Alaska
US troops finish Alaska deployment amid spike in Russian activity
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — About 130 U.S. soldiers are returning to their bases after being deployed last week to a remote Alaska island with mobile rocket launchers amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.S., a military official said Thursday.
The deployment to Shemya Island involved soldiers from Alaska, Washington and Hawaii with the 11th Airborne Division and the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Sword, a spokesperson for the 11th Airborne, said in an email to The Associated Press.
The deployment coincided with eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, traveling close to Alaska as Russia and China conducted joint military drills. None of the planes breached U.S. airspace.
A Pentagon spokesperson said earlier this week that there was no cause for alarm.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commanding general of the 11th Airborne Division, has told media the deployment to the island 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage was done at the right time.
The deployment occurred Sept. 12. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said it detected and tracked Russian military planes operating off Alaska over a four-day span. There were two planes each on Sept. 11, Sept. 13, Sept. 14 and Sept. 15.
The exercise was a measure of the military’s readiness to deploy troops and equipment, Sword said.
“It’s a great opportunity to test ourselves in real-world conditions, and another benefit to being stationed in a place like Alaska,” Sword said.
The Russian military planes operated in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, NORAD said. That is beyond U.S. sovereign air space but an area in which aircraft are expected to identify themselves.
The frequency of Russian airplanes entering the zone varies yearly. NORAD has said the average was six or seven a year, but it has increased recently. There were 26 instances last year and 25 so far this year.
The U.S. Coast Guard’s 418-foot homeland security vessel Stratton was on routine patrol in the Chukchi Sea when it tracked four Russian Federation Navy vessels about 60 miles northwest of Point Hope, the agency said Sunday.
Besides the two submarines, the convoy included a frigate and a tugboat. The Coast Guard said the vessels crossed the maritime boundary into U.S. waters to avoid sea ice, which is permitted under international rules and customs.
In 2022, a U.S. Coast Guard ship came across three Chinese and four Russian naval vessels sailing in single formation about 85 miles north of Kiska Island in the Bering Sea.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Ever since his 2024 diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, much of three-year-old Caleb Seidl’s life has been rooted in uncertainty.
“We’ve been through some really intense treatments,” Caleb’s father Reuben Seidl said. “It’s amazing, his resilience and his energy and just the fight that he’s shown, not even realizing that he’s been fighting, but just trying to be a kid and be himself.”
One way Caleb and his family have found to help him be himself has been embracing his love of hockey.
“As anyone that has a toddler knows, it’s hard to get them to sit on one idea or one want,” Reuben Seidl said. “But Caleb has always loved sports. He’s always loved watching hockey games even before his diagnosis.”
He’s joined a Alaska All-Stars Hockey Association team that’s usually meant for kids six and older. But it made an exception to accommodate the fast-learning Caleb.
“It’s a real privilege to get to support a kid like Caleb that’s out here fighting a battle you don’t wish on your worst enemies,” All-Stars coach Nic Cohen said. “The kid started off with a pusher and now he’s flying around out there having a blast every night.”
That’s why, when the Make-A-Wish Foundation approached the Seidl family with news that Caleb qualified for a wish, he made himself abundantly clear.
“He always landed on wanting to be a hockey team,” his dad remembered. “So we passed that on and we worked with the wish coordinators, and they were like, ‘Man, it’s pretty unusual for a three-year-old to want to be a hockey team.’ But it’s amazing. They’re making it work.”
All it took was slightly adjusting the syntax of Caleb’s wish – and enlisting the help of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken – to put a plan together.
“We got to meet [mascot] Buoy from the Kraken in June,” Reuben Seidl recalled. “And we got to meet John Hayden, who played with the Kraken last season.”
The second phase of that wish gets going Monday when the Seidl’s head to Seattle to watch the Kraken take on the Pittsburgh Penguins with a group of family and friends tagging along.
“The Kraken and Make-a-Wish were so blown away by the support,” Reuben Seidl said. “They ended up helping everybody find an amazing seat.”
Caleb will also get to participate in a Kraken practice the next day.
“Every single person we’ve talked to has just been incredibly generous, and kind, and supportive,” Reuben Seidl said. “Just making sure that the family, and Caleb especially, feel special.”
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, where federal authorities have been conducting a massive immigration enforcement operation, two defense officials said Sunday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders. The unit is based in Alaska and specializes in operating in arctic conditions.
One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely-used 19th century law that would allow him to employ active duty troops as law enforcement.
The move comes just days after Trump threatened to do just that to quell protests against his administration’s immigration crackdown.
In an emailed statement, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny the orders were issued and said the military “is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.”
ABC News was the first to report the development.
On Thursday, Trump said in a social media post that he would invoke the 1807 law “if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job.”
He appeared to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there wasn’t a reason to use it “right now.”
“If I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump said. “It’s very powerful.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act throughout both of his terms. In 2020 he also threatened to use it to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.
The law was most recently invoked by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 to end unrest in Los Angeles after the acquittal of four white police officers in the beating of Rodney King.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat and frequent target of Trump, has urged the president to refrain from sending in more troops.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Walz said last week on social media.
