Arctic Cold War Games in Alaska: "Polar Strike" 1965 US Air Force Film Report FR-518

more at http://quickfound.net/

EXERCISE POLAR STRIKE, ALASKA, 25 JANUARY - 18 FEBRUARY 1965

Originally a public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1607th_Air_Transport_Wing

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

...As a unit of the Military Air Transport Service, the 1607th Air Transport Wing had its share of responsibilities in major joint mobility exercises and global operations conducted during the “Cold War.” Examples include: Big Slam/Puerto Pine, March 1960, was an exercise that deployed 22,000 combat Army troops and 12,000 tons of gear from stateside bases to Ramey AFB and Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station, Puerto Rico; Check Mate II, September 1961, involved the deployment of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to bases in Europe; Southern Express, October 1962, a NATO exercise which involved airlifting troops from central Europe to northern Greece; Big Lift, October 1963, the deployment of a full Army division from Texas to West Germany; The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962. In support of President John F. Kennedy’s decision to blockade Cuba, Dover Air Force Base was called upon to support the build-up of forces in the southeastern United States. The Wing and its aircrews worked at peak capacity airlifting troops and supplies from bases throughout the country to Florida and Guantanamo Bay. History shows that we were within 36 hours of a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union; the Congo Airlift, also known as Operation “New Tape,” was, at the time, history's longest lasting operational airlift, lasting 3 1/2 years, from 1960 to 1964; Operation Good Hope, September 1957, the airlift of arms support to Jordan. Forty vehicles equipped with 109 mm weapons were carried in five C-124s that flew in formation from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to Amman, Jordan; Project ICE CUBE, May 1955, supported the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in northern Canada; Polar Strike, January 1965, was conducted to evaluate U.S. STRICOM's ability to reinforce the Alaskan Command...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_Command

The Alaskan Command (ALCOM) is a joint subordinate unified command of the United States Northern Command, responsible for operations in and around the state of Alaska. Alaskan Command is charged with maintaining air sovereignty, deploying forces for worldwide contingencies as directed by the Commander, US Northern Command, providing support to federal and state authorities during civil emergencies and conducting joint training for the rapid deployment of combat forces. ALCOM combined forces include more than 16,000 Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard personnel, and 3,700 guardsmen and reservists. Recently, the Command Representative for Missile Defense position was created to be the focal point for all issues related to Ground-Based Midcourse Defense in Alaska, in support of Alaskan Command, the Alaska NORAD Region, and the Eleventh Air Force.

ALCOM is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage. The command is made up of the following military forces:

Eleventh Air Force, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base

United States Army Alaska, headquartered at Fort Richardson

United States Naval Forces Alaska, headquartered in Juneau, Alaska

ALCOM also conducts close cooperation and training with the Joint Forces Headquarters, Alaska National Guard, headquartered at Camp Denali, part of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage...