Fighting in the freezer: Royal Marines train US Marines in Arctic conditions

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The scene where they ski into the pond? That's cold.

Fighting in the freezer: Royal Marines train US Marines in Arctic conditions

[Armymedic88]

1. That's BA!!!

[TomVilmer]

2. Last time it was too cold for them...

Last time the troops were in Norway, they all stayed indoor because the climate was to cold for them. I have been to the top of Norway summers and winters, and those temperatures are really no problem. As a political activist I stayed in the top of a tree for months starting in a snow storm. Don't join the army to see the world, just be a political activist here in the North.

Your soldiers has been training in the North for decades, and even without permissions at Greenland, and the big exercises are just escalating the tensions to our Russian neighbor, not helping in any way. Sadly Norway and Sweden has together made a combined gigantic military playground high North, renting it out to troops from the world - free to low flying planes, sonic booms and bombs. It scares the animals and the local people, who have problems with military use of their traditional grazing areas.

Please go to Alaska, if your boys needs to play.

[happyslug]

5. There is no snow in Alaska

You get snow in southern Alaska but as you go inland snow fall drops off drastically. This is typical of large land masses, heavy snow near the sea but little snow inland. This is so bad that during the last ice age Alaska was open tundra, the glaciers were to the east of Alaska except around the mountain ranges of southern Alaska. Siberia has similar weather conditions. Cold but light snow. Once the snow falls, it lasts all winter, but light compared to the coasts.

Thus if you want training in heavy snow, it is Norway. Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, Korea, Japan, the US western mountains and occasionally the US Northeast. The rest of the world is either to hot or to cold.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. Obviously it's training for the War On Christmas....

Invasion of the Redcoats all over again....

(They're here to drink all of our booze.)

[happyslug]

4. Reminds me of my Winter Camp in late 1980s.

I was in the Pennsylvania National Guard, and that winter camp was a total debacle. Our unit had known for almost a year that our two weeks would be in Late November at Fort Indiantown Gap Pennsylvania. National Guard units must have one winter camp every five years. We made lists every drill (which was once a month) of what we needed for winter camp. We were told we will get what we needed when we arrived at Indiantown Gap.

When we hit Indiantown Gap, they sent us straight to the field. Most troops had no true winter gear, but we did have rubber boots (this is before the Army issued Gore Tex water proof boots), we had coats with liners, and we had helmet lines and gloves. In most winters in Pennsylvania that would have been sufficient, but we went to the field in the worse winter storm to hit Indiantown Gap in something like 20 years. Two days out, we had to be called back to the barracks for the troops were freezing. Once we were back in the Gap, we had to unload our trucks and go back out and get the infantry, who had no way to get back (The roads were so bad, we installed chains on our trucks and went up the tank road, to avoid the ice on the paved roads).

Once back in the barracks, the weather actually improved up to the 40s, but then we were issued Mickey Mouse boots, Army Mittens, 50% wool/Cotton long johns, insulated winter coats and even field pants with liners. This is the stuff we had been requesting for over six months, but we were to get them while we were in the field when we arrived at Fort Indiantown Gap.

Our comment was "Who planned this debacle?". Someone at Divisional level wanted to get two solid weeks of training in, and forgot that to do so we had to be equipped. They forgot to get the permanent people to get the equipment we all said we were short of, but no one went to get the equipment thus we (the Whole Division) were NOT prepared to go out in the field in the worse winter storm in 20 years.

Once back in the Barracks we where issued the winter equipment, but the remaining time was nice, temperatures were decent, not cold, not warm. The winter gear helped a lot, but we could have survived without it during the rest of the two week training camp for the temperatures had improved that much. We actually did NOT need the winter equipment for the rest of the camp for the weather had turned mild,

Thus when we needed the equipment, we did not have it, when we no longer needed it, we were issued it.

The Subsequent Summer camp was noted by our heading for the barracks and sitting around a day or two while the unit was given the equipment it needed, but it summer and most of what we were issued we really did not need to go to the field. Someone had learned the wrong lesson, they checked to make sure we could go to the field before actually sending us to the Field. That was the wrong lesson, they should have made sure the units were fully equipped BEFORE we ever went to Summer Camp. For had they learned that lesson, we could have gone to the field and have two weeks of training. Thus a case of someone learning the wrong lesson from a debacle.