Adak: Why the Westernmost Town in the US Exists 

The island looks beautiful, but the complete absence of trees, like in other similar places, makes it kind of eerie.

Hey, Sam from Extremities, I love your work! It sucks that you aren't appreciated by Sam from Wendover or Sam from Half as Interesting.

This is incredible. I absolutely adore small, far-away islands - so this whole channel feels like it's just for me. Wish you guys had a Patreon for this channel.

I was stationed on Adak back in the early 90s when I was in the Navy. Interesting place.

Love the interviews and the choice to include the water color style visuals. You really went the extra mile with the production quality

Thanks for making this. I was wondering when you would cover Adak. I spent a bit of time on Adak and other near by islands in the summers of 2004-08 doing biological work for the federal government. I enjoyed seeing footage of the island of places I have walked and boated. Adak is truly a unique town.

A bit of personal Adak trivia: As Marine communicator with a top secret clearance, nearing the end of my first tour in Vietnam,1968, the Naval Air Stn., Adak Ak., was 'threatened' as a 'potential' next duty station. The ploy was to get this young Marine to extend his Vietnam tour another 6 months. . .It worked and I stayed warm. . . A cruel deception, in deed.

Loving the rate of content. The podcasts were great but this is next level.

I spent 24 months there (84 - 86), NavFac Adak. Really enjoyed it. I found out that my grandfather had actually been part of the CB battalion that built it during WWII.

My mom lived here in the 60s when she was a little girl. She’s told me stories about sitting on the docks seeing fishermen bring in crabs bigger than her, and her and her siblings digging tunnels in the snow drifts on the side of their house. Sounds like quite an interesting place.

Great video! My grandfather was stationed at Adak during WW2. He was a radio operator recording Japanese radio transmissions. He had tons of great stories and I would love to see it myself some day.

I think an episode on Diomede would be interesting as well.

My family was almost placed there in Adak, but had the option to go to Delta Junction in the interior between Fairbanks and Tok. My moms music teacher job took her to Delta Junction instead. She chose Delta because it was on the road system and more people.

I've been to Adak in the mid 80's when the Navy base was there and there is no way anyone is going to mistake it for "Anytown , USA" . I spent a month in the summer on a cable repair ship working along the Aleutian Islands . Desolate is the word , windy with grey skies and seas , the sun making an appearance was an event . At the dock in Adak there were enormous Ravens and Bald Eagles scavenging the dumpsters , you could feed the eagles by hand . Glad I saw it but no desire to return . The base had a lot of Filipino personnel and their families there , I heard that the reason was that they got big economic incentives to do tours there because it was considered a hardship assignment .

The day after Sam created a video on all his mistakes I found one here. Alaska wasn’t a state until 1959. So well after WW2.

Two things worth mentioning: The Adak National Forest, you missed it? Second, When I arrived with Patrol Squadron 47 we were all instructed to go to the west end of the island to pick up a stone then deposit that stone on the east end. The thinking was if everyone did this then eventually the island would be returned to the mainland. Cheers

I've always loved the Billy Mitchell quote: "Whoever holds Alaska holds the world".

There in 1975 with the navy for 72 hours. An amazingly beautiful place. Buildings half buried in the ground with steel cables anchoring them down to prevent them being blown away by the wind. Standing on the dock and watching 15 or more bald eagles without having to turn my head.

"...the only american soil ever occupied by a foreign country during a war" - Angry British/Canadian noises

4:30 Remark about the flag. At that time (mid 19th century) the Russian flag was different: Black Golden White. It was official flag of The Russian Empire and these were emperor's house colors.

I was stationed on Adak from December 92 to July 94, for the entire military draw down. When I got there it was Naval Air Station Adak, AK, a command of a little over 5000. When I left it was Naval Air Facility Adak, AK, a command of almost 500. I was one of the last people to get the 18 month tour there. Two weeks after I arrived, they changed the type of command it was, and the tour of duty was for a year. I'll say it here, I hated my job there, but the island itself was amazing. The people were wonderful. There was always something to do outside of work.

