Alaska should encourage military invasion

The late Sen. Ted Stevens was a walking encyclopedia on all things Alaskan. He was the most powerful man in Alaska and the U. S. Senate. As Appropriations chairman, he formulated a plan 40 years ago, a visionary plan, as brilliant now as then. His plan, the military invasion of Alaska, is ripe for action.

Ted's assessment of Alaska's role in defense of the country, Top Cover for North America, was his finest work.  "Alaska is nine hours from 90 percent of the world's population." No other location qualified. Ted defined Alaska by our strategic military location.

Ted wanted Elmendorf and Ft. Richardson, (JBER) to move across Cook Inlet to the open spaces of the Mat-Su area. Agreed, but I propose three additions: Add Marine and Navy bases and a Coast Guard station to use the idle 60-foot, deep draft dock at Port MacKenzie. Connect the railroad and build these bases with no federal construction money. Build ice breakers for the Coast Guard in Ketchikan for Port MacKenzie, Adak, Nome and Kodiak.

Russians have 42 ice breakers and are commercializing the Northwest Passage.  We must catch up. Delivering oil, liquefied natural gas, minerals and other freight to the Pacific Rim through the Passage takes 18 days instead of 29 days. Huge advantage.

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Can Alaskans take on such an enormous project? Yes. If you are a major corporation and you need a building, say $100 million, you have someone build, finance and provide it under a long-term lease just like BP did locally. Wouldn't it be fun (and profitable) to be Uncle Sam's landlord? Alaskans can put up land, build new facilities and provide the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard each new bases, built for 100,000 troops.

Now is our opportunity. An outspoken patriot, champion of strengthening our military occupies the White House, President Trump. This president understands development. Our senior senator, Lisa Murkowski, just like Ted, is a top member of Senate Appropriations and a great advocate for military. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a powerhouse and energetic Marine officer, serves on the Armed Forces Committee and is a go-to guy for the White House. Rep. Don Young, former chair of the Transportation Committee, knows public facilities better than anyone.  Alaska's team is strong. The planets are aligned.

Expansion of national defense in Southcentral Alaska, gaining the F16s in Fairbanks and building cutters in Ketchikan, are all based upon strategic location and virtually unlimited training ground. We are blessed with what in real estate are the three reasons people buy: location, location and location. Ours is strategically superior as attested by myriad military experts.

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Today, Alaska has a sick economy. Air freight is down 10 percent. Railroad revenue is down. Coal exports ceased. Job cuts in the oil patch hurt. Hosting the military is clean, green and a huge shot in the economic arm.

We can either accept a declining economy or use our assets to create a thriving economy. Alaska can capitalize on our land to build military facilities, saving the federal government billions in construction budgets. We can finance the facilities with tax-exempt bonds and provide leases to each branch of our military. These financing techniques built all state buildings when I was with Alaska State Housing Authority. We can use them again to accomplish a major economic expansion and good-paying jobs for Alaskans.

Where does the construction money come from? Leaseback bond financing provides cash for construction, then the lease of the military branches pays the cost of debt service plus a profit for the issuer. Counter-cyclical investment by state government is appropriate in recessionary times.

Recently I debated former attorney general John Havelock at the UAA Debates.  The proposition was: "Alaska will thrive under a Trump presidency." As a conservative advocate for President Trump, I had the honor of saying, "YES, we'll thrive but only if Alaskans take the opportunity of a friendly White House and Congress to meet national priorities."

Compare Alaska's military-friendly attitude to some of the "sanctuary cities." Veterans love Alaska living. Compare our costs versus Tokyo's or Berlin or any foreign location. Our port is paid for. We can fund the Alaska Railroad connection. Alaska has the financial muscle, welcoming attitude and geographic economics to be a regional military training facility for the entire western United States.

The impact of Ted's plan for the military invasion of Alaska can be positively enormous. At the Alaska Institute for Growth, we're fleshing out Ted's plan and others to bring 100,000 net new jobs to Alaska over the first four years of the Trump presidency. Alaska's growth plan could and should include an aggressive expansion of our military, to fulfill our responsibility as Top Cover for North America. President Trump and Congress can do their part if we Alaskans do ours.

Jim Crawford, a third-generation, lifelong Alaskan, is former chairman of the Trump Campaign for Alaska. He is also president of the Alaska Institute for Growth, an advocacy nonprofit that aims to grow 100,000 new jobs in Alaska. He is a real estate broker in Anchorage and in the 1970s served as Sen. Ted Stevens' coordinator of Alaska offices.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.