“It’s lethal here”: The Army Strives to Control the Arctic, Where the Environment is the Enemy

FORT GREELY (Alaska) — Soldiers must use their equipment in temperatures below 65 degrees. To protect themselves from extreme conditions, troops in the 25th Infantry Division need to carry more gear than traditional units. They also need layers upon layers of clothing. A simple combat training session against a real-world adversary is all that is required. Any simulated enemy is only a secondary threat.

Arctic warfare slows down everything. Soldiers will need to strap snowshoes on their “bunny boots”, which are heavier than standard-issue boots, and then trek through waist-deep snow or slippery ice. Squads will transport a sled with tents and the gear to heat them.

Simple survival is not a concern for most military training. However, Arctic temperatures are so extreme that even the most mundane Army tasks can be difficult to accomplish in the Arctic.

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It is a new area of combat that has been given greater importance by military planners and strategists, as U.S. relations with Russia fall to lows unrecorded since the Cold War. The Pentagon contemplates how it can defend terrain from forces that are separated only by ice.

“Number one” is survival, Lt. Col. Matthew Chase (commander of the 70th Brigade Engineer Battalion) told Military.com. “You can usually just go into combat operations. Step one is to establish life support, such building shelters and heating sources. The force that can survive in this environment and can sustain itself is the one that wins.

Soldiers need to be more careful about how they pack their rucksacks. This climate can make it easy for exposed skin to become dangerous. Instructors showed images of a soldier taking off his gloves to operate a radio in the Army’s Cold Weather Leaders Course. Even short, but repeated exposures to freezing air can result in finger amputations. Military.com was told by multiple noncommissioned officers that no one in Alaska will correct a soldier who puts their hands in their pockets. This is a move that often draws a quick scolding at other installations’ senior enlisted leaders.

Soldiers will often have several types of gloves. In less than five seconds, fingers can be frozen by just a brief skin contact with metal. To blend in better with the snow, troops can wear a thin white jacket or pants over their camouflage uniforms.

Army units in Alaska are currently undergoing a major training exercise, which includes some special operations forces and Canadian paratroopers. The training event takes place exactly one year after the Army published their Arctic strategy. Leaders hope it will be a combat training center rotation, or CTC rotation, for their forces.

CTCs are a series of training events that last for weeks and which the Pentagon uses to simulate a combat deployment. Units would normally mobilize to the National Training Center (or NTC) at Fort Irwin in California or the Joint Readiness Training Center of Fort Polk, Louisiana. These rotations are used to confirm that a unit can be deployed abroad.

A CTC that is highly specific for a small number of specialized troops would represent a bold and unheard of move. Leaders argue that it is costly and takes months to plan to move all the gear, vehicles, and soldiers from Alaska to California desert or Louisiana swamps. It also makes no sense for Arctic soldiers not to spend a lot of time training in those environments. It is possible that a CTC in Alaska could be used as a training ground by other units that specialize on cold environments, such the 10th Mountain Division and the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Vermont National Guard.

Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler of U.S Army Alaska said that there is a cost and time involved in going there. “Here, you can deploy out in middle of this exercise.”

The Arctic region is melting rapidly, and this push by Capitol Hill planners and Pentagon planners is a result. Ships from Russia and China would find it easier to navigate in open waters. Both countries expressed interest in the area.

But the main goal isn’t to defend Alaska from invaders. Any foreign force trying to capture Alaska will have to navigate hundreds upon miles of frozen terrain. They would also likely have to fight against starvation, freezing to death, and other difficulties. Senior leaders emphasize the need for strong doctrine after past battles in Korea and Italy in which troops had to deal with dangerously low temperatures.

Many troops are equipped with makeshift necklaces, chapstick and lighters, and they wear multiple layers of cold weather clothing. Because power sources are susceptible to freezing temperatures, they must carry a large supply of batteries to power their night vision and radios. They’ll often keep some of those batteries in a small pocket that they can use to heat their bodies to keep them functional.

For soldiers’ survival, small heated tents are crucial. The two-week Cold Weather Leaders Course teaches troops how to make shelters from tree branches or how to create a small cave in an ice mound to survive the night. These shelters can be used to keep the frigid winds out by having two soldiers sleeping close together.

Staff Sgt. stated, “This teaches the children to not be so dependent and to make it clear that even if they don’t own a tent, they won’t starve.” Jordan Weeg is an instructor at the school.

It is not clear if Alaskan troops have the right equipment for their mission. Soldiers often operate in older Strykers. Some leaders are skeptical about the suitability of the vehicles for Arctic conditions or whether they will need modifications to be able to work in extreme environments.

However, in the early stages for revamping Arctic training it can be difficult for the Pentagon to invest only in hyper-specific equipment to one set of soldiers, despite them being part of hyper-specialized units. Fort Wainwright, where Strykers are kept, has very few heated garages and indoor motor pools. Subzero temperatures can cause a host of mechanical issues that can be a major obstacle to basic maintenance.

The Army is focusing on the Arctic as part of a larger effort to shift from counterterrorism to building its forces for fighting more conventional enemies. The Army’s Arctic strategy is designed to reestablish the ability of the service to operate in extremely low temperatures, after those skills were lost at post-9/11 wars and the Cold War. Many soldiers, including those based out in Alaska, have fought in the desert or extreme heat.

“The [Global War on Terror]A lot of the Arctic expertise was replaced by other expertise, and that is why we lost a lot in the past 20-years.” Command Sgt. Maj. Alex Kupratty is the acting command sergeant major of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division. He spoke to Military.com. “We were able identify large, significant gaps in Arctic expertise. We’re now in a race against the clock to become proficient again. It takes many years to get there.

Army leaders know Alaska is not for everyone. Instead of assigning soldiers randomly to different installations, the service plans to make Alaska an exclusive club of volunteers. Soldiers who enlist in the force can now choose to be stationed within the state. This can be appealing to troops who enjoy outdoor winter recreation. Leaders in Alaska are trying to keep soldiers who want to stay, rather than losing them in involuntary assignments. Leaders don’t want to lose the ability to teach soldiers the Arctic environment over a period of years.

“I want to have the confidence to thrive in these cold temperatures. We must be able survive. If you don’t get this right, it doesn’t matter what the enemy does. It takes effort and time to train for it,” Eifler said. It is deadly here. It’s a huge challenge, but it’s not for everyone. We’re trying to get people in who want it.

— Steve Beynon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @StevenBeynon.

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