How to Hire Veterans in Fairbanks, Alaska (Fort Wainwright)

Hiring in Interior Alaska is hard. The labor pool is small. You cannot pull workers from the next city over, because the next city is hours of frozen highway away. When a role sits open in Fairbanks, it stays open.

But there is a talent stream most local employers walk right past. Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base sit right outside town. Every year they send skilled, disciplined people back into the civilian workforce. Many of them want to stay in Fairbanks. They already own homes here. Their kids are in school here.

This guide shows midsize employers in Fairbanks and the Interior how to find and hire those veterans. It covers which units feed the pool, why cold-weather experience is worth paying for, and where to reach these candidates before your competitors do. If you also hire in Southcentral Alaska, see our guide to hiring veterans in the Anchorage area near JBER.

What makes the Fairbanks veteran talent pool different?

Fairbanks is not Anchorage. It is a smaller, tighter, more remote market. That changes how you should hire.

In a big metro, you can wait for the right resume to show up. In the Interior, you cannot. The pool is small, so local hiring matters more. If you want to fill a role, you go find the person. You do not sit back and hope.

Here is the good news. The Fairbanks area has a very high share of veterans. Veterans make up a much larger part of the population than the national average, per U.S. Census Bureau data. Two military bases sit right next to town. That means your local pool is deeper in veteran talent than almost anywhere in the country.

These are not people passing through. A veteran who chooses to stay in Fairbanks has already made a choice. They picked the cold, the dark winters, and the distance. They are not going to bolt the first time the weather turns. That kind of person tends to stick with a job too.

How is the Fairbanks market different from Anchorage?

Both cities sit near big military bases. But they hire in very different ways.

Anchorage is the largest metro in the state. It has a wider job market and more people moving in and out. You get more candidates there. You also get more competition for them.

Fairbanks is smaller and more remote. The winters run colder and longer. Fewer people pass through. That cuts both ways for an employer. Your candidate pool is tighter, so you have to work more to reach it. But the people who stay tend to be far more committed to the area.

The lesson is simple. In Fairbanks, speed and outreach win. Do not wait for applications to pile up. When you spot a strong veteran leaving Fort Wainwright or Eielson, move on them early. In a market this size, the first employer to reach out often wins the hire.

Which units feed the pool near Fort Wainwright and Eielson?

To hire from this pool, it helps to know who is in it. Two bases drive the local flow of talent.

Fort Wainwright is an Army post inside Fairbanks. It is home to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 11th Airborne Division, known as the Arctic Wolves. The post hosts close to 8,000 soldiers and is one of the largest training footprints in the Army. These soldiers train for air assault and extreme cold-weather operations. That means infantry, but it also means a deep bench of support roles. The post also hosts a combat sustainment battalion, which is a fancy way of saying a full logistics operation. Those are the people who keep fuel, parts, and supplies flowing across a harsh state.

Eielson Air Force Base sits about 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks. It is home to the 354th Fighter Wing, which flies two full squadrons of F-35 fighters. Alaska is home to more fifth-generation aircraft than anywhere in the world. That base runs on aircraft maintainers, avionics techs, and air operations crews.

So the talent is not just combat troops. Both bases run like small cities. They need mechanics, logisticians, medics, IT, and supervisors to keep going. When those people separate, that skill comes with them.

Why is cold-weather and remote-ops experience worth paying for?

Any employer in the Interior knows the real problem. You need someone who shows up when it is 40 below and the truck will not start.

Soldiers and airmen from these bases train in that exact weather. They keep aircraft and vehicles running when the cold wants to kill them. They plan for things breaking, because things break out here. That is not a line on a resume. It is a habit.

They also know how to work with little support nearby. In the Arctic, you cannot call for a part and get it in an hour. You solve the problem with what you have. That self-reliance is gold for a small Fairbanks company that cannot staff a huge team. One person who can solve problems on their own is worth two who need constant direction. In a tight market, that kind of hire carries real weight.

Retention is the payoff. Turnover is expensive anywhere. In a small market it hurts more, because the next hire is even harder to find. A candidate who already put down roots here is a candidate who is more likely to stay. For a look at the size of this pool, see how to measure the veterans in your local talent pool.

How do you read a military resume from a Fort Wainwright soldier?

Here is where many good candidates get missed. A veteran writes a resume in military words. The hiring manager reads it in civilian words. The two do not always match. So a strong candidate looks weak on paper.

Your job is to read past the rank and the codes. Look at what the person actually did. A soldier who ran a maintenance shop did the same work as a shop foreman. A supply sergeant did the same work as a warehouse or inventory manager. The words differ. The skill is the same.

If you use hiring software, keep one thing in mind. An applicant tracking system ranks resumes by keyword match. It does not reject people. A veteran who writes "PMCS" instead of "preventive maintenance" sinks to the bottom of the list. The person is qualified. The words just did not line up.

So do two things. Search for both the military term and the civilian term when you look through applicants. And coach your team to look at duties, not just titles. For a full method, read our veteran recruiting strategy playbook.

Where do you actually find these veterans in Interior Alaska?

Knowing the pool is one thing. Reaching it is another. Here is where to start.

The base transition office is your first call. It is a direct line to people about to leave the service. Learn how to use it in our guide to recruiting through base transition offices.

Many strong candidates are not looking at job boards. They are still in uniform, or just out, and busy. To reach them, read how to reach passive veteran candidates. And because the Interior is so spread out, a remote option helps. See our guide to recruiting veterans for remote and distributed roles.

BMR keeps a growing pool of veteran candidates. More than 1,000 new veteran profiles are added every month, and over 60,000 resumes have been built on the platform. These candidates have already turned their military experience into civilian resumes. That saves you the translation work.

What should you know about SkillBridge and hiring timing?

SkillBridge comes up a lot with active-duty candidates near these bases. It is worth understanding before you talk to one.

DoD SkillBridge lets a service member work at a civilian company during their last few months of service. They get real experience. You get a long look at the person before you commit. It works like a paid tryout, except you do not pay them. The military still covers their pay during SkillBridge.

The tool is a smart way to trial local talent with low risk. Just treat it as a runway to an offer, not the offer itself. The paperwork runs through the base, so start early.

What mistakes do local employers make with veteran hires?

Even employers who want to hire veterans trip over the same few things. Here is what to avoid.

None of these cost money to fix. They cost a change in how you look at candidates. Reach out first. Read the work, not the title. And do it on a budget with our guide to hiring veterans with no recruiting budget.

Ready to hire veterans in Fairbanks?

The talent is already here. Fort Wainwright and Eielson keep sending skilled, reliable people into the Interior job market. They handle hard conditions on purpose. They tend to stay. And many of them want to build a civilian career right here in Fairbanks.

You do not need a big program to reach them. You need to know the pool, read resumes the right way, and start the conversation early. BMR gives you a direct line to veteran candidates who have already made the jump to civilian resumes.

Reach out to access BMR's veteran talent pool and start hiring Interior Alaska talent. If you want a deeper partnership, learn how to partner with us.