Thule AB

Thule Air Base (Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport) is the United States Space Force‘s northernmost base, and the northernmost installation of the U.S. Armed Forces, located 750 mi (1,210 km) north of the Arctic Circle and 947mi (1,524 km) fromthe North Pole on the northwest coast of the island ofGreenland. Thule’s arctic environment includes icebergs in North Star Bay, two islands (Saunders Island and Wolstenholme Island), a polar ice sheet, andWolstenholme Fjord – the only place on Earth where four active glaciers join together. The airfield’s 10,000-foot (3,000m) runway handlesmore than 3,000 US and international flights per year. Finally, Thule is home to the northernmost deep-water port in the world.

History

On the anniversary of Germany’s occupation of Denmark, 9 April 1941, the Agreement relating to the ‘Defense ofGreenland’was signed inWashingtonByDanishAmbassadorHenrickKauffman andSecretary of State Cordull Hull. It was approved by President Roosevelt on 7 June 1941. In the agreement, the US agreed to take over the security of Greenland. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the allies established weather stations atNarssarssuaqAirport,Sondestrom(BluieWest-8), Ikateq (BluieEast-2), andGronnedal (Bluie West-9). The weather stations gave the allies a strategic edge over the Germans in battle planning and provided a decisive factor in D-Day. Based on a good weather forecast from Greenland. General Eisenhower scheduled the landing in Normandy despite the strong winds in the English channel. Based on the Greenland weather reports, he knew the winds would die the following day, so the invasion was on!

Thule has had a long-standing reputation in the Air Force as an assignment for those who screwed up, but it was a critical link in the United States strategic defense posture. A few senior 55th Wing members remember it well, not necessarily fondly.