“The Aleuts had relocated” Correction. “The Aleuts had been forcibly relocated”

I'm from a rural Alaskan island town, I get the appeal of these places for tourist, but it's a really different life that would be hard to return to.

My Dad was stationed there in the Navy in 1960. My Mom and I flew there in 1960 when I was 6 weeks old. I have a video transferred from 8mm of our plane landing and my Dad taking me in his arms for the first time.

I bought my CD of Nirvanas Nevermind at the record store on Adak in the early 90s.. 😎

In 1996 the Navy Seabee Battalion I was assigned to, NMCB 4, sent a detachment to Adak to help with mothballing the base. I didn't get to go but several of my friends did. The detachment's primary job was to ensure preservation of Bering Chapel, which was built by Army Engineers in 1944. It's still standing but it's definitely showing the ravages of 25-years of disuse.

Hardly any reason to remove the key from the ignition of the car, when everyone know it's your car, and it is impossible to actually steal it and get away with it, as there is no way to go anywhere in the car.

Spent over a year in total on Adak, mostly 1997-2002, but also a bit a few years later. Environmental cleanup for the Navy. Beautiful place. Loved the volcanoes, loved the sea, loved the bald eagles, the otters, etc. Cleanest air you can imagine. Peaceful. I am an introvert, but even so, it is a lonesome place and won't work for most people for long.

"I can see Russia from my house!" - some Alaskan politician

Goodness, I feel so fortunate to have access to quality content like this for free. Thank you for giving us your wealth of high-quality, diversely educational content!

I lived on Adak between '81 and '83 5th and 6th grade student. We lived on Salmon Circle in Robert's housing, which I believe is now leveled. Some things I remember: Playing at the dump. Staying out on the playground until 11 PM because there was still light. Sunshine liberty, when school closed so we could enjoy a 60-degree day in our shorts and t-shirts! Blizzards that shut down the roads for a couple of days. My sister being blown away exiting the Bering building after swimming lessons in the most chorine-laden pool I've ever been in. Baskin-Robins in the Bearing building. Playing hide and seek in foxholes left over from WWII...really hard to be found with the wind-swept tundra blowing over you. Herring fishing in Clam Lagoon - we always went late at night and my friend Barbara R. and I ate Tutti-Frutti drink mix in her dad's camper/pickup truck. Thousands of Sand Dollars. 4th of July fireworks over the Bering Sea wearing warm coats. Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles harassing pets, probably eating some. The time my dad and his fishing buddies were followed by a pod of killer whales (Mr. Swisher?) in their refurbished 16-foot (tiny) fishing boat. My mom learning to clean halibut he brought home. The best beer-batter fried halibut you can imaging. Finding the leavings of sailors in abandoned Quonset huts. Finger Bay. Traffic Circle. Salmon. Dolly Varden. Getting up at 3 AM to ride bikes to Traffic Circle with my sister to go fishing because the fishing is better at that hour (not sure who told us that...maybe it was a tide thing). A new school - Ann C. Steven's elementary was opened when I was there. Ike Isenhour, who ran the seismology station at the time, instilling a fascination with earthquakes to this day. Ms. M. Wilkins, my fifth grade and best teacher ever. Ms. Chainey, who was also a great teacher. Mr. G. Sawyer, who introduced us all to the synthesizer in band...because they were a big deal back then. Riding the bus home with rowdy marines. Bowling with mom and dad....the place was full of cigarette smoke and I kept score on paper score sheets. Sledding with all the kids in the neighborhood. Crab. Walking on catwalks alongside/underneath some very large piers and seeing the rainbow-colored Japanese Perch in the clear waters. The elephant cage where my dad worked. Looking at Mt. Sitka across the bay. Garbage flights. "AFARTS" radio. Watching the "droopy-wing" airplanes on the runway. Orientation and learning about hypothermia. Frequent earthquakes. Riding in the back of pickup trucks with the wind in our hair. The road rally/scavenger hunt. It was a great place to be a kid.

