After the Army deployed 130 airborne soldiers to a far-flung Aleutian Islands base amid joint Russian-Chinese military tests offshore, Alaskan leaders warned the only response should be American strength.
The Army sent the soldiers to Eareckson Air Station on Shemya Island, less than 300 miles from Kamchatka, Russia. The deployment occurred amid the “Ocean 2024” joint military exercises between two of the U.S.’s largest geographic foes.
Russian state media said more than 15 warships in the region practiced missile launches, among other activities. The news follows a July incident in which U.S. F-16s and Canadian CF-18s were dispatched to intercept two Russian and two Chinese bombers off Alaska.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commander of the 11th Airborne based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage, said in a statement reported by the Alaska Beacon that the U.S. response ensured Army capabilities.
“[It] is critical to our nation’s defense and the preservation of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Hilbert said. “Our ability to deploy combat-credible forces quickly and effectively to any location, no matter how remote, is critical to supporting the nation and our strong relationships with allies and partner nations.”
IN THE ONLY STATE BORDERING RUSSIA, ALASKA GOVERNOR SAYS ITS DEFENSES ARE ‘STRONG’
Meanwhile, Alaska Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Russia and his state are less than two miles apart at their closest point, between Big and Little Diomede Islands in the Bering Sea. The latter has a small Inupiaq village whose residents can see across to Russia.
“We live in a dangerous neighborhood,” Dunleavy said in a Tuesday interview.
“Unlike just about every other state, we have flyovers close to our territorial zones. … We have the Russians and Chinese going through the Bering Strait.”
Of the Ocean 24 drills that caused the U.S. response: “I think the Russians are sending a message. What that is, I’m not sure, but certainly our folks in D.C. are receiving it and beefing up some of our personnel out there in the western Aleutians.”
However, Dunleavy said Alaska is prepared to defend its territory and the U.S., if need be.
There are several high-end military bases across the vast state, from JBER to Clear Space Force Station in Fairbanks, to Fort Greely in Delta Junction, to the Near Islands station now receiving reinforcements.
“We have incredible rapid deployment forces. … So, if the question is: Are we concerned about Russia that they may do harm to Alaska? No. We [also] have a missile defense shield in place that guard against any North Korean missile launches.”
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Sergei Bobylev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
When asked about former President Trump’s claim that such aggressive behavior from U.S. rivals wouldn’t happen under his watch, Dunleavy said, “It’s true.”
“We view the world as Americans. … And that’s not how the world views itself at times. It’s a dangerous world. And I do think that once they perceive weakness, especially those folks in the Middle East and then the Chinese and the Russians, they take advantage of it.”
In televised remarks, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Ocean 24 exercises the largest in three decades, per Reuters.
“We pay special attention to strengthening military cooperation with friendly states,” Putin said. “Today, in the context of growing geopolitical tensions in the world, this is especially important.”
“[America is] trying to maintain its global military and political dominance at any cost,” Putin added, saying the U.S. seeks to “inflict a strategic defeat” in Ukraine and upend the “established security architecture” in the Asia-Pacific.
Such national security threats, however, are falling on too many deaf ears in Washington, according to Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, a Marine Corps Forces Reserves colonel with 30 years of active-duty service and deployments.
“The Chinese and Russians in both the North Pacific and Arctic are escalating in ways we haven’t seen in decades,” Sullivan said. “Actually, in ways we’ve never seen because they’ve never really operated jointly like this.”
Alaska has seen its “fair share” of Russian “Bear” bombers menacing the state over the years, Sullivan said in a Tuesday interview. “[But] last summer, we had a 12-ship joint Russian-Chinese naval task force – that’s unprecedented – off [our] coast.”
“The way the Russians and Chinese respond is they only really react to force. And what we need to do is continue to provide our military assets to meet them in our [territory]. This is America, and it might be far away for most Americans, but it’s certainly America for me and my constituents.”
He noted the 11th Airborne’s new presence on the Aleutian chain, adding that another task force would be arriving from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Olympia, Washington.
Sullivan said that he has routinely hosted top military brass in Alaska and authored an NDAA provision to further examine the major Aleutian island of Adak, where the U.S. used to operate a submarine and airbase.
Sullivan said Russian interests have reportedly approached Alaskan Native corporations who own land on Adak, which is not far from the well-known crabbing capital of Dutch Harbor.
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Anchorage, Alaska (Zihao Chen via Getty Images)
He blamed Democrats at present for holding up any substantive political response.
“In the Senate, [Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer … doesn’t give a damn about national security,” he said.
“We have had the NDAA sitting around for three months. We’re voting on district court judges, and there are even Democrat senators telling Schumer to bring the National Defense Authorization Act to the floor. He won’t do it right now.”
Sullivan said Democrats have a custom of slashing defense spending – or at least attempting to – throughout the terms of Presidents Carter, Clinton, Obama and Biden.
Meanwhile, he said the Republican administrations of Presidents Reagan, Eisenhower, both Bushes and Trump all did the opposite.
“That’s just the wrong signal to be sending adversaries like [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, adversaries like the ayatollahs [in Iran]. Weakness is provocative, and we’re seeing a huge example of that,” Sullivan said.
In the past week, Sullivan said there have been four foreign incursions of the ADIZ (air defense identification zone) in Alaska, three by air and one by sea.
While not a formal invasion, unannounced incursions into the ADIZ – a hypothetical ring outside the nation’s true border wherein the U.S. tries to identify the craft coming toward it – is alarming.
Sullivan said multiple refuelings are required for U.S. military craft to reach the western Aleutians, which are more than 1,000 miles from Anchorage. The Russians, meanwhile, only need to travel about the distance from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., to threaten U.S. soil.
“Our military does a fantastic job, but we need more assets. We need more infrastructure to protect not just Alaska. But if [the U.S.] is going to be attacked in any way by cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, we are the avenue of approach for the rest of the country.”
“Defending Alaska airspace and Alaska water protects all of America.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
