Military

Air Force Lt. Gen. David Krumm said the Air Force isn’t allowing service members to bring their families to Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks due to a lack of housing.

The Navy says it won’t be testing any weapons in Southeast Alaska waters.

Eielson Air Force Base has increased its COVID-19 precautions after Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s commander declared a public health emergency on Friday.

The Coast Guard said the four Chinese warships included a guided missile cruiser, a guided missile destroyer, a general intelligence vessel and an auxiliary vessel.

An Alaska Air National Guard spokesperson says the Guard’s 176th Wing provided two C-17 cargo planes and four aircrews to help U.S. forces evacuate Americans and others from Afghanistan.

An evolving policy set out in the Army’s Arctic Strategy issued earlier this year directs Alaska-based units to focus mainly on operating in and around the circumpolar north.

The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has been watched closely by veterans of the 20-year war. That includes many based or formerly based in Alaska, which is said to have a higher percentage of veterans than any other state.

As the Taliban takes control again, Murkowski said she’s thinking about the gains lost and the many American soldiers killed in that country over the past two decades.

U.S. military service members in Alaska and worldwide will be required to get COVID-19 vaccines beginning next month.

As the U.S. nears President Joe Biden’s August deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, the politics and logistics of getting everyone out of there are complicated and shifting all over the country. Former Juneau resident Heather Barr is keeping an eye on the region.