I was born here, a navy brat lol, back in the late 1970s. This vid was awesome for me.

Was stationed out at NAVCOMSTA/NSGA Adak 1977-1978. Kind of wish I had stayed another tour or two, good fishing, good hiking.and good hunting.

I lived on Adak from '90-'92 as a kid. Bizarre place. Toxic waste, terrible weather, old WWII bunkers, and wild life everywhere. There was a lot of people that loved it there and my family all thought they were weirdos. I have a lot of stories.

*place with 130 mph winds* the sign at the airport: . Adak, Alaska the winds

Love the interviews with the people from the island. Makes it feel real. Keep up the good work!

I went there when I was 9 days old in 1975. Dad had a job there (US Navy) and mom took me and my brother there to live. Lived there two years. Dad kicks himself for ever leaving. They loved it there back when it was booming.

Easiest subscription I've ever given, ever. A few more I'd love to see: Ogasawara, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, Tamanrasset, Uelen, Neft Daşları, and Yaviza

I visited my good buddy on Adak during July 2023. I loved it!! The beauty is just stunning. It is lonely but I enjoyed the peace and quiet. The locals are amazing network of people that care for the elderly and look out for other. Like we are supposed to be doing. ❤️

In all the years of youtube this has to be one of my favorite channels and the quality and story you are telling is so great!!!

Served with the Navy there in '81-'82 and again in '86-'88. There is no other place like it on the planet. Some days the winds would be at gale force, other days the snow would be blizzard conditions, and yet others, 65 degrees and sunshine. Some amazing memories.

As myself being born and raised thoroughly Alaskan, I always find documentaries about our state very entertaining. These folks (adak locals) show the true Alaskan spirit, small multi race communities that dont care if the community grows or shrinks, they are there because they love the land, not because its profitable or easy Not that they would resent more business, but that's not what keeps them there.

This is the coziest kind of travel-ish content I've ever seen. Loving it.

In 1987, I was lucky to hop on a P-3C Orion navigation training flight. We flew from NAS Moffett to NAS Adak, Then on to Yokota AFB-Midway Island- and back to NAS Moffett. Adak was a surreal and amazing place. Bald eagles would perch everywhere like pigeons. Going to drink at the Tundra Tavern while it was still light at 11 pm. And driving through McDonald's paying $6 for Big Macs. We were closer to the Soviet Union than the nearest American city. On the way back we stopped at Midway Island. Another remote outpost. Filled with goonie birds, and old buildings. We were lucky to be billeted at the former Pan American Airways Clipper hotel furnished with art deco rattan furniture. The majority on the island were Sri Lankan contract workers. Technically in the USA but not classified as regular immigrants to the USA.

I was stationed on Adak from 77 to 79. I was attached to the Anti Submarine Warfare Operation Center. Absolutely the best duty station I had in 23 years in the Navy. My wife and I lived in Turnkey housing. I would love to go back to see the places I used to hunt and fish.

With all that wind I didn’t notice any wind turbines.

I’m a regional manager at an ESA and my job is to connect with people in the Aleutian chain that may be interested in education services (free). I travel to communities as I am able. I’m not sure I can make it to Adak but watching this was so informative. I’ve been to Unalaska and the scenery was just beautiful.

"Gas prices that can run north of $6 a gallon..." Me in the UK: Wow, that's cheap!

Adak I lived on Adak for 18 months in the early 1960s, my Dad was the Naval Station's Naval Administration Officer. Extraordinary video.

Did a short layover at ADAK in 84. Worked mids in the hangar serving the P-3's . Believe a lot of that effort was moved to Misawa Japan where I also went once. Heard a rumor that if you spent a long time deployed at ADAK you had to go to mandatory alcohol rehab/recovery-even a chaplain. Needless to say the arrival of liquor at the commisary was a huge event. The biggest thing was the price of everything. I think a McDLT at MacDonalds was 6 or 7 bucks in 84 dollars. That's like a 30 dollar burger now.

I enjoyed my time on the island between 89 and 92. Hunting, fishing, hiking, and working was an experience like no other.

