Sullivan Chairs Hearings on Military Readiness and Arctic Security as Alaska Undergoes Largest Buildup Since WWII
By Office of Senator Dan Sullivan on Comments Off on Sullivan Chairs Hearings on Military Readiness and Arctic Security as Alaska Undergoes Largest Buildup Since WWII
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Subcommittee on Readiness and the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, chaired two hearings over the past week focused on strengthening U.S. military readiness and advancing critical investments in Arctic security infrastructure in Alaska.
The first hearing, a field hearing held at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), examined the urgent need to strengthen America’s Arctic infrastructure and maritime capabilities. Expert witnesses—including the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—emphasized Alaska’s central role in homeland defense and highlighted key infrastructure priorities to better support U.S. military and Coast Guard (USCG) operations in the Arctic and North Pacific. These priorities include the expansion of the Port of Nome as the nation’s first deep-water port, reopening the naval base at Adak, homeporting the USCGC Storis in Juneau, and closing America’s icebreaker gap by building 16 new icebreakers, some of which could be homeported in Alaska—all part of the largest military build-up in Alaska since World War II.
Sen. Sullivan also chaired a Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support hearing examining the current readiness of the Joint Force. During the hearing, Sullivan and senior military leaders discussed the state of U.S. force readiness, the need to strengthen America’s munitions stockpiles and defense industrial base, and the growing threats posed by America’s adversaries, such as China and Russia.
In both hearings, Sen. Sullivan underscored Alaska’s strategic importance to U.S. national security and the need for continued investments in the state’s military capabilities, infrastructure, and Arctic presence. Sen. Sullivan has long pushed to strengthen America’s military posture in the Arctic, warning for years that the region can no longer be treated as a strategic backwater by the Pentagon. This point was emphasized by the recent incursion of two Russian TU-142 “Bear” bombers into the Alaska and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) that were intercepted by Alaska-based F-35s, AWACS, tanker aircraft, and later F-22s out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Witnesses in last week’s hearings emphasized that such incursions are becoming the “new normal,” underscoring the need to continue the most significant build-up of U.S. military infrastructure and capabilities in Alaska since World War II—billions of dollars in investments aimed at strengthening homeland defense and ensuring the United States can project power and defend its interests in the Arctic and the Indo-Pacific.
Sen. Sullivan highlighted these hearings and Alaska’s continued military build-up during several interviews this week.
Incursions in Alaska the “New Normal” “Last night, we had another Russian bear bomber incursion into our ADIZ. This doesn’t even make the news anymore. They’re being so aggressive up in Alaska. We’ve had two Russian bear bomber incursions with fighters in the last three weeks. Our military, which they always do, they do a great job of going out. We had F-22s, F-35s, AWACS tankers going to intercept these Russians. Once again, they did a great job in my state. We are on the front lines of this new era of authoritarian aggression with Russia and China in the northern part of America, in the Arctic, in the North Pacific. We’re seeing that all the time in Alaska.”
Click here to watch Sen. Dan Sullivan’s interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
Alaska Undergoing Largest Military Build-up Since WWII
“We are now undergoing the largest military build-up and expansion, billions of dollars in investment in Alaska, since World War II…My belief is we’re doing a lot, but we need to do more.”
Click here to watch Sen. Dan Sullivan’s interview on KTUU.
Progress Being Made on Golden Dome
“We’re also the cornerstone of missile defense for the country. All the ground-based missile interceptors that we have protecting America, with the exception of four in California, they’re all in Alaska. All the big radar systems that track incoming ballistic missiles are in Alaska. What the Golden Dome does, it’s going to build out that system and it’s going to integrate it with a space-based system in terms of tracking and space based interceptors. We had a down payment of $25 billion for that in the budget reconciliation bill. The President’s provided great leadership. Senator Cramer and I got legislation in the NDAA this year to kind of put into law the Golden Dome initiative, but we need to accelerate it more. There’s a lot more work to do.”
Click here to watch Sen. Dan Sullivan’s interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
“The spending bill for Homeland Security is now stalled, but ICE isn’t shut down. You know who they’re shutting down? The Coast Guard, FEMA, TSA. That is who is bearing the burden here. It’s not ICE…They are taking the whole Coast Guard and FEMA hostage and it just makes no sense. It’s making us more vulnerable, especially in my part of the world…Our [service] members will still try to go do their missions, but the stress on the families—how are you going to pay your rent? How are you going to pay for food…We’re having all these winter storms. FEMA’s needed. That’s going to shut down. None of this makes sense…It’s wrong and it does undermine our security.”
Click here to watch Sen. Dan Sullivan’s interview on The Sean Spicer Show.
