Castner's Cutthroats

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1 Background
2 Mission
3 Equipment
4 References

[edit] Background

Castner's Cutthroats were a band of Alaskan army scouts during World War II. They were made up of Aleuts, Eskimos,miners, hunters, trappers and fishermen. Their background in survival and hunting made them ideal scouts. To give an idea of who these men were their names included Bad Whiskey Red, Aleut Pete and Waterbucket Ben. These men lived a hard life and dangerous life in the Alaskan wilderness. The name Caster's Cutthroats comes from the their leader Col. Lawrence Castner. Cutthroat because they were an irregular unit of the United States Military. Based along the Aleutian Islands the unit played a key role in the defense of mainland Alaska from Japanese invasion.

[edit] Mission

Designated as the 1st Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional) the unit played an integral role in the defense of Alaska. They headed reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions along the Aleutian Islands. The unit conducted much of their operations of the Japanese occupied islands on Attu, Agattu, and Kiska. They also helped preplan landing zones for amphibious assaults on the Japanese held islands. One of the major success of Castenr's Cutthroats was the location of an airfield. The army had lost several planes not to the Japanese but to Alaskan weather. In order to shorten the distance between the Japanese and American air bases the military needed an additional airbase. Alaska's terrain made it difficult for one to be located. Castner's Cutthroats found a lake and ingeniously proposed to drain it and use the sandy bottom floor for landing.

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[edit] Equipment

They carried 22 target pistols and sniper rifles instead of the standard issued Springfield rifle, or M1 Garand. Trapper Nelson packs held all their supplies for their long mountainous treks. They lived off the land and this allowed them to stay light unlike most military units of the time. To move from island to island the men used canoes. From these canoes the men hunted salmon. The salmon was dried and stored for the winter. This furthered the unit's ability to stay out in the field.

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