We were stationed on Adak with the Navy from 1981-1984. Loved the place. A bit remote, but if you loved fishing and hunting it was a good place to be stationed.

I did an overseas tour of Adak back in '93 from March to August Loved it! Wish I could go back there again.

My uncle was stationed there when in the Navy. My cousin liked Alaska so much he just stayed there and has barely left in 40 years...

Served as part of a USMC detachment stationed at the Adak NAS navy base there in 1987. I was astounded they built a town like this in the middle of nowhere, I only stayed 6 months before rotating out, that wind was crazy wild at times. I always enjoyed long, hot, 90 Deg + Georgia summers, freaking out if it ever got below freezing…I was pissed when I found out I was going to Adak…where exactly is that? ALASKA??? Fuuuuuuuudge!!!! Got lucky and was out of there in 6 months. Semper Fi!

Keep these videos coming. I super duper love to learn everything about remote arctic antarctic lands

Thanks for using my video footage. I enjoyed watching your video choreographed with my footage. You did a good job. Thanks for contacting me about it.

US Coast Guard. Spent a few weeks there in 93. Flew out on HC-130’s during fisheries patrols. Remember the McDonald restaurant, the Navy was very accommodating, the Marines were playing with crayons as we entered the club one evening…

I loved living there 67-68 as a young teen. About 5,000 people at the time. The school shown, like the McDonalds, came along after my time. I don't remember anyone putting down roots there. There may have been a few, but certainly don't remember retired folks. But I was just there for a small slice of time. And I loved it.

If you want isolation go farther west. Spent a month on Shemya Island back in 1955. Interesting feature were the warehouses stocked with supplies for the Korean war. One item was called "hot cans". It was a two compartment can of food. You turned it upside down and punched holes in the chemical side and poured water into it. It created a high temp reaction which heated the food compartment. It was surprisngly

Aleut, not pronounced ‘Aloot’, it is ‘Al-ee-oot’ Cool to see some footage on a place not many people know about!

I was on deployment in Adak for several months in the early 90s and never knew it was an actual town. I thought it was just a naval base. Flying above the island I've been able to see most of it and it's absolutely beautiful once you leave civilization.

"boasting gas prices that can run north of $6 a gallon". You say that to shock people about the remoteness of Adak, but I regularly see gas prices go for $1.40/L in Vancouver and Toronto (even in the parity days).

I really want to watch your stuff on Nebula, but the lack of TV apps kills it for me. It's been a while now. Where are the non-Apple TV apps?

This brought back memories of my dad's stories of Adak and their fears of the weather more than the enemy. There weather predictions were a guess and navigating with a sextant. Planes leaving in near perfect conditions only to change to blizzard conditions very shortly after and never being seen again. I still have the photos of the crews of those that did not return and my dad could name most of the guys name's until he died

Morbidly funny hearing people who wish for a new cold war say that there are "bad guys" across the ocean.

You might want to look at a map of the Aluetian Chain in Alaska. Way out towards the end of the chain is an island called Shemya. It used to be a fairly large and well populated US Air Force Base. These days it's maintained by a civilian contractor and still has a few military guys out there watching the radar pointing directly West. Then there's an Islan even farther West named Attu. On Shemya, we had a hacket they'd give you and on the back was a map of the end of the Aleutian Chain and it said "Shemya, it's not the end of the world but on a clear day you can see it from here."

I always look forward to THESE vids! Keep up the Great work!!!

Not sure if you all realize how fitting the photograph of that Sea Knight helicopter was at 14:47. The ship if flew from, USS Kansas City (AOR-3), was also decommissioned at the end of the Cold War, and was stricken from the Naval Register in...1997.

Thank you for this short video about Adak, AK. I agree with many corrections in the comments. I served in the US Navy there in the Summer of 1979. It is a beautiful place. When I was not on-duty, I was taking college courses. Besides the US Navy, the USAF had facilities and it was apart of NORAD.

Imagine what Adak would become with just a fraction of the old Afghanistan budget.

As always: interesting, well-edited and beautiful.

