04.11.25

INDOPACOM Commander Recommends Reopening Adak Naval Base in Alaska

WASHINGTON—Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), in a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) yesterday, endorsed reopening the shuttered Adak Naval Air Station in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and increasing the operability of the nearby Eareckson Air Station. Paparo’s support came in response to questions posed by U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who has long pushed to reopen Adak as part of the larger build-up of U.S. military assets in Alaska.

In his exchange with Admiral Paparo, Sen. Sullivan highlighted Adak’s strategic location and extensive existing defense infrastructure, including three piers, two 8,000-foot runways, an airplane hangar, and one of the world’s largest fuel storage depots. The U.S. Navy recently sent an assessment team to the base. Sen. Sullivan warned that, in addition to the U.S. military, Chinese companies in recent years have also expressed interest in Adak.

NORTHCOM commander General Gregory Guillot also endorsed reopening the Adak base in a SASC hearing in February. The U.S. Navy is compiling cost estimates for a report on various reopening scenarios for the base, which is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks.

Admiral Paparo also testified that, this summer, Adak will be used as part of the Northern Edge exercise, a premier joint training exercise across the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and often military forces from allied nations.

Below is a full transcript of Sen. Sullivan’s exchange in SASC.

SENATOR SULLIVAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen. Admiral. General. I want to first begin by thanking you for your decades of service, both of you. You both do a great job and I think sometimes we don't always say that. Same with your staff. I have shown this chart to many folks here in the last few months. This is the action that's happening in the North Pacific, Admiral, as you know, up in the Arctic. Very, very aggressive Russian, Chinese actions into our ADIZ, into our EEZ. The unprecedented element of this is the joint task force nature—Russian-Chinese joint strategic bomber task forces last summer in our ADIZ. Every summer for the last three years, we have had joint Russian-Chinese naval task forces in our EEZ, being very aggressive and pushing out Alaska fishermen from their grounds. We need more—everybody's testified—we need more infrastructure up there. Admiral, in a classified hearing, you said we need to reopen this very strategic port: Navy Base Adak. By the way, I did a little geography test. It's over a thousand miles west of Hawaii. Most people have no clue about that. It's also the gateway to the Arctic. The NORTHCOM commander has testified we need to reopen Adak. The CNO has testified. Why do you think Adak is so important, Admiral?

ADMIRAL PAPARO: Senator, it is a further western point which would enable, along with Eareckson, an opportunity to gain time and distance on any force capability that's looking to penetrate. Russia's Pacific Fleet frequently takes the Great Circle route through Alaska. It would enable up to ten times the maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft coverage of that key and increasingly contested space.

SULLIVAN: You testified in the classified hearing that you think we should reopen [Adak]. Now that we're in an unclassified hearing, can you say that in an unclassified setting too?

PAPARO: We should reopen Adak and we should enhance the ability to operate out of Eareckson.

SULLIVAN: Thank you on that. It has three piers, two 8, 000 ft runways, a big hangar, 22 million gallons of fuel storage—one of the biggest fuel storage depots anywhere on the planet Earth. The CNO just sent a team up there—Navy, State of Alaska, the Aleut Corporation. The NORTHCOM commander just reached out to me two days ago saying they’ll have a final report completed in the next two weeks on a low-, medium-, to high- reopening scenario. Can you commit to this committee to work with the NORTHCOM commander to get that report out in the next two weeks?

PAPARO: I commit.

SULLIVAN: You also have plans with regard to Northern Edge in terms of that really important exercise, using Adak. Can you talk a little bit about that, to the extent you can in an unclassified setting?

PAPARO: The United States Air Force's concept of agile combat employment is the means by which we achieve more dynamism among the force. The 11th Air Force is based in Alaska. That is an assigned force to United States INDOPACOM.

SULLIVAN: The 11th Air Force with over 100 fifth generation fighters up there.

PAPARO: The preponderance of INDOPACOM’s fifth generation fighters is in Alaska. We will be exercising the agile combat employment concept in this summer's Northern Edge exercise.

SULLIVAN: And Adak’s going to be part of that?

PAPARO: They will operate out of Adak.

SULLIVAN: Great. Let me mention one thing. After the President’s election, he actually put a statement out saying: “We will ensure Alaska gets increased defense investments as we fully rebuild our military, especially as Russia and China are making menacing moves in the North Pacific.” That's a quote from the commander in chief. I know I've raised this with you, but it's a little bit of an issue just in terms of the urgency. As I mentioned, the State of Alaska, the Aleut Corporation—a great Alaska Native Corporation that owns the land there, and the U.S. Navy were in Adak a couple weeks ago doing a site assessment. They're going to get that to us soon. The Aleut Corporation I've talked to. These are great patriotic Americans—Alaska Natives serve at higher rates in the military than any other ethnic group in the country. They would love to do a deal with the Navy, a 99-year lease or something like that. But you know who checks in with them once a year, Admiral, about leasing Adak?

PAPARO: I would guess it's not a friendly power.

SULLIVAN: It's not. It's a Chinese shipping company that is certainly, in my view, a front company for the PLA. How embarrassing would it be to the Pentagon or the Navy—these guys would never do it; the Aleut Corporation is all patriotic—but let's assume they weren't, and somehow they signed a 100-year lease with a Chinese shipping company that is always out there looking at Adak. Do you think that would be embarrassing for the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon?

PAPARO: On substance, I think it would be bad, because this is the modus operandi in the “Belt and Road” Initiative. Imagine having the Belt and Road Initiative include Alaska.

SULLIVAN: One of the most strategic ports in the world.

PAPARO: Amen.

SULLIVAN: So we have a sense of urgency on this. I look forward to working with you and the committee, Mr. Chairman, on this important issue.

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