American Air Base Thule gets an official Greenlandic name

The Americans rename Thule Air Base as Pituffik Space Base. It will happen on Thursday at a ceremony at the base, where both Greenlandic and Danish politicians and high-ranking American military personnel will participate.

After 70 years, the Americans have decided that Thule Air Base will officially be called Pituffik Space Base.The name change will take place during Greenland Heritage Week on 6 April.

Thule Air Base was constructed in secret from 1951-1953 under the code name of Operation Blue Jay. The construction began in connection with Denmark and the USA entering into a new defence agreement in 1951, which replaced the Greenland Treaty from 1941, which allowed the establishment of ‘defence areas’ in Greenland.

For over 40 years, 821st Air Base Group personnel have welcomed nearby Greenlanders to “Greenland Heritage Week,” where local people and residents of the base come together to share traditions, crafts and meals over three days in April.

On 6 June 1951, a fleet of ships, construction material and equipment was dispatched from Virginia Norfolk and arrived on 9 July at North Star Bay in Wolstenholme Fjord, after which construction began.

The more than 10,000 civilian and military personnel who arrived worked around the clock with 300,000 tonnes of cargo to build the base, which cost around $230 million to build.

In the early years, the Thule base formed a support point for long-range American bombers, and for its defence four anti-aircraft stations were erected in 1953.

To make room for Thule Air Base, 116 people were moved to Qaanaaq in May 1953, while Greenland was still a Danish colony. Greenland’s colonial status ended on 5 June 1953.

Source: Sermitsiaq.ag