Can you name Eielson's first printed base paper?

The very first edition was published on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 1952. The flag, or in layman's terms the banner at the top, read as follows: "CAN YOU NAME EIELSON'S FIRST PRINTED BASE PAPER?" In place of a photo or graphic were question marks. Some of the front-page headlines for this issue were: NEW BARRACKS OPENED (what we all know today as Amber Hall); STRIKE POSTPONES GYM OPENING; INTENSIVE/SEARCH SUSPENDED FOR MISSING C-47 (one of the crew members on board was Capt. Ernie Walker for whom our theater was dedicated in honor of in 1953); NINE DAYS LEFT TO NAME THE PAPER (First, second, and third place winners were awarded monetary prizes of $15, $10, and $5 respectively for their winning submissions). The winning submission was Mile 26 Post. (graphic courtesy of 354th Fighter Wing History Office)

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Mile 26 Post

On Wednesday, Feb. 27, 1952, the Mile 26 Post was published. The winning entry was submitted by Lt. Hal Pressman, a services officer. His reasoning for the name was: "The term has been the one used for pointing out locations of the vast territory's scattered settlements, the 'mile post'particularly has been symbolic of the growth and development of Alaska." In addition to the new name, the paper also had a new flag. Sgt. Robert Blake submitted this winning entry. It depicted, of course, Mile 26, Alaskan landscape, aircraft, and Army tanks. This begs the question: Why are there Army tanks in the flag? There were approximately 2,000 Army personnel stationed at Eielson throughout much of the 1950s. (graphic courtesy of the 354th Fighter Wing History Office)

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Eielson Friendly Times

On Friday, Oct. 29, 1954, the first edition of the Eielson Friendly Times was published. The winning name was submitted by Airman 1st Class Kenneth Mason, assigned to the 5010th Air Base Wing. He received $25 for his winning entry. The new flag design picturing a cartoon looking Polar Bear was the brainchild of Airman 1st Class Carmine Stramaglia One particular front-page headline read, MAIN TRAILER COURT OPENED FOR OCCUPANCY (there was a trailer park on Eielson for more than 30 years located between the main Logistics Readiness Squadron building and the new Security Forces Squadron K-9 facility). (graphic courtesy of the 354th Fighter Wing History Office)

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The Eielson Times

On Friday, April 18, 1958, the first edition of the Eielson Times was published. Although the History Office does not have a copy of this paper in our archives, the name change makes sense. (graphic courtesy of the 354th Fighter Wing History Office)

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The GoldPanner

On March 11, 1976, the first edition of the The Goldpanner was published. The new graphics were created and designed by Tech. Sgt. John Raymond and Ralph Benjamin from the 5010th Graphics Section. In selecting the new name it was decided to choose a name that was somewhat descriptive of the area, rather than the name of the base along with a typical newspaper-type name, like Eielson Times. (graphic courtesy of the 354th Fighter Wing History Office)

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The Arctic Sentry

On Jan. 11, 2002, after more than 25 years as The Goldpanner, Eielson?s newspaper changed its name to the Arctic Sentry. The new name better reflected Eielson?s location and mission. The flag was designed by the 354th Communications Squadron Visual Information section. (graphic courtesy of the 354th Fighter Wing History Office)

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Our base newspaper throughout the years

Published April 22, 2008
By Don Fenton
354th Fighter Wing historian

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --

The Arctic Sentry will soon transform from what once was an entirely-military made publication, to a product made by the civilian-run publisher, The Daily News-Miner in early May.

Three weeks ago, Brig. Gen. Mark Graper, 354th Fighter Wing commander, published an article in the Arctic Sentry highlighting the impending changes to our Eielson newspaper and the Public Affairs career field, the most visible being the change in name to the Polar Press.

Why all the changes?

Readers today want to read the news immediately after it occurs, not a week after-the-fact.

Now readers with Internet access can tune in at their leisure and don't have to wait until the following Friday to read the news. This transition is affecting bases around the globe as well as in the civilian world; for instance, the world's oldest newspaper, Sweden's Post-och Inrikes Tidningar newspaper has made the transition itself, and now is only published online as of Jan. 1, 2007. The paper was started in 1645.

The transition was directed by the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs. It is the logical progression for Air Force PA professionals to keep pace with technology and to compensate for the Air Force-wide reduction in PA manpower.

Due to Eielson's relationship with the local community, the hard-copy paper is not entirely being abolished, as is the case at some bases. For those without Internet access, print copies will still be available and distributed to the general public.

There will be major internal changes within the 354th Public Affairs office. From this point forward the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner will control all publishing aspects for the printed version of the paper.

For example, they will select articles from the Eielson news Web site to publish in the weekly printed editions of the Polar Press. The publisher will be entirely responsible for the layout, ads, and any other content.

Throughout the 56 years the base paper has been in print, more than 2,500 editions of the Eielson newspaper have been published. During this time, the paper has changed its name and flag (the banner at the top) six times.

Can you name Eielson's first printed base paper?

Mile 26 Post

Eielson Friendly Times

The Eielson Times

The GoldPanner

The Arctic Sentry