Elements of the 9th Infantry were on hand as the Russian Golden Eagle was lowered and the Stars and Stripes were raised in Sitka, which then became headquarters for the Alaska Military District.

Charged with maintaining law and order in the new territory, U.S. Army soldiers helped quell uprisings and built new forts at Wrangell, St. Paul Canal, Kodiak Island, and on the Kenai Peninsula.

The Army in Alaska, numbering only a few hundred, became increasingly unpopular due to their idleness and failure to contain the illegal supplying of guns and alcohol to natives, with some soldiers even helping facilitate the trade.

Over 20 percent of Alaska's Army garrison was court martialed from 1868-1869 alone, and in 1870, their budget was cut drastically, and all military posts except Sitka were shut down.

The Signal Corps operated weather stations, and a number of officers led small geographic explorations to learn more about the territory.

These expeditions into various parts of Alaska continued through the turn of the 20th century, as mapmaking and road and bridge building expanded the frontier.

Through the Lend-Lease program, the United States transferred nearly 8,000 aircraft to the Soviet Union at Ladd Field, which later became Fort Wainwright.

The ALCAN Highway complemented military infrastructure that was built throughout Alaska than ensured Allied forces could defend the territory and carry the fight to the enemy, if necessary.

The Japanese secretly evacuated Kiska in late-July 1943, several weeks prior to U.S. and Canadian forces seizing the island in mid-August 1943.

Military missions assigned to USARAL included ground and air defense of Alaska, with priority to the Anchorage and Fairbanks areas; development of cold-weather and mountain-warfare doctrines; conducting a cold-weather and mountain school at Fort Greely; providing logistical support to Air Force and Navy elements in Alaska; conducting National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve training; supervising Reserve Officer Training Corps activities; and, providing internal security, including plans for recovery from nuclear attack.

By 1959, several Nike Hercules missile battalions were activated in the Anchorage and Fairbanks areas which operated under the last unit inactivated in 1979.

The two battalions and their direct support ordnance companies fell under the command of the USARAL Artillery Group, headquartered at Fort Richardson.

[5] The Group was directly responsible to the USARAL Commanding General for Army participation in the air defense of Alaska, which involved Nike Hercules batteries, fighter interceptors, and the associated early warning radars and communications systems.

USARAK was headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Fort Wainwright, aligned as a major subordinate command of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC).

The 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division was headquartered at Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks, along with Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC) and U.S. Army Garrison Alaska.