Thank you for making this. I love learning about places like these. I may never visit, but it's like Adak has been ticked off my list.

Always get a feeling of melancholy watching these

This is a great video. I did not realize Adak was as big as it was. Thanks for sharing this.

U.S. Navy: 7 February 1968 to 3 August 1970 My job was to offload the bi-weekly supply ship which arrived from Seattle. At the time it all military except for the Crab processing on cove over from Adak Harbor. One of the best tours of my 24 year career since my family accompanied. "Community"

Waiting patiently for the Tristan da Cunha ep

400 miles further west is Shemya AK which I lived on in about 1980. There are still about 180 people living there but I guess it isn't the furthest west because it's in the Eastern Hemisphere, so the most Eastern inhabited place in the US.

If I had the opportunity to return, I would. For the fishing and views of the island. It is a beautiful place to be.

My brother was stationed on Adak back in the 70's as an air traffic controller for the Navy.

I was up on Adak from April to Oct. 1959 with the CB {MCB10} We went there to take a dip out of the air strip. It was windy!!

You should do St. Pierre and Miquelon next!

Cool fact! My families fishing boat growing up was sold to someone on Adak and shipped on a barge out to the island! That was about 2013!

fascinating! do you seek these stories out yourself, or do people send them to you? this seems like a story I'd hear on NPR, just fantastic reporting.

Probably my favorite one of your channels!

Bro if you're ready this i really hope your channel does well i love this kind of content

Very Nice work, nice perspective on Adak. Next is Atka.

I was one of those sailors that was there June of 1990 to December of 1990 with VP-47. Did some fishing and hiking, besides work of course, still remember these little chocolate looking flowers. Saw many a bold eagle and a number of WWII relics. Oh when I was there we had what we called Adak forest a very small group of trees next to the museum. Good memories.

I was P-3 Orion aircrew for a couple of tours and the joke used to be that if you wanted to make your flight engineer broke out in a cold sweat, you just had to say, "We're going to Adak!" The winds were legendary. I knew plenty of guys who did multiple tours at Adak. Great place for hunting and fishing and that was the big draw for them. Now, let's talk about Shemya. Not the end of the world, but you can see it from there!

I love these in depth reviews of places many of is will never of heard of.

Sam That was great I loved it thanks btw im all signed up for curiosity stream and nebula

My grandfather, a merchant seaman, nad bee to Adak several times during WWII. It's so close to Asia that it was actually bombed by land based Japanese aircraft during the war. I've been there twice myself for short stays. I found it remarkable when the winds blew so hard that snow drifts would form indoors. To this day there is a pair of tire chains I left in the Tundra back in the 70's.

Great video. What was missing though was one unique report that singled out Adak as the best place between Tokyo and Seattle to refuel aircraft AND ships in the hydrogen age since you could build wind and wave power cheaply and relatively easily on the island due to its natural conditions, not to mention of course its half-way strategic location between continents as the video said... Adak could be Pacific version of Keflavik and Reykjavik the way that Anchorage was and is today...

My mom was raised here in the 70's and tells me stories all the time. Adaks "forest" is so small that the sign leading into it says "you are now entering and leaving Adaks National forest" :)

I was stationed at U.S. Naval Station Adak, May 1971 to June 1972. I was assigned to the Bearing maintaince shop. I was a Navy Seabee construction electrician

My VP squadron was deployed to Adak in 87. I met and married my wife there. I have always wanted to go back there to visit. That was the one duty station I really enjoyed.

Some housing was mistakenly shipped to Adak, so the home had to be adapted to the island.

I saw on the news that the Chinese navy was "exercising" some of it's ships around Adak and some other Aleutian islands. The military may be back sooner rather than later if this continues.

Adak has been a part of me since 1982 when I was stationed there in the navy seabees. I brought my wife out there and we had are first child there. I've always missed the island and it's rugged spirit.

I've flown many times and I have to say that Alaska Air is by far and has always been the best experiences I have ever had. You GO Alaska Air, I miss you ladies that took care of us!