of the town of Kodiak, Alaska, known as Kraft's Dock and now the property of the United States Government, was redesignated as The Army Pier, Fort Greely, Kodiak, Alaska. (General Order No. 13, Hq Fort Greely, Alaska, dated 20 March 1942).
On 26 March, the Quartermaster Detachment, Harbor Craft, Fort Greely, Alaska, was activated as of 1 April 1942. (General Order No. 15, Fort Greely, Alaska).
Twice-a-week airmail service was inaugurated in March, 1942, weather permitting. The ancient Ford trimotor of Star Airlines was the object of affection regard; the report that the mail plane was on her way would be flashed from the outposts minutes before she winged over the camp, and at the sound of the motors the men would rush out to verify the report.
An APO number (937, c/o Postmaster, Seattle, Washington) was assigned to Fort Greely, effective 12 May 1942, and the new mail regulations were explained in Hq Fort Greely Memorandum No. 37, dated May 7, 1942, subject, "Addressing of Mail". The fort's postoffice had got a seperate building of its own in January, none too soon to handle the increasing volume of mail. In a single week, for example, as many as 6 sacks of the post newspaper were mailed to the Outside.
The first General Inspection at Fort Greely began 5 May 1942 with the arrival of Lt. Col. W. A. Swift, IGD, Inspector General, Alaska Defense Command. The inspection was completed 15 May.
Fort Greely's first chapel, christened "Victory Chapel", [ text missing] Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., Commanding General, Alaska Defense Command, was at the fort at the time, and dedicated the chapel in person. Previous to completion of the chapel, services had been held in the small wooden theater and even in tents.
The second Fort Greely chapel, named Faith Chapel, was opened, in Garrison 2, in June 1942. Theater No. 2, seating 540, opened in the same area dubbed "Swampy Acres" (from a real-estate sign designed by a contractor artist and offering choice lots but stipulating, "Nipponese not wanted"). With the opening of the "Swampy Acres Palace," the nightly show line at Theater No. 1, capacity 310, shortened sufficiently so that a soldier could be reasonably assured of getting in to see the picture. This was the first time, since the "Gone With the Wind" black canvas theater, that such a condition obtained.
The tactical atmosphere in Kodiak island in the Spring of 1942, while the Japanese were brewing their trouble for Alaska, can be sensed by quoting a number of entries from the Harbor Entrance Control Post journal of the time:
2 May 1942: 2205 Spruce Cape: "The searchlight at Spruce was
moved down the Beach Trail towards Kodiak. It is now 400 ft.
below the gun position and 5 men are living there in a tent."
8 May 1942: 2337 Btry D: "Daily artilery drill report. 0830
to 1130. Coordinated plotting room and gun drill case 2 & 3
hypothetical course. Ammunition and materiel inspected and
found serviceable."
8 May 1942: 1830 36th Bomb: "As per operations memorandum # 8,
36the Bombardment dated May 8, 1942, this unit will not detail
an H.E.C.P. officer, however the Squadron Officer of the Guard,
whose tour of duty is from 1930 to 0730 the following day and
who will sleep in the Pilot's room, will be subject to call by
H.E.C.P. if occasion demands."
9 May 1942: 1426 HEOP: "The Ford trimotor plane (Air Mail)
just landed." (This is a frequent reference in the journal.)
1608 HEOP: "The Ford trimotor plane (Air Mail)
just left for Anchorage." (Outgoing mail was heavy, as well
as incoming.)
1831 Navy Intell: "... The oil tanker 'Brazo(e)s'
is expected at 0700 Sunday, May 10, 1942."
10 May 1942: 1215 Note: "Artillery Met. data sent to all
units at 10:56."
2218 Lt. Shultz (OD): "Reports that the
Motorized infantry is picking up a very fast code that they
are unable to explain. They do not get an answer to their
own messages. It is on channel 20 with a # 194 radio." (A
"Motorized Guard" to which this item apparently refers, was
operative along the roads of the reservation and maintained
regular radio schedule of reporting to the Guardhouse.)
16 May 1942: 1855 Navy Intell: "Port Captian at Ketchican
reports that the Captain of fishing schooner 'Un-Aleutian'
reported sighting an unidentified submarine approximately 70
miles west, 1 point south of Cape Spencer. They are holding
all shipping there pending verification of identity of submarine."
1945 Navy Intell: "The report of many planes
(message of 1615) has been cancelled by C.O. Army Troops, Ft.
Mears after investigation."
1615 AWS Chiniak: "Message from Anchorage reported
that many planes were sighted at Ft. Glenn heading towards
Dutch Harbor."
