Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson

Overview

The adjacent facilities were officially combined by the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Its mission is to support and defend U.S. interests in the Asia Pacific region and around the world by providing units who are ready for worldwide air power projection and a base that is capable of meeting PACOM's theater staging and throughput requirements.

It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Command (ALCOM), Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR), Joint Task Force-Alaska (JTF-AK), Eleventh Air Force (11 AF), the 673d Air Base Wing, the 3rd Wing, the 176th Wing and other Tenant Units.

Units

Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson (JBER), holds the distinction of being one of 12 Joint Bases that were created in BRAC 2005. The 673d ABW consists of four groups that operate and maintain the joint base for air sovereignty, combat training, force staging and throughput operations in support of worldwide contingencies.

The installation hosts the headquarters for the United States Alaskan Command, 11th Air Force, U.S. Army Alaska, and the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.

Major units assigned are:

673d Air Base Wing

Activated on 30 July 2010 as the host wing combining installation management functions of Elmendorf AFB's 3rd Wing and U.S. Army Garrison Fort Richardson. The 673d ABW comprises over 5,500 joint military and civilian personnel, supporting America's Arctic Warriors and their families. The wing supports and enables three AF total-force wings, two Army Brigades and 55 other tenant units. In addition, the wing provides medical care to over 35,000 joint service members, dependents, VA patients and retirees throughout Alaska. The 673d ABW maintains an $11.4B infrastructure encompassing 84,000 acres.

Alaskan Command

Responsible for maximizing theater force readiness for 21,000 Alaskan service members and expediting worldwide contingency force deployments from and through Alaska as directed by the Commander, USPACOM

United States Army Alaska (US)

U.S. Army Alaska executes continuous training and readiness oversight responsibilities for Army Force Generation in Alaska. Supports U.S. Pacific Command Theater Security Cooperation Program. On order, executes Joint Force Land Component Command functions in support of Homeland Defense and Security in Alaska.

4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division

On order, 4/25 IBCT (ABN) conducts decisive action, to include joint forcible entry, as an Army Contingency Response Force (CRF) aligned with PACOM in order to promote security and peaceful development in the Asia-Pacific region.

3d Wing (USAF)

To support and defend US interests in the Asia Pacific region and around the world by providing units who are ready for worldwide air power projection and a base that is capable of meeting PACOM's theater staging and throughput requirements.

Alaskan Norad Region

The Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR) conducts aerospace control within its area of operations and contributes to NORAD's aerospace warning mission.

Eleventh Air Force

Provide ready warriors and infrastructure for homeland defense, decisive force projection, and aerospace command and control

Major Commands to which assigned

Pacific Air Forces, (2010 – present)

Base operating units

673d Air Base Wing (July 2010 – present)

Major units assigned

381st Intelligence Squadron (2010–present)
(6981st with various unit designations under USAFSS)

3d Wing (2010 – present)

Notable aviation accidents

On 28 July 2010, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft practicing for an upcoming airshow crashed into a wooded area within the base, killing all four air crew members; three from the Alaska Air National Guard and one from the USAF. The cause of the accident has been reported to be pilot error. The pilot performed an aggressive righthand turn and ignored the aircraft's stall warning, continuing the turn until the aircraft stalled due to lack of airspeed. The low altitude of the turn made it impossible for the crew to recover from the stall in time to avoid impacting the ground. The C-17 crashed just 100 yards from the site of the 1995 E-3 AWACS crash.

On 16 November 2010, a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor took off for a training mission. At approximately 1900 hours, the base reported that the aircraft was overdue and missing. Air Force rescue teams were reported to be concentrating their search for the missing plane and pilot in Denali National Park. The F-22's crash site was found about 100 miles north of Anchorage near the town of Cantwell, Alaska. The pilot, of the US Air Force's 525th Fighter Squadron, was killed in the crash.