COLD-WEATHER COOPERATION

by John Pennell
USARAK Public Affairs

2/19/2015 - BLACK RAPIDS TRAINING SITE, Alaska -- A trip to Alaska tops many people's bucket lists, but not many would want to visit in February. Make the destination a location known for brutal sub-zero temperatures and dangerous, mountainous terrain filled with avalanche hazards, and most people would surely pass on the opportunity.

Military people aren't like most people.

So when U.S. Army Alaska Commanding General Maj. Gen. Michael Shields decided to host a collaborative event at the Black Rapids Training Site for partner nation militaries who also have to deal with extreme cold weather and mountainous terrain, a line quickly formed to attend.

Black Rapids, an hour south of Delta Junction in Interior Alaska's wildness, is home to USARAK's Northern Warfare Training Center, the U.S. Army's premiere cold region proponent.

It's the logical destination for representatives from the participating nations to get together and talk about winter warfare, with deep snow, sub-zero temperatures and stunning mountain ranges just outside the front door providing the perfect backdrop.
Even as the event kicked off, Soldiers from USARAK's Aviation Task Force - freshly returned from a deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom - were training in the nearby snowy mountains as part of NWTC's Aviation Cold Regions Survival Class.

The inaugural Cold Regions Military Mountaineering Collaborative Event, from Feb. 9 through 12, saw representatives from Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mongolia, Nepal and Japan, as well as representatives from the United States Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho, Vermont and the U.S. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, California, gather to focus on doctrine, equipment and operations among the specialized military schools and units.

The attendees met with a goal of establishing an environment of sharing and learning among international military schools and units that conduct specialized training and operations in cold weather and mountainous environments.

"When we received the invitation it was a tremendous opportunity," said Canadian Lt. Col. Francois DuFault. "In the Canadian defense strategy, the first priority is the north. For Canada to be able to talk with allies and close partners about the common issues we are facing when we are training and operating in an arctic environment, was a tremendous opportunity."

Lt. Col. Mats Forsman, commander of Sweden's Winter Warfare School, touched on the importance of interacting with other military cold weather and mountaineering experts.

"This is a meeting where we can build networks with each other," he explained. "We always have things to learn from each other. We may do things one way, but the Canadians or Americans or Finns may do it another way. We learn something from each other and together we all become better in winter warfare."

For Maj. Nikolai Lundsteen, representing the Kingdom of Denmark Home Guard, the event was more of a one-way exchange of ideas as his country works to build the capabilities from the ground up.

"For us it's important, because we know in the future we need to build new capabilities to operate under arctic conditions, especially in Greenland," Lundsteen explained. "We have no experiences with this. So basically we know our end state is to develop the capability, but we have no knowledge about the ways and means to develop those capabilities.

"For us, this is a fact-finding mission where we are trying to find out, on a tactical level, what are the do's and don'ts, and we have certainly gained a lot of knowledge here," he continued. "We are exploring new territories here, so this was the perfect event for us."

The four-day event was a combination of information briefings and hands-on activities such as snowshoeing, cross-country and downhill skiing, and other arctic tool and equipment demonstrations.