Hoonah Air Force Station / Radio Relay Station, Alaska

A four-antenna White Alice relay on Alaska's coastal BMEWS communications route.

Hoonah Radio Relay Station was an Air Force communications station on Chichagof Island in southeast Alaska. Opened in 1961, it carried traffic along the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) A Route. Its tropospheric-scatter paths reached Lena Point near Juneau. Hoonah was a communications relay, not a missile-warning radar. ^{[1] [2] [4]}

Role

White Alice/BMEWS A Route communications relay.

Opened

1961.

Antennas

Four 60-foot troposcatter reflectors.

Direct links

Ocean Cape and Duncan Canal by troposcatter; Lena Point by TD-2 microwave.

Air Force operation

Ended in 1974; the route continued under RCA Alaska Communications lease.

Approximate location

58.116667 N, 135.433333 W. Alaska DEC case reference point, not a surveyed antenna position or property boundary.

Building the Coastal Relay

White Alice used fixed antennas to carry telephone and command circuits across Alaska's mountains and water. The coastal A Route extended that network down the Gulf of Alaska into southeast Alaska. The Army Corps' inventory identifies Hoonah as one of five troposcatter stations on this BMEWS route; its management plan records the station's opening in 1961. ^{[1] [2]}

Four 60-foot billboard-shaped troposcatter antennas served Hoonah's two long-distance paths. The station also had a 20,240-square-foot composite building and a warehouse. Its separate TD-2 microwave path reached Lena Point, a former Army Alaska Communications System station northwest of Juneau. ^{[1] [2] [5]}

Service and Network Changes

Hoonah occupied a key position in the coastal chain. Ocean Cape linked northwest toward Cape Yakataga, while Duncan Canal linked southeast toward Smuggler Cove. A 1976 Federal Communications Commission notice records RCA Alaska Communications' proposed equipment changes on the Hoonah-Lena Point microwave path. ^{[1] [6]}

In late 1973 the Air Force decided to end its operation of the A Route on July 1, 1974, because satellite and other terrestrial routes could meet defense traffic needs. Alaska objected because the line also carried public communications. The Air Force leased the six southeast Alaska A Route stations, including Hoonah, to RCA Alaska Communications. Hoonah ceased being an Air Force-operated station in 1974, but the communications route continued. ^{[2] [3]}

The Air Force pursued sale of selected A Route assets in 1976 and 1977. A supply team inspected Hoonah and Duncan Canal in 1977 while planning disposition of equipment that RCA was not buying. The Corps' later account places a sale to Alascom in February 1980 and records subsequent transfer to a Native corporation. ^{[2] [3]}

Later Landscape

The former station stands on a ridge northeast of Hoonah. Alaska DEC tracks a main cantonment cleanup case and three separate exposure-area cases; the main cantonment case was declared cleanup complete in 2013. The site has also acquired a new role in Hoonah's tourism landscape: Alaska's labor department reports that the Icy Strait Point ZipRider begins at the former Air Force station. ^{[2] [4] [7]}

Chronology

• 1961 Hoonah Radio Relay Station opened as a White Alice/BMEWS A Route relay.
• Late 1973 The Air Force announced plans to end military operation of the coastal A Route.
• July 1, 1974 Air Force operation ended and RCA Alaska Communications continued the route under lease.
• 1976-1977 Hoonah was included in Air Force negotiations to sell selected A Route assets.
• 1977 An Air Force supply team inspected Hoonah during equipment-disposition planning.
• February 1980 The Corps' later account places the Hoonah sale to Alascom in this month.
• 2013 Alaska DEC declared the former main cantonment cleanup case complete.