Matanuska-Susitna Borough
History
  • 1916 – The site that would later become the City of Palmer was a siding on the Alaska Railroad by 1916, with a small population that established a Post Office there in 1917.
  • 1935 – Matanuska Colony was established by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration as part of the New Deal.
  • May 10, 1935 – The first of the Minnesota contingent of colonists arrived at Palmer.
  • October 21, 1939 – The Alaska National Guard was constituted under Governor John S. Troy as the 297th Infantry Battalion.
  • 1940 – Construction of Fort Richardson began on the present site of Elmendorf AFB.
  • 1942 – Governor Ernest Gruening organized the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) after the Alaska National Guard was called to active duty during World War Two (WWII).
  • 1942-1943 – Japanese troops invaded the Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu. Troops from Fort Richardson landed on Attu and defeated the Japanese.
  • 1947 – Fort Richardson was designated as headquarters of the United States Army Alaska (USARAK).
  • September 15, 1952 – The Alaska Air National Guard was established.
  • 1963 – 172nd Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) stationed at Fort Richardson.
  • January 1, 1964 – The Matanuska-Susitna Borough was classified as a second-class borough and incorporated under the provisions of the State of Alaska Borough Act (1963), as amended.
  • 1972 – 171st Infantry Brigade at Fort Wainwright stood down, and its remaining units were absorbed by the 172nd at Fort Richardson.
  • 1974 – Wasilla incorporated as a first class city. Fort Richardson inactivated as USARAK headquarters and made subordinate to U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort MacPherson, Georgia.
  • 1994 – Fort Richardson reactivated as USARAK headquarters.
  • 2002 – DoD nominated Fort Richardson for a Joint Land Use Study.
  • 2003 – DoD nominated Elmendorf AFB for a Joint Land Use Study.
  • October 2003 – Nine hundred soldiers in the 1-501st parachute infantry regiment deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
  • July 2005 – The 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division was activated at Fort Richardson.
  • August 2005 – Thirty-eight hundred Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright soldiers with the 172nd Stryker brigade deployed to Iraq for what became a 16-month tour.
  • 2006 – JLUS project listed as “Inactive” in 2006 due to Municipality of Anchorage reluctance to initiate JLUS.
  • October 2006 – The 4th Brigade, 25th Infantry Division deployed to Iraq for a 13-month tour.
  • May 2007 – Alaskan Command (ALCOM) contacted DoD Office of Economic Adjustment with interest in JLUS for MSB.
  • May 2007 – F-22A raptors brought to Elmendorf AFB and Elmendorf’s F15E eagle strike jets reassigned to Mountain Home AFB in Idaho.
  • June 2008 – MSB JLUS process was initiated.