Operation STAGE & Washtub: Russian Invasion of Alaska – FBI & Air Force Files

Description

Alaska’s Secret Cold War Agents: Operations STAGE and Washtub

• June 20, 1950: An FBI memo indicates that the Interdepartmental Intelligence Conference is considering a plan to develop individuals who could act as agents for the United States if Alaska were occupied by a foreign power. This marks the formal beginning of the “Alaska Project.”
• 1950 – 1951 (Ongoing): The FBI initiates its Stay Behind Agent Program, known as “Operation STAGE,” in concert with other government agencies, including the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations’ “Operation Washtub.” The goal is to identify and train personnel to act clandestinely in Alaska in the event of a Soviet invasion.
• September 1951: The FBI abruptly ends its involvement in the “Alaska Project” (Operation STAGE). The exact reason for their withdrawal is not stated in the provided materials, though internal memos suggest concerns about being involved in a largely military intelligence program and the Bureau’s preference for working alone.
• September 1951 – 1959 (Ongoing): The Air Force’s “Operation Washtub” continues to operate, maintaining the “Alaska Project” without FBI involvement.
• Pre-1959 (Date not specified, during the project’s operation): Agencies involved decide to recruit “Stay Behind Agents” (SBAs) from the civilian population, specifically avoiding indigenous Alaskans due to perceived “unreliability” and “propensities to drink to excess.” An initial list of 40,000 potential agents is compiled from Alaska’s population of approximately 135,000.
• Pre-1959 (Date not specified, during the project’s operation): The list of potential SBAs is narrowed down to 89 selected individuals.
• 1959: Alaska is granted statehood, becoming the 49th state in the Union.
• 1959: With Alaska’s statehood, the “Alaska Project,” then under the control of the Air Force, is officially ended.

Cast of Characters

The provided source does not name specific individuals involved in the planning or execution of Operations STAGE and Washtub, but it does describe the roles and characteristics of hypothetical or generalized participants.

• FBI Officials (Unnamed): These individuals were responsible for initiating and planning “Operation STAGE.” They expressed concerns about the FBI’s involvement in a largely military intelligence program and sought to prevent the CIA from gaining intelligence influence in Alaska. Their internal memos highlight the Bureau’s preference for independent operations.
• Air Force Office of Special Investigations Personnel (Unnamed): These individuals were responsible for “Operation Washtub” and continued to manage the “Alaska Project” after the FBI’s withdrawal. Their memos detailed recruitment strategies and criteria for “Stay Behind Agents.”
• Interdepartmental Intelligence Conference Participants (Unnamed): A collective body that initiated the discussion and planning for intelligence coverage in Alaska, leading to the “Alaska Project.”
• Potential Stay Behind Agents (SBAs) (Unnamed, but described): These are the civilians targeted for recruitment. A specific example provided is:
• A Professional Photographer from Anchorage: This individual is characterized as having one arm (making him unsuitable for enemy labor), being an amateur radio operator, a licensed hunting/fishing guide, skilled in survival, a small aircraft pilot, intelligent, crafty, and possessing physical courage (evidenced by offering to guide a Kodiak bear hunt armed only with a bow and arrow).
• Indigenous Alaskans (Eskimos, Indians, Aleuts): While not characters in the project’s implementation, they are explicitly mentioned as a group excluded from consideration as Stay Behind Agents due to prejudicial stereotypes cited in FBI and Air Force memos regarding “basic unreliability,” “propensities to drink to excess,” and “fundamental indifference to constituted governments and political philosophies.”