The Federal District of Alaska — and nothing of note that really needs to be acknowledged as a "state" except for the mountain of frivolous "SOA" court cases with their oh-so-convenient backlog of shelf warrants for arbitrary police pick-ups — is fully tricked out with government statecraft and tradecraft everywhere. Totally Soviet mindset even to this day in 2025.

The court cases are obviously bogus and they disappear quickly, because nothing like that can be allowed to stay on the record for anyone who passed a bar exam. Too quickly in many cases, and the defendants are never seen or heard from again. The cops, businessmen, lawyers and judges don't want anything of that sort on their records if they ever intend on practicing law outside of Alaska, but what happens in Alaska stays in Alaska (just like Las Vegas!) and criminals are right back in court again punishing law-abiding citizens and abusing the law as an instrument of wholesale theft and extortion.

Hotel beds are thumping everywhere with high crimes and misdemeanors in the Great District of Alaska, peepholes and hidden cameras and secretive social networks sharing blackmail-worthy photos and videos and audio recordings to be played as political poker chips.

Air Force tried to get CIA and FBI to cooperate on the Alaskan Stay-Behind network

While the FBI’s Stay-Behind network in Alaska has been previously explored - including how it was partially driven to spite the CIA - the Agency’s role in the Cold War contingency has largely been kept secret. Previously classified records reveal that the military specifically sought to get the CIA involved in the earliest months of the program.

MuckRockEmma Best

Operation Washtub: How the Air Force and FBI Recruited Alaskans to Resist a Soviet Invasion

From 1951 to 1959, the FBI and Air Force ran Operation Washtub, a covert program that trained bush pilots, trappers, hunters and miners to operate as covert agents if Soviet paratroopers ever landed in Anchorage or Fairbanks. The program remained classified for more than 50 years until documents were declassified in 2014, uncovering one of the Cold War’s most unusual operations.

Military.comAllen Frazier

Operation Washtub trained 89 civilian Alaskans as stay-behind agents to gather intelligence if Soviet forces invaded the territory between 1951 and 1959. ("Guardians of the North" by Mort Kunstler, courtesy National Guard Bureau)

"Washtubbers" in Alaska would typically have been panning and sluicing for gold around that time.

Hunting and fishing in Alaska? You're a spy, now! Your life now depends on how "useful" you are as a double agent for the CIA as opposed to KGB (now FSB).

The Alaska Project - An Underground Spy Network

Alaskan fishermen were trained to be spies during Cold War

Fearing a Russian invasion and occupation of Alaska, the U.S. government in the early Cold War years recruited and trained fishermen, bush pilots, trappers and other private citizens a…

New York PostAssociated Press

The CIA was warned of a potential “Red Dawn” scenario in Alaska

A 1951 letter to the Central Intelligence Agency from a former spymaster warned of Russian infiltration in North America’s northern territories. Despite being described by the CIA’s cover letter as discussing the Soviet threat to Alaska and Canada “in very general terms,” its information and warning were considered important enough to send to J. Edgar Hoover in a package marked SECRET, and it remained classified until late 2018 - 67 years after it was written.

MuckRockEmma Best

Alaska’s secret Cold War export? Shellfish toxin for the CIA.

In May 1960, Francis Gary Powers’ U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union during a high-altitude reconnaissance mission. In his pocket was a modified silver dollar containing a hidden needle loaded with a lethal dose of shellfish toxin.

AKPMAKPM Staff

CIA Jobs and Training Requirements for Careers in Alaska | How to Become a CIA Agent in AK

CIA Agent Education

How to Become a CIA Agent | CIA Agent Education

Alaska’s secret Cold War seafood export: Shellfish toxin for the CIA

Crew dig for clams on Mission beach. (Photo by Kayla Desroches / KMXT) Alaska is well known for its halibut, cod, salmon, and kelp, destined for the dinner table. But there’s one seafood product that may have been made for the CIA – one that you wouldn’t want to consume, a lethal toxin used …

KMXTDylan Simard

Northern intrigue: Former CIA tech director talks Cold War stratagems in the Last Frontier

“Alaska represents a time in CIA history when human espionage and technological espionage met and crossed,” said Robert Wallace, former director of the CIA Office of Technical Service.

Anchorage Daily NewsMike Dunham

EXCLUSIVE: New Area 51 Revealed — The ‘Alien Base’ Hidden in Alaska Mountain Being Monitored by CIA

Government documents revealed the agency has been keeping tabs on reported activity at Mount Hayes.

RadarOnlineHaley Gunn

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) | Project Jukebox

Project Jukebox

NSA Alaska (NSAA)
Located on the Joint Base Elmendorf and Richardson(JBER) outside of Anchorage, the state’s largest city, NSA Alaska focuses on strategic competition, working with partners to provide critical information and protect the nation. NSAA was established in 2020 from the former Alaska Mission Operations Center (AMOC). It has a 24/7 watch floor, Alaska Security Operations Center (ASOC) [https://www.nsa.gov/about/locations/].

National Security Agency Alaska and 373d Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group change of command ceremony

U.S. Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, Director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, speaks to the audience during the NSA Alaska and 373d Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group change of command ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 31, 2023. During the ceremony, U.S. Air Force Col. Celina Noyes, relinquished command to Col. Laura Terry. (U.S. Air Force photo by Sheila deVera)

DVIDS

Alaska’s Top Secret Cold War History

Those stories grandpa told of being a secret government spy after the Second World War may be true. Secret documents now made public reveal that Alaskan bush pilots and other civilians were recruited by intelligence agencies to be spies in the event of a Russian invasion. We’ll hear more about Alaska’s secret Cold War history on the next Talk of Alaska.APRN: Tuesday, September 9 at 10:00amDownload Audio

AKPMSteve Heimel

UAF CASR | Center for Arctic Security and Resilience

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