Military

Anchorage officials are hoping the city can become the headquarters of the United States’ military command in space.

In a letter dated June 10, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy wrote that Anchorage meets all the requirements for becoming the next headquarters for the United States’ Space Command.

The Space Command coordinates military activity in space made by the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and the latest branch of the armed forces, the Space Force. It’s provisionally headquartered in Colorado after it was re-established in August of last year.

The United States Air Force sent out a letter to the governors of all 50 states in mid-May with the criteria for consideration as the new headquarters. The cities must be within the top-150 metropolitan areas by population, have an AARP Livability Index score above 50 and be located within 25 miles of a military base.

Anchorage barely meets some of those requirements. It is ranked 137th out of the 150 largest metropolitan areas by population and has an  AARP Livability Index of 50 out of a 100-point scale.

Anchorage is the only city in Alaska that meets these criteria.

Mark Lester, the CEO of Alaska Aerospace, a public corporation that runs Kodiak Island’s rocket launch facility, said that Anchorage does have some assets. The state has a mix of research, military and private aerospace infrastructure at areas around the state such as UAF’s Poker Flats Research Range at Clear Air Force Station and at Kodiak’s Pacific Spaceport Complex.

“The commercial side of space is becoming more of an important part of how we access space and how we do services like communications capabilities and others,” he said.

But he acknowledged that Anchorage is a long-shot.

“It’s probably not going to be top of mind when people think about where to locate Space Command. But I think in many ways, we’re the hidden gem, but we wanted to bring forward and throw our hat in the ring and make people start to think oh, you know, what, maybe Anchorage is a great place for this Unified Command,” he said.

The self-nomination period ends on June 30. After that, the Department of Defense will assess communities for factors such as the availability of a qualified workforce, quality of schools, energy resilience and housing costs.

Air Force Magazine reported that Defense Secretary Mark Esper received numerous complaints from lawmakers about a previous selecting process, prompting the department to open up bidding to more applicants. Of the six original candidates, four were in Colorado.

A decision is expected as early as 2021 and would bring 1,400 military and civilian personnel to Anchorage.

Across the state this week, in cities and small towns, Alaskans peacefully protested the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis on Memorial Day after a white police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck. In a widely-shared video, Floyd can be heard saying “I can’t breathe.”

Four Minnesota Police officers were initially fired one day after Floyd’s death. One officer, Derek Chauvin, was arrested and charged with murder. Since then, nightly demonstrations, some of which have turned violent, filled streets in cities across the country. The other three officers involved have since been arrested and charged. Activists across the globe continue to protest.

Since last Saturday, Alaskans from Kotzebue to Ketchikan joined other communities in the call for an end to police brutality. Many also had signs calling out acts of institutional and systemic racism. Here’s a look at how protests took shape across the state:

Anchorage

“I’m fed up. I’m fighting against the police brutality. We got to stand together. If we don’t come together who’s gonna stop it?,” said Zakia Thornton at the “I Can’t Breathe” rally in Anchorage.

Juneau

In Juneau, chants of “Silence is violence,” and “If you see something say something,” urged white protestors and allies of the Black Lives Matter movement to take tangible steps toward preventing violence against black people.

Kotzebue

“I was surprised. I even told Camille, because it was so last minute, I even told Camille if it’s just you and I, we’re going to walk,” said Stepheena Smith who helped organize the event in Kotzebue.

Sitka

“These are really heartbreaking times that we’re living in right now, and I really would like to thank the organizers for putting this together because I think sometimes it’s really difficult if we don’t have an outlet for all this pain. I think with the turnout and all the people here we can see that there’s a lot of people who care,” Louise Brady said at the event in Sitka.

Bethel

“I mean, it’s great that everyone’s coming together to try to make a change, but I’ve seen this a lot,” said Garry Howard at the event in Bethel. “Hoping for a change, but we’ll see.”

Ketchikan

“It just makes me feel uncomfortable to live in this town, because this is a Native town and we have racist people like that here and it just doesn’t make sense,” said teenager Rosie Daniels of motorists who flipped her off or displayed a thumbs down at the event in Ketchikan.

Kodiak

“I think that a lot of the issues that we’re facing now are not issues that we see here. So maybe Kodiak doesn’t know how to respond to those types of movements. Kodiak can respond to climate change because it directly affects us. Kodiak can respond to Pebble Mine because it directly affects us. And so I think that what doesn’t affect us, we’re not quite so sure how to respond to,” said Tyler Barnes at the event in Kodiak.

Haines

“Half of me feels safe up here in a weird way like we’re very sheltered from what’s going on in the Lower 48, just as far as the violence and the intense police state, but I also feel very guilty for not being there,” said Megan Mcgrail, one of the events organizers in Haines.

There have been more demonstrations too. On social media, Alaskans have posted about marches and rallies in communities including Unalakleet and Soldotna.

While Alaska’s rallies and protests have remained peaceful some Alaskans have reported instances of intimidation, backlash, or resistance. More demonstrations are planned for this weekend.

Send photos of the demonstrations in your Alaska communities to news@alaskapublic.org.

The evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse sent emergency field hospitals to Italy and New York this spring. Both places were badly hit by the coronavirus.

On Monday, the organization flew one to the Bristol Bay Borough. The borough is the epicenter of fish processing during the short sockeye fishery, and its population grows exponentially as seafood workers and fishermen come to the region. The 30-bed hospital can be set up within 48 hours.

“If we need to be in there, if we need to set up, we’ll set up,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse.

Graham said Gov. Mike Dunleavy requested that Samaritan’s Purse send the hospital to the region, and that the state, as well as the Department of Defense, were instrumental in coordinating the effort.

“It took a lot of cooperation, cause there’s a lot of — various agencies that had to cooperate. And they all did this at record speed, so I’m very thankful for the leadership of everybody who’s involved,” he said.

The Camai Community Health Center in the Bristol Bay Borough will have about 16 people on staff this summer, a small increase from normal. The clinic has been ramping up its testing capacity in recent weeks. It has a cepheid machine, which can run 16 tests at a time, and it is currently open for walk-up and drive-through testing. Mary Swain, the executive director of the Camai Health Center in Naknek, said the field hospital brings with it medical personnel who are trained to respond to outbreaks.

“Having people that know what to do, know what to look for, they will be able to identify things may be quicker. It’s a place where those that are a little bit sick but not quite hospital sick can go and be taken care of,” she said.

Samaritan’s Purse also sent two eight-bed COVID-19 response centers to serve as additions to the local health clinics’ facilities.

If activated, the hospital would be run by 20 medical personnel and 40 staff. Swain said they are currently preparing the gym of the King Salmon air force base for the hospital. The area will be ready after June 9.

“So it’s actually three tents inside of one big building,” Swain said. “There have been some comments out there about, ‘I can’t even imagine being in King Salmon with all of those bugs, having to deal with COVID.’ So everybody knows that it is inside. They call it a field hospital but it is inside.”

Camai has administered over 800 tests as of Friday, and it currently has staff dedicated solely to running the testing center.

“For the month of June we anticipate testing over 5,000 just in seafood workers and the port staff,” Swain said.

On top of that, she expects approximately 2,000 fishermen to get tested in June.

The Bristol Bay Borough saw its first two cases of COVID-19 over the weekend. Because the individuals aren’t residents, they won’t be listed in the borough’s case count.

The Camai clinic is currently open for walk-up or drive-through testing weekdays from 1 – 3:00 p.m.

The Alaska National Guard is mobilizing to assist with the state’s coronavirus response, putting dozens of volunteer Guard members on active duty.

The Guard’s planes and helicopters could be key to helping sick people in rural Alaska, said Jeremy Zidek, public information officer with the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

“Transporting patients to advanced medical facilities is the primary thing that they’re preparing for right now,” Zidek said.

