Comment:  

More air bases to come in Greenland?  If so, here is what is involved.

This is the film documentary on Operation Blue Jay, the making of Thule Air Base.  Compare this action with the Sentinel Missile Program that is ongoing now as to complexity and scale.  This action was done in record time in very adverse weather.  The Coast Guard and Navy had vital roles.  The Army Corps of Engineers were joined by construction workers who were recruited from the upper midwest because these men knew how to work construction in severe cold.  Among the officials visiting to inspect the construction were Generals Curtis LeMay and Hoyt Vandenberg.

This video is presented with chapters for a more rapid viewing of key concepts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWUBGY6mYOM

Quote:

Big Picture: Operation Blue Jay - National Archives and Records Administration - ARC Identifier 2569497 / Local Identifier 111-TV-227 - DVD copied by Ann Galloway. Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations. U.S. Army Audiovisual Center. (ca. 1974 - 05/15/1984). This is the first detailed release of a previously highly classified military project. This BIG PICTURE release tells the story of the Corps of Engineers and how they were faced with an almost impossible task of building a huge airbase in the frozen Arctic. "Operation Blue Jay" is one of the outstanding programs in the fifth series of THE BIG PICTURE. Signal Corps cameramen have captured on film one of the most spectacular engineering feats in recorded history. "Operation Blue Jay" is the story of the building of one of our northernmost outposts - the huge air base at Thule, Greenland.

Sample Chapters: