ven before Alaska became a state, the military was shaping its economy. World War II led to an expansion of the armed forces and created an economic boom in the state, but the military was building infrastructure that benefitted Alaska’s economy as early as the Gold Rush era. Completed in 1905, the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System was the first major infrastructure improvement the military made in Alaska; owned by the military but used by civilians, WAMCATS (as it was called) would eventually become AT&T Alaska.

Since then, the health of Alaska’s economy has depended upon the activity of the nine military bases across the state. Between spending on new construction, growing the state’s population, and generating jobs, the military lags only the oil industry and federal spending in generating income and jobs for the state.

According to a US Department of Defense (DOD) Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program report, Alaska received $4 billion in defense spending in fiscal year 2022. The figure includes payment of personnel salaries, defense contracts, and construction of military facilities. Besides directly funneling money into Alaska’s economy, the military attracts other industries to the state. Meanwhile, the nearly 28,500 military personnel (as of 2022) and their families who make Alaska their home contribute temporarily and long-term to the health of the state’s economy.

A slew of new military projects across Alaska are bolstering an economy that has been struggling to recover since the COVID-19 pandemic—plus, new state legislation promises more economic benefits to come.

In July, Governor Mike Dunleavy signed legislation to establish the Alaska Military Affairs Commission. In addition to providing counsel and recommendations on military issues to the governor, the job of the new commission created by House Bill 155 includes studying the state’s economic opportunities within its military sector.

“In Alaska, the defense industry has long been a key part of our social and economic landscape,” Fairbanks Representative Will Stapp wrote in his sponsor statement. “[But] many gaps exist in our knowledge of how the military impacts Alaska’s economy and in pursuing growth opportunities as our nation’s defense priorities evolve.”

One aim of the bill is to grow the presence of the military in Alaska. Bill supporters hope to expand the pool of qualified candidates for assistant adjutant general—a top leadership position (unfilled at the time of publication) at the Alaska Army National Guard—and to encourage service members to stay in the state once their active duty is over.

Keeping people in Alaska is a crucial component of improving the state’s economy: since 2013, when the working-age population in the state numbered about 480,000, more people have been moving out than in. In 2023, the number of working-age Alaskans was down to 450,000.

One way to keep Alaskans in state is by creating opportunities, says John Raso, chief of military projects management for the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)-Alaska District.

“Everyone needs engineers and architects and contracting specialists, [so] it’s a little bit of a battle to keep people here. Just reflecting on my projects, though—we’re hiring Alaskans, we’re hiring locals,” Raso says.

In July, DOD updated its Arctic Strategy, which calls for enhanced US security through increased presence in the region. The document lays out plans for increasing communications, cold weather equipment, and infrastructure; greater engagement with Arctic allies and partners; and facilitating joint force training exercises. While new infrastructure brings additional construction to Alaska—creating jobs and generating income for local contractors—additional personnel required for increased military presence will spend their income in the communities surrounding Alaska’s bases.

“The bottom line,” says USACE-Alaska District Public Affairs Specialist Cameron McLeod, “is that with the DOD, there’s a lot of investment coming into Alaska.”

One joint force training has already taken place this year at Eielson Air Force Base: Red Flag-Alaska, a simulated combat training that brought 3,100 service members from Italy, the Netherlands, and the US to Eielson to fly and maintain more than 100 aircraft.

Red Flag-Alaska is just the latest project bringing more personnel to Eielson. In 2020, the first of 2,765 new service members arrived at the base to operate and maintain forty-four new F-35A Lightning II fighter jets. The project ultimately brought thousands of construction and associated jobs to Alaska.

In 2021, the Department of the Air Force announced plans to increase its Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker squadron at Eielson—bringing another 220 active-duty personnel from around the country to the base near North Pole. At the time, Senator Dan Sullivan commented, “These 220 active-duty personnel and their families, combined with the incoming 3,000 personnel and their families for the F-35s, will bring a strong and sustained economic boost to Interior communities at a time when we need it.”

Meanwhile, at Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, several major quality-of-life projects have been underway, including the DOD’s largest child development center. In addition to providing much-needed childcare to military families, the center is doubling its childcare staff.

“Those are more jobs for folks in the community and for military spouses who can get certified to do that [work],” says Mark Kelliher, engineer for the USACE Denali Area Office. “It’s injecting that extra workforce into the economy.”

Other quality-of-life projects at Fort Wainwright include new barracks currently under construction (with several more barracks planned for fiscal years 2025, 2026, and 2027), an aquatic center, and a new fitness center.

The military buildup that started immediately post-COVID-19 and continues today makes the Interior an outlier. While the rest of Alaska has been losing population, the Fairbanks North Star Borough has enjoyed a slight increase in population, thanks to the influx of military families. The economic impact of these additional families comes in the form of higher demand for housing, services, and recreation.

