
Nitro Rock – Nitro Rock was inscribed when a U.S.

It was inscribed to signify the 98 civilian P.O.Ws that were executed Octoby the Japanese. Today, the island serves as a trans-Pacific refueling stop for military aircraft and supports Missile Defense Agency test activities. Wake is currently managed by the Pacific Air Force Support Center located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska, and falls under 11 th Air Force.ĩ8 Rock – The 98 Rock was inscribed by an unknown escaped American Prisoner of War (later recaptured). Finally, in 2002, the Department of the Air Force resumed administrative control of the island with the 15 th Wing at Hickam Air Force Base assuming support responsibilities for Wake. Due to the Army's continued use of the atoll for various missile testing programs, administrative control was transferred to the Department of the Army in 1994. Japan maintained control over the atoll until their surrender in September 1945.Īdministrative control, since World War II, has shifted between the Department of the Navy, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Air Force first assumed administrative control over the island in 1972. The United States held onto Wake until December 23, 1941, when Wake was surrendered to the Japanese.

Marine garrison and 1,200 civilians, who were completing construction of a major air and submarine base on Wake, were again attacked by the Japanese. On December 8, 1941, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake was bombed by the Japanese.

Plans were developed in 1938 for an outlying naval base on Wake Atoll however, construction did not begin until January 1941. In 1935, Pan American Airways established a seaplane refueling base and 48-room hotel on Peale Island, establishing the atoll’s first permanent residents. The island was placed under administrative control of the Department of the Wake Atoll was claimed by the United States in 1898, with formal possession established in 18 99. The atoll was named after British sea captain William Wake, who arrived in 1796. It is the northernmost atoll in the Marshall Islands geological ridge and may be the oldest living atoll in the world. The coral atoll is made up of three islands: Wake, Wilkes and Peale Islands. Territory under administrative control of the Department of the Air Force, and under installation command authority of the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center, part of 11 th Air Force headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Wake Atoll is located approximately 2,138 nautical miles west of Honolulu, Hawaii and is a U.S. Air Force installation under the control of the Pacific Air Forces Regional Support Center, 11th Air Force, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.įor more information regarding the installation contact 11th Air Force Public Affairs at (907)-552-2341.
