Welcome To Eielson Air Force Base North Pole, Alaska Welcome to North Pole, Alaska; the home of Santa Claus and Eielson Air Force Base. The 354th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Eielson and supports operations, maintenance, and medical functions of the Pacific. Eielson is also home to Alaska's Air National Guard 168th Refueling Wing, the 353rd Combat Training Squadron, Arctic Survival School, Detachment 1, 210th Rescue Squadron, Detachment 632 OSI and Detachment 460, the Air Force Technical Applications Center. Located 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks (9 miles southeast of North Pole), Eielson began life as a Satellite of Ladd Field, currently Fort Wainwright Army Post. Construction began in 1943 with the completion of two runways, each 6,625 feet long. Closed temporarily at the end of... 01/15/2008