I think it goes back to Billy Mitchell, who was founder of the American Air Force.

He said basically, he who holds control of Alaska controls the world or certainly controls

North America.

The best way to get a weapon or a bomber into North America is across the Arctic and that's

from all parts of Eurasia as well as as well as some other spots in the Middle East.

And so you have always seen an air defense here.

You've always seen concern about submarines in the Arctic.

You've seen concerns now about hypersonic missiles and you know when the Russians have

bear bombers come close to our defense zone they're carrying cruise missiles

and so it's very very important for the security of our country to understand

the the capabilities of what might be an enemy,

and their intentions, and their plan tactics.

And so we've had quite a bit of an intelligence community in Alaska for some time.

That was Meade Treadwell.

He's a former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska and a longtime advocate for Arctic policy and

security. As former chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission and a key figure in Arctic

governance, he has engaged with issues rooted in Cold War era infrastructure and its modern

strategic legacy.

The idea that Alaska might be invaded by an army, it's real.

You have to deter for it.

The capability is there of places, especially small groups coming in to maybe take out

our missile defense or our radars.

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