18 May 1942: 0300 Btry X-1: "Gun # 1 and # 2 standing by."
0349 Btry X-1: "Gun # 1 and # 2 replacing equipment."
0355 Bn OP: "Gibson Cove searchlight closing station."
0405 Btry X-1: "naval Gun crew standing by."
...
1030 Note: "Due to G-2 report on enemy activity
radio silence was ordered throughout the Island. This did not
pertain to radio communication between 2nd Bn Radio and Btry D,
insofar as tactical messages were concerned."
25 May 1942: 1530 201st Inf: "Co G, Beach OP reports seeing
two planes coming in from the Bay at approximately 1430. Before
they could identify the planes they went out of view. Message
verified by Capt. Sine."
1534 HECP: "Checked with Btry C, AWS, and all
Derby OPs report was negative, in all instances."
1600 Weather: "Unsettled [ text missing bottom page 15 ]
The Dutch Harbor attacks on 3 and 4 June 1942 brought, among other things,*the following Hq Fort Greely Memorandum No. 48, dated June 3, 1942, subject "Black Out":
1. Complete BLACK-OUT throughout the entire garrison
will be effected between the hours of 10:00 pm and 3:00 am
each day until further notice.
2. Organization commanders will insure exacting
compliance of this directive."
Detailed instructions were issued as to construction of labyrinth type entrances to buildings. Windows were painted olive drab to avoid reflection. In September, directions were published on the building of window ventilators (Hq Fort Greely Memorandum No. 76, dated September 29, 1942).
After the repulse of the Japanese fleet at Midway and the Japanese retirement to Kiska and the Westward, the high point of tension of the Dutch Harbor days was past, but painstaking care continued on the part of outpost guards and the entire warning and command post system. The Harbor Entrance Command Post journal reports again, on 27 June 1942, the care exercised in identifying a small vessel:
"0600 Btry C: Small boat in CHINIAK AREA going
North (0°) class 1-2. (disposition Naval Intell).
"0630 Btry C: Signal man from Long Island reports
small ship failed to give proper identification. (Disposition Navy).
"0635 Naval Intell: YP and plane being dispatched to
check identity of small ship.
"0700 Naval Intell: Small ship is wild life refuge ship."
And on the same day, it can be noted how precisely requests to do blasting on Kodiak island had to be cleared, to avoid false scares: "0926 Btry B, 260th FA: Btry B will blast on Pillar
Mt this morning between 1100 and 1130....
"1915 Btry B 260th FA: Requested permission to blast
between 2030 and 2230 between Old Womans and Barometer
Mountains. Permission granted. (disposition Navy Intel, Drum 2).
"2020 Btry B 260th FA: Requested permission to blast
East of Old Womans and East of Barometer Sunday 27 June between
0800 and 1300. Permission granted."
The conditions which obtained the week after the first Dutch Harbor raid are expressed in Hq Fort Greely Memorandum No. 50, dated June 10, 1942: "The following is placed in effect this date until
further orders:
"1. Schedules and hours of operation for drills
(including parades) of the several organizations and services
which were in effect prior to the recent emergency will be
resumed. Special Duty personnel who were returned to their
units during the emergency, will revert to Special Duty.
"2. Gas masks will not be carried. They will,
however, remain in the possession of the individual so that
they are at all times readily available on short notice.
"3. Steel helmets will be carried on or kept with
each person; but ned not be worn.
"4. When in the judgement of the organization
commander such personnnel can be spared from their duties, the
issuance of passes under duch instruction this headquarters
as pertained prior to recent emergency may be resumed. Married
personnel with families will be considered on the same basis as
other personnel as regards passes."
Headquarters, Fort Greely, closed at building 126, Fort Greely, Alaska, at 2400 hours, 27 July 1942, and opened at RJ-F68A, Fort Greely, Alaska, same date and hour. The building had 2 stories, and was set against a blasted-out hillside, with a large camouflage net extending from the hillside out over the building and beyond to form a sheltered parking lot.
A summer athletic carnival, called the "Kodiak Olympics," was inaugurated 28 August 1942, encompassing both military and athletic events.
On 9 September 1942, General DeWitt and General Buckner arrived this station at 1220 hours and departed at 1820 hours.
An ACS Branch Office opened at Fort Greely in September 1942.
The same month, a Senatorial party, including Senator Harold Burton, Ohio; Mr. George W. Malone, secretary; Senator Rufus C. Holman, Oregon; Mr. Nat Pieper, Senator A. B. "Happy" Chandler, of Kentucky; and Senator Mons C. Wahlgren, Washington, visited Fort Greely.
On 5 October 1942, the 260th Field Artillery departed this station for APO 980. (Ltr ADC File 370.5, dated 9-3-42).
