Always wanted to visit Alaska...

Operation Washtub, also called STAGE, (not to be confused with the Operation Washtub in Nicaragua) makes for some interesting reading. Declassified (or released) sometime around 2014, it was a detailed, joint program between the USAF and the FBI to train and keep intelligence agents in Alaska to maintain a network of informants, rescue, and saboteur agents in the event of a Soviet invasion and/or occupation of Alaska. 

Picture from Wikipedia showing the Air Force notes on the chain of command for the operation.

The program started in 1951, and was dreamed up partly by J. Edgar Hoover himself. The FBI dropped the program later that same year, supposedly because Hoover quickly got cold feet, thinking it would reflect badly on the FBI in the event of an actual invasion. So, the program continued as a purely USAF project until it ended in 1959.

The program specifically requested agents chosen for the operation needed to be locals, be mobile, not be obvious targets for Russian invaders, and not be military personnel. The released documents specifically mention that fishermen and bush pilots would likely be the best candidates. The agents were then all trained separately to avoid any other agent's identity being compromised in the event one is captured. $3,000 (nearly $29,000 in today's money) of yearly pay was given to all agents, with it promised to double in the event of an actual invasion/activation. In total, at the height of the program, there were 89 agents in the program, with the median age among them being 50.

It's also funny to note that several people covering this info in news outlets or other mediums have accused both the USAF and FBI of racism because Eskimo and Aleut peoples were avoided in agent selections because the document states "their prime concern is with survival and their allegiance would easily shift to any power in control.” Which I think is a broadly accurate assessment, but just funny to see people get bent out of shape about it.

By far the most fascinating part of the mission to me, is that most of the equipment issued wasn't directly given to the agents themselves, but were stored in predetermined caches spread across the Alaskan wilderness. They included a 30-06 rifle with optic (I assume a Springfield), suppressed small caliber pistol (likely a .22), 150 feet of climbing rope with crampons and petons, snow shoes, commercial skis, explosives (likely Comp B), along with $500 in gold or silver. From what I gather, the caches are still out there and according to an official military historian of the OSI, they were converted to "survival caches", but I don't see how that would really change the contents. 

Here's a link to the FOIA released documents from the FBI on it (some of it still redacted). They detail far more than what is in the Wikipedia article and list the types of equipment/supplies, both issued and cached, how communications would be conducted, how resupplies would occur, and much more. 

In the end, the program was officially cancelled due to budget concerns over maintaining the agents peacetime pay, as well as concerns over maintaining the caches.

The FOIA request also contains letters of recommendation for specific agents such as this, but with names redacted.