Fort Greely, Alaska

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A ground-based interceptor, designed to destroy incoming ICBMs, is lowered into its silo at the missile defence complex at Fort Greely, July 22, 2004.

Fort Greely is a census-designated place (CDP) in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 461.

Fort Greely is a launch site for anti-ballistic missiles and home of the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC), as Fort Greely is one of the coldest areas in Alaska, and can accommodate cold, extreme cold, or temperate weather tests depending on the season.

Testing efforts are centered at the Bolio Lake Range Complex, approximately 10 miles south of Fort Greely. Arkansas Range is the main test site for mines and small arms. Washington Range is a multi-purpose range used for air defense missile firings, artillery tests, such as Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM), and smoke and obscurant tests requiring large areas and mobility testing. Texas Range is available for direct-fire tests, as well as sensor, small arms, and missile tests. Oklahoma Range, primarily used for indirect-fire work, is capable of observed fire to 30km and unobserved fire to 50km.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Climate
5 External links
6 References

[edit] History

The camp was established in 1942 as Big Delta Army Air Field. During World War II, the United States used the base to aid Russia against Germany and Japan by sending airplanes and supplies authorized by the Lend-lease act through Alaska and into the Russian Far East. The name was later changed to Allen Army Airfield. After World War II, Fort Greely was built south of the air field. From 1955, the base and a huge tract of land around it were used for training soldiers for cold weather combat during the Cold War with the former Soviet Union. In the 1980s, when the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Fort Greely was gradually closed.

In 1995, Fort Greely was selected for closure as a cost-saving measure. However, after the United states announced that it would withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, Fort Greely was selected as a site for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system. In 1998, the United States government began work on the missile defense installation at Fort Greely, planning to deploy a total of 25 to 30 anti-ballistic missiles by 2010.

The Alaska Highway was built to connect an existing road in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada with the Richardson Highway in Alaska, a distance of 1423 miles (2290 km). The Alaska Highway met the Richardson Highway at Delta Junction, 5 miles (8 km) north on the Richardson Highway from what is now Fort Greely.

[edit] Geography

Fort Greely is located at 63°54′18″N, 145°33′16″W (63.905016, -145.554566)^GR1.

Fort Greely is located 5 miles (8 km) south of Delta Junction on the Richardson Highway.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 169.7 square miles (439.6 km²). 169.4 square miles (438.7 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (0.9 km²) of it (0.21%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 461 people, 126 households, and 112 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2.7/mi² (1.1/km²). There were 354 housing units at an average density of 2.1/mi² (0.8/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 65.73% White, 19.74% Black or African American, 1.30% Native American, 1.30% Asian, 1.95% Pacific Islander, 3.69% from other races, and 6.29% from two or more races. 15.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 126 households out of which 73.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.2% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.1% were non-families. 11.1% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.25 and the average family size was 3.53.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 38.6% under the age of 18, 16.1% from 18 to 24, 43.4% from 25 to 44, 2.0% from 45 to 64, . The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 115.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $32,969. Males had a median income of $26,544 versus $21,375 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $12,368. About 11.6% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.9% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Climate

As it is not near the ocean, this area is drier than coastal Alaska and experiences seasonal extremes typical of subarctic areas. The annual precipitation is only 12 inches (305 mm), including 37 inches (94 cm) of snow. The average low temperature in January is −11 °F (−23 °C). The average high during July is +69 °F (+20 °C). Temperature extremes have been recorded from −63 °F to +92 °F (−53 °C to +33 °C).

Fort Greely is mostly sunny in the summer and split between clear and overcast days in the winter. On clear winter nights, the aurora borealis can often be seen dancing in the sky. Like all subarctic regions, the months from May to July in the summer have no night, only a twilight during the night hours. The months of November–January have little daylight.