The Advance Command Post, Headquarters Alaska Defense Command, was established at Fort Greely on 22 October. [1942]
Colonel Frazer assumed command of Fort Greely on 27 October during the temporary absence of General Corlett. (General Order No. 29, Headquarters, Fort Greely, dated 27 October 1942).
For recreation for the men, the Nellie Erskine room, honoring the late Mrs. Erskine of the town of Kodiak, was opened in the station hospital by the American Red Cross. The same month, October, 1942, the Fort Greely Sergeant's club was under construction, being built by the sergeants themselves.
1 November 1942 General Corlett resumed command of Fort Greely. (General Order No. 30, Headquarters, Fort Greely, Alaska, dated November 1, 1942).
A skeet range was opened 11 November.
The Army Landing Field at Cape Chiniak, Alaska, was designated Marks Army Air Field, in General Order No. 32, headquarters, Fort Greely, dated November 12, 1942. (Authority: WD AGO letter, file AG 320.2 (10-21-42) OB-I-AF-M, October 22, 1942, Subject: "Designation of Army Air Forces Stations.")
Company D, 374th Port Battalion, Transportation Corps, arrived this station 27 November 1942. (Strength: 4 officers, 236 enlisted men.)
Next day, 28 November, 2nd Battalion, 37th Infantry, departed for APO 986. (ltr ADC File 370.5).
The post radio entertainment station got approved call letters -- WVCQ -- from the FCC.
Chapels at Fort Greely received new Hammond electric organs in December 1942, and a Red Cross canteen opened in the town of Kodiak for service men.
Post strength as of 31 December 1942: 420 officers, 5779 enlisted men.
Fire destroyed the headquarters building of the 691st Signal Aircraft Warning Reporting Company, Special Second Reporting Platoon, at Lazy Bay on 15 January 1943.
On 19 January, the 18th Engineers, veterans of the then "Alcan" Highway project, arrived this station via USAT David W. Branch.
Post strength, January 1943: 449 officers, 7130 enlisted men.
A total eclipse of the sun was observed from Kodiak on 4 February 1943.
The Fort Greely Ski Chalet, constructed in the pass overlooking Anton Larsen and Chiniak bays, 6 miles northwest of the main garrison, was officially opened in February, 1943, and a winter sports carnival was held.
18th Engineers departed for APO 980 (ltr Alaska Defense Command, 370.5, dated December 13, 1942), 18 March.
Col. William D. Frazer assumed command of Fort Greely, during temporary absence of General Corlett. (General Order No. 4, headquarters, dated 22 march 1943).
Battery A, 40th Coast Artillery, departed for APO 986 on 29 March.
A practice air raid alert was called, in connection with the Naval Operating Base.
The Fort Greely Garden went into its second season in 1943. 2nd Lt. Lynn O. Hollist, of Sugar City, Idaho, a graduate of Utah State Agricultural College at Logan, was named to supervise the project, and to organize the Kodiak Agricultural Club among soldier-farmers.
Headquarters, Fort Greely, closed at Building No. 132 at 1500 hours, 5 April 1943, and opened at Building No. 1501 same date and time. (General order No. 5, headquarters, Fort Greely, Alaska, dated 4 April 1943).
On 10 April, major General Charles H. Corlett assumed command of the post. (General Order No. 6, headquarters, Fort Greely, Alaska, dated 10 April 1943).
The 3rd battalion, 201st Infantry, arrived this station via the St. Mihiel.
Colonel Frazer assumed command of Fort Greely during the temporary absence of General Corlett. (General Order No. 8, Headquarters, dated 26 April 1943).
Three subposts of Fort Greely were named in General Order No. 9, dated 27 April 1943. Persuant to authority contained in Letter, The Adjutant General, Washington, D.C., (AG 660.2, 12-11-42), OB-1, march 25, 1943, Subject: "Establishment of Harbor Defenses in Alaska and Naming of Posts and Subposts", and 1st Indorsement thereto, Headquarters, Alaska Defense Command, April 8, 1943, the designation of posts and subposts within the Harbor Defenses of Kodiak, Alaska are as follows:
Long Island - - - - - Fort Tidball
Chiniak -- - - - - -- Fort J. H. Smith
Miller Point - - - -- Fort Abercrombie
Major General Charles H. Corlett departed this station at 1800 hours 30 April 1943 for permanent change of station to Fort Ord, California.
Fort Greely's Golden Gloves tournament got under way.
On 22 August 1943, Col. Laurence H. Douthit, IGD, Inspector General 11th Air Force, commenced the annual general inspection of the Air Base, Fort Greely, Alaska. Inspection completed 30 August.
152nd Ordnance Company departed this station for APO 726 on 30 August 1943.
In September, Delegate Anthony J. Dimond, Alaska'a Delegate to Congress, visited Fort Greely.
[End of page 21.]
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