___
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
High School
Hockey
Tuesday
West Valley 3, Lathrop 2
Wasilla 5, Palmer 1
Kenai Central 4, Homer 3
Eagle River 4, Service 3
Wednesday
Dimond 6, Service 2
Chugiak 5, Eagle River 0
Thursday
Wasilla 3, Soldotna 2
West Valley 3, Dimond 0
Juneau-Douglas 4, Delta 2
Friday
Juneau-Douglas 11, Delta 1
Palmer 11, Kenai Central 3
Saturday
Houston 3, Kenai Central 2
South 4, West Valley 2
• • •
Basketball
Girls
Monday
West 52, South 13
Bartlett 70, Eagle River 12
Tuesday
Dimond 53, South 31
North Pole 56, West Valley 20
Service 80, Eagle River 18
West 68, Chugiak 41
Colony 74, Palmer 17
Monroe Catholic 58, Hutchison 15
Redington 28, Susitna Valley 26
Wednesday
Soldotna 55, Bethel 18
Hoonah 54, Skagway 19
Thursday
Tok 54, Galena 53
Hoonah 52, Skagway 22
Fort Yukon 58, Birchwood Christian 12
Minto 68, Nunamiut 20
Lathrop 68, East 44
Nikiski 54, Bethel 50
Nome-Beltz 46, Cordova 38
Wasilla 60, Mt. Edgecumbe 21
Friday
Chief Ivan Blunka 52, Manokotak 39
Delta 59, Minto 35
Fort Yukon 62, Cook Inlet Academy 19
Mt. Edgecumbe 43, Ketchikan 32
Wasilla 64, Sitka 28
Tri-Valley 46, Susitna Valley 28
Cordova 62, Akiachak 17
Chief Ivan Blunka 52, Tanalian 49
Unalakleet 68, Alakanuk 26
Wrangell 42, Petersburg 28
Saturday
Nome-Beltz 70, Akiachak 24
Walter Northway 49, Birchwood Christian 19
Susitna Valley 45, Cook Inlet Academy 29
Boys
Sunday
Buckland 94, Shungnak 55
Monday
Hydaburg 60, SISD 28
Kake 62, Yakutat 17
Bartlett 65, Eagle River 34
Tuesday
Kake 53, Yakutat 17
Hydaburg 47, SISD 38
Redington 51, Susitna Valley 40
Colony 60, Palmer 41
Wasilla 61, Grace Christian 48
West Valley 44, North Pole 22
West 83, Chugiak 41
Dimond 59, South 45
East 85, Bartlett 28
Service 85, Eagle River 23
Wednesday
Kenai Central 60, Bethel 54
Skagway 71, Hoonah 34
Thursday
North Pole 71, Galena 47
King Cove 96, Koliganek 20
Skagway 61, Hoonah 15
Nunamiut 82, Tok 75
South 74, Susitna Valley 47
Bethel 75, Homer 50
Barrow 58, Monroe Catholic 44
Walter Northway 93, Birchwood Christian 43
Lathrop 70, Service 62
Grace Christian 63, Soldotna 41
Wasilla 74, Bartlett 53
West 81, Eagle River 27
Colony 80, Juneau-Douglas 60
Sand Point 36, Dillingham 34
Nome-Beltz 76, Valdez 43
Friday
Tok 55, Glennallen 50
King Cove 96, Togiak 30
Birchwood Christian 62, Nenana 49
Minto 55, North Pole 48
Delta 85, Nunamiut 29
Cook Inlet Academy 63, Gambell 52
Manokotak 56, Bristol Bay 48
Chief Ivan Blunka 59, Tanalian 56
Akiachak 64, Cordova 40
Unalakleet 97, Alakanuk 28
South 66, Barrow 50
Saturday
Juneau-Douglas 74, Bartlett 41
Galena 67, Glennallen 49
Bristol Bay 58, Manokotak 44
Chief Ivan Blunka 64, Tanalian 62
Birchwood Christian 61, Fort Yukon 54
East 84, Juneau-Douglas 70
Nome-Beltz 59, Lathrop 56
North Pole 90, Nunamiut 44
Redington 60, Akiachak 41
Colony 84, Bartlett 25
Soldotna 38, Mountain City Christian Academy 37
Unalakleet 73, Alakanuk 30
• • •
Cross-country skiing
Wednesday
West Skiathlon
Boys A
1. Service (Freedom Bennett/Jack Leveque), 17:10.7; 2. South (Kevin Downs/Vebjorn Flagstad), 17:11; 3. South (Braxton Thornley/Ethan Elliott), 17:30.
Girls A
1. South (Maya Tirpack/Alise Elliott), 19:39.3; 2. South (Elin Lunoe/Solvej Lunoe), 19:41.4; 3. Service (Talia Smith/Faith Harlamert), 20:04.1.
• • •
College
Hockey
Friday
UAA 1, UAF 0 (SO)
Saturday
UAA vs. UAF (Late)
• • •
Women’s basketball
Thursday
UAA 79, Simon Fraser 72
Western Washington 72, UAF 47
Saturday
Simon Fraser 109, UAF 46
Western Washington 81, UAA 65
• • •
Men’s basketball
Saturday
UAF 91, UAA 76
• • •
NAHL
Friday
Anchorage Wolverines 2, Fairbanks Ice Dogs 1 (SO)
Saturday
Anchorage Wolverines vs. Fairbanks Ice Dogs (Late)
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