In Anchorage, the military’s sizeable contribution to the local economy comes from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). Here, troop numbers have not increased, instead remaining stable—but construction projects offer a boon for local contractors and small businesses.

An extension of the runway at JBER is one of the largest projects undertaken in the USACE- Alaska District. This project, which will be completed by September 2025, joins more quality-of-life construction on base, including renovations of the Turnagain Hall Dormitory, a project covered by a $20.3 million contract awarded Silver Mountain Construction of Anchorage.

“Something the Corps does a good job of is making sure everyone gets a piece of the pie,” comments Raso. “There’s fair solicitation, open solicitation, and there’s checks and balances to ensure [all] the work doesn’t go to the same contractors.”

USACE-Alaska District emphasizes working with local businesses through setting aside projects, such as the quality-of-life projects at JBER, for small businesses; components of the runway expansion also include a small business element.

Kelliher adds that, even with outside contractors, Alaska’s economy benefits because those contractors are hiring locals and purchasing materials and renting equipment from Alaska vendors.

The US Coast Guard hired Massachusetts construction firm Perini Management Services to design and build fifty housing units, in the form of twenty-five duplexes, at Nemetz Park Site on Base Kodiak. The construction is meant for service members and their families moving to base in support of four new Coast Guard cutters, expected to arrive in Kodiak in 2027.

This influx of additional residents not only increases demand on the local economy but influences Kodiak’s plans for the citywide housing market.

The Kodiak Island Borough is working on a long-term plan to increase residents’ access to affordable middle-income housing, part of which requires ensuring the necessary water and sewage infrastructure. One potential solution would involve sharing services with the Coast Guard, which maintains its own water and sewer infrastructure near the housing being built at Nemetz Park.

“The city [of Kodiak] has that infrastructure and the capacity. But how much more can we bear in the capacity?” said Kodiak Mayor Pat Branson in an interview with KMXT. “We have a very good working relationship with the Coast Guard here as well as in DC. So, you know, opportunities certainly might arise, and the city would be open for those discussions.”

Any contractor working outside of Alaska’s major population hubs will attest to the difficulties that surround remote work. Remote military bases face the same challenges, from getting supplies and materials to job sites in an efficient manner to finding workers and the cost of doing business off the road system.

Still, the work must get done, and the military is investing in improvements to several remote locations. Possibly the most challenging of these projects is a series of repairs USACE-Alaska District is supporting at several radar sites, including Eareckson Air Station at the tip of the Aleutian Chain; Sparrevohn Long Range Radar Station, situated halfway between Anchorage and Bethel; and Tin City Long Range Radar Site at the neck of the Bering Strait, closer to mainland Russia than to Nome.

“Obviously, those are super remote,” says Kelliher. “Our contractors are using local air carriers to get to some of those sites. They’re using different barging companies to get the materials up to the sites, or air carriers to bring conexes out to some of these sites.” All of those efforts, he explains, put money in the pockets of Alaska vendors.

Elsewhere, Alaska’s largest USACE civil works project is taking place in North Pole, where construction resumed this spring on the Moose Creek Dam Safety Modification Project. This safety upgrade will increase the dam’s strength and protect the greater Fairbanks area from future flooding. Other projects along the Kenai River, in Utqiaġvik, and at the Port of Nome are either underway or planned and will bring tangible economic benefits to nearby communities. And because vital public works, especially involving streams and coastlines, are the purview of the Corps of Engineers, they stand as yet another monument to the military presence.

All this work requires workers—a resource notably lacking in Alaska since the pandemic. According to the US Census Bureau, about one-third of individuals aged 16 to 26 have left Anchorage, most of whom migrated not elsewhere in the state but to the Lower 48. Meanwhile, the number of families moving into Alaska has dwindled.

Kelliher, though, points to initiatives like UAA’s Construction Management program as an opportunity to keep young workers in the state.

“It seems like there’s a very renewed interest and demand for getting qualified, skilled, and experienced people into the construction communities up here in Alaska,” he says. He mentions his own son, who is currently enrolled in UAA’s Construction Management program and has received multiple offers each summer to work for local construction companies—the same opportunities that could keep other graduates of the program in Alaska, rather than migrating Outside for work.

With DOD’s additional planned investments in Alaska for the coming years, there will be no shortage of jobs that could go to local workers, including those graduates.

“Money has been flowing into Alaska through congressional inserts,” says McLeod.

He adds that many earlier projects that had been identified as a priority, but were not funded at the time, have now been financed. McLeod credits support from Senator Lisa Murkowski, in particular. “She has a number of congressional inserts for especially Air Force projects this year, where we received planning and design funds to work pre-award projects. Those will probably end up being fiscal year ’27, ’28 projects,” he says.

Whether as Alaska’s largest employer or as a major consumer of local contractor services, the military sector will remain an integral part of the state’s economy.