The state is coordinating with the Coast Guard and air ambulance services, as well as private air carriers that have already been used to fly test kits and personal protective equipment around Alaska, Zidek said.

The state’s Unified Command could call on the Guard to transport supplies by air or land, to build temporary shelters or produce clean drinking water, and, generally, to have manpower available for a wide range of tasks, Zidek said.

Members of a separate but related volunteer group, the Alaska State Defense Force, have been working at an Anchorage warehouse to help organize personal protective equipment and other supplies from the national stockpile — things like gloves, visors, gowns, masks and hand sanitizer — and putting them into loads for shipment, Zidek said. They’ve also been helping distribute declaration forms for people entering the state who must quarantine themselves and declare where they are doing so under the state’s coronavirus health mandates, he said.

Orders for bigger missions will come from the governor, likely at the request of local governments in need, Zidek said.

“And when their local capabilities have been overwhelmed, then we look at utilizing other state agencies or the Alaska National Guard to fulfill that mission,” Zidek said. “In some cases, we may be able to call upon a private industry to do that. But often during disasters, the Guard has to come in and fulfill those critical roles.”

The Guard has called up 65 members since last week, according to Alaska National Guard Lt. Col. Candis Olmstead. About 700 Guard members have filled out paperwork making them eligible to be put on active duty at a moment’s notice, Olmstead said.

“When you join the National Guard, you know that you could be called in times of emergency or natural disaster to help your state,” Olmstead said. “And that’s what’s happening right now.”

They’re a volunteer force, meaning they have volunteered their time, but Olmstead noted that active-duty Guard members do get paid.

“It’s a wonderful option at this time, when so many people have been laid off from their jobs,” she said.

The Guard’s aircraft include a variety of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters — everything from massive C-17 Globemaster transport planes to HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters used in wilderness or battlefield rescues, Olmstead said.

The helicopters, in particular, could be useful in rural Alaska, where areas to land a plane can be limited, Olmstead said.

 

Seven people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson testing center, according to a Facebook post on Sunday night.

The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson installation commander has declared a public health emergency due to an elevated risk on the base for “sustained community transmission,” the post said.

The state reported that there were 32 positive cases of the virus as of Sunday night. Thirteen of those cases are in Anchorage.

Last week, the base reported that one of the Anchorage positives was a JBER airman. It was not clear if that case was related to the others.

https://www.facebook.com/JBERAK/posts/2776425765744342

Among the measures to tighten control of movement on the post:

• The Government Hill gate will be closed.
• The Post Road gate will be closed to private auto traffic.
• The Arctic Valley gate will be closed on weekends.

All who tested positive are in isolation and their contacts are being traced, the base said.

People on the joint base are restricted to “mission essential travel,” meaning: “work in critical jobs;” buying groceries, health care appointments; dropping off or picking up children from care and getting fresh air “while observing 6-foot social distancing between non-family members,” the post said.

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz ordered Anchorage residents to “hunker down” and limit travel to essential errands on Friday. That order went into effect on Sunday night.

JBER officials have scheduled a virtual town hall meeting about COVID-19 for 2 p.m. Monday.

 

Officials at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) say an active-duty airman tested positive for coronavirus.

The airman is one of the state’s nine confirmed cases of the virus. According to a media release, the airman recently traveled overseas and is now self-quarantining at home.

Right now, JBER is at an elevated level of health protection for military members and those who access the base. That includes the same protocols seen in other parts of the state, like social distancing, extra hand-washing, and self-isolating.

In addition, JBER’s public affairs representative Master Sgt. Jonathan Foster says they’ve closed some facilities, cancelled youth services and sports events, and they’re taking other measures to reduce the risk of person-to-person transmission.

“Like, for instance the base gates,” he said. “We’re doing a no-touch ID Card procedure. You just hold up your ID card and the gate attendant will look at it and then scan it after you turn it over and show us the bar code on the back.”

Foster says the air force has also delayed physical fitness testing for the next several months to avoid having large groups of airmen in close quarters with each other.