of Ladd Field with a community open house which will include static aircraft displays and demonstrations of FWA units’ capabilities. Hangar 1, a key building during the Lend Lease operation with feature displays commemorating Ladd Field’s 70 years of operations including Fort Wainwright history publications and a historic military uniform display. Fort Wainwright began as Ladd Field in 1940, built for as a Cold Weather Test Detachment. With winter days in which the temperatures did not rise above -40, Army Air Corps officers envisioned that this small air field in the Interior of Alaska would be the ideal place to test military planes and gear in a subarctic environment. The hardy test pilots had their work cut out for them in the harsh climate. Though they successfully conducted cold-weather testing throughout the 1940s, Ladd Field quickly took on new globally important missions as World War II began. During the war, Ladd Field was a transportation depot, a staging field for the Aleutian campaigns, and a commercial air center, but most importantly, as early as 1942, Ladd Field began to support the Lend Lease operations. The United States agreed to send the Soviet Union planes and other supplies to fight the Nazis on the Russian front. This arrangement was known as the Lend Lease Program, and Ladd Field was the main transfer point of the Lend Lease’s Northwest Staging Route. American pilots would ferry planes from Montana using small airfields constructed in Canada and Alaska. At Ladd Field, the American planes would be winterized, painted with the Soviet’s red star, and given to Soviet pilots to continue the journey to the Russian’s front. Between 1942 and 1945, 7,926 planes were transferred to Russian pilots at Ladd Field. To facilitate the transfer, more than 300 Russian officers, mechanics and pilots were stationed at Ladd Field throughout the war. The Russians were assigned a number of facilities on the installation, including the entire west side of Hangar 1, where they performed much of their prefight maintenance. After World War II, Ladd Field was transferred to the newly formed Air Force, and this military installation which had been a example of American- Russian cooperation during WWII became one of the first outpost of the Cold War. Reconnaissance squadrons flew missions gathering information on the Soviet Union, while fighter squadrons were assigned to project the state from potential invasion. In 1961, the Ladd Field Air Force Base transferred to the Army and was renamed Fort Wainwright. Today with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team and the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade stationed at the post, Fort Wainwright continues to support Army missions including rapid world-wide deployment. In 1984, the Ladd Field World War II National Historic Landmark was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the landmark contains more than 30 buildings and structures, many of