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.

The Alaskan Sea Frontier was inactivated in 1971 as part of post-Vietnam War military reductions by President Gerald R. Ford and Secretary of Defense James R.

The 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron flies the E-3 Sentry, which can direct friendly fighter aircraft to intercept and identify unknown aircraft as they enter U.S. airspace and also augment existing ground-based radar systems by providing a survivable airborne radar platform during hostilities.

Previously known as United States Army Alaska (USARAK), 11th Airborne Division is a subordinate element of I Corps, headquartered at Joint Base Lewis–McChord.

11th Airborne commands two brigade combat teams, an Aviation Task Force, the United States Army garrisons and tenant organizations in Alaska, the NCO Academy and Reserve Component units:[5] Tenant organizations are located at each of the division's installations and include the USA Medical Department Activity-Alaska, USA Dental Activity-Alaska, a signal battalion, and the Bureau of Land Management.

District 17 forces are located at Petersburg, Juneau, Ketchikan, Homer, Seward, Tok, Anchorage, Kenai, Valdez, Nome, St. Paul, and three air stations at Kodiak, Sitka and Cordova (seasonal).

The district uses a wide variety of vessels, including tenders, patrol boats and medium endurance cutters.

Due to budget constraints and warming relations with former adversaries, the Adak Naval Air Station was closed in March 1997.

The island's population had shrunk to approximately five hundred unaccompanied personnel residents – down from a peak of nearly 5000 active duty and family members.