Northeast Cape Air Force Station

Northeast Cape Air Force Station
Part of Alaskan Air Command (AAC)
2003 photo prior to the site remediation. The abandoned station is shown in the foreground; White Alice communications array at the base of the mountain. The radar towers are shrouded in clouds at the top of the mountain behind the White Alice antenna array. Today, all of these structures have been removed.
Northeast Cape AFS Location of Northeast Cape AFS, Alaska
Coordinates	63°17′25″N 168°58′19″W / 63.29028°N 168.97194°W / 63.29028; -168.97194 (Northeast Cape Radars F-09)Coordinates: 63°17′25″N 168°58′19″W / 63.29028°N 168.97194°W / 63.29028; -168.97194 (Northeast Cape Radars F-09)
Type	Air Force Station
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1953
In use	1953-1969
Garrison information
Garrison	712th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (1953-1969)
Occupants	United States Air Force Security Service

Northeast Cape Air Force Station (AAC ID: F-09) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It was a forward outpost, located on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Siberia, 137 miles (220 km) southwest of Nome, Alaska.

Northeast Cape AFS was a continental defence radar station constructed to provide the United States Air Force early warning of an attack by the Soviet Union on Alaska. The area surrounding the Northeast Cape base site had been a traditional camp site for several Yupik families for centuries. During World War II, many joined the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) for defense of the island. Following disbandment of the ATG in 1947 and commencing with construction of the site in 1952, many islanders joined the Alaska National Guard to continue to provide land-based defense. The station was the closest forward radar surveillance station to mainland Soviet Union, its location being about 140 miles east-southeast of the Siberian coastline.

The station, as with others of its type, was divided into two areas. The Cantonment, or base station area was located at the base of tall hills along the northeast coast of the Island. A port facility was constructed to facilitate the landing of construction equipment and bulk materiel, along with a gravel airstrip for shipment of personnel and essential supplies. The station consisted of 25 buildings and miscellaneous support structures 63°20′08″N 168°59′25″W / 63.33556°N 168.99028°W / 63.33556; -168.99028 (Northeast Cape Station Area). The station buildings were, except for the civil engineering building connected by heated hallways. As a result, personnel stationed there, with only very few exceptions, were able to wear "summer" uniforms year round, unless they had a need to go outside during the winter season. The coverings of the station's three radar towers were heated from within to keep the covering from becoming brittle from extreme cold, and thus subject to being damaged or destroyed by high winds. Tours at the station were limited to one year because of the psychological strain and physical hardships.