Editing Eielson Air Force Base (section)

===World War II===
[[File:25milefield1945.jpg|thumb|Mile 26 Satellite Field (now Eielson AFB), 1945|alt=Mile 26 Satellite Field, now Eielson AFB in 1945|left]]

On 7 June 1943, the [[Western Defense Command]] ordered construction of a new airfield near present-day [[Fort Wainwright]], then a [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF) airfield named after Major [[Arthur K. Ladd]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ak0068/|access-date=24 January 2020|title=Ladd Field, Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, Fairbanks North Star Borough, AK|website=[[Library of Congress]] |archive-date=24 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124211454/https://www.loc.gov/item/ak0068/|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of its hazard-free approaches and relatively flat terrain, surveyor reports indicated a site a little more than 25 miles southeast of [[Ladd Army Airfield]] to be the best in the vicinity for military aviation. The field became known as "Mile 26" because of its proximity to a [[United States Army Signal Corps]] telegraph station and a [[Richardson Highway]] milepost marker using the same designation.

A month later, contractors and civilian crews from Ladd Field started laying out the new airfield. Actual construction began on 25 August 1943. Crews built two parallel runways, {{convert|165|ft|m}} across and {{convert|6625|ft|m}} long. Other facilities included an operations building, housing for 108 officer and 330 enlisted personnel, and a ten-bed dispensary. The garrison and airfield totaled about {{convert|600|acre|km2}}. Completed on 17 October 1944, the 14-month project cost about eight-million dollars.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.themilitarystandard.com/afb/ak/eielson.php|access-date=24 January 2020|title=Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska|archive-date=14 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814063801/http://www.themilitarystandard.com/afb/ak/eielson.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

Operational uses of Mile 26 were few. Ladd Field served as the debarkation point for the [[ALSIB|Alaska-Siberia Ferry Route]] of the [[Lend-Lease]] program and was the hub of activity. Lend-lease aircraft would occasionally land at Mile 26, but there are no records indicating any lend-lease aircraft used the airfield to depart for the [[Soviet Union]]. Mile 26 closed when the war ended.