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Most Soldiers would tell you that their primary weapon system is their rifle, but in the special operations realm, it’s the operator. Without a Green Beret’s body performing at peak efficiency over long periods of time in some of the most hostile and unforgiving environments in the world, no other piece of equipment matters.
So how do you prepare them?
This was a question that members of the special operations community from across the world sought to answer when they attended the Special Operations Forces Cold Weather and Altitude Symposium, hosted by the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and funded by the Special Operations Command Science and Technology department Jan. 22-23, 2018 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Specifically, the symposium sought to enhance technical and tactical abilities special-forces Soldiers possess while conducting extreme cold weather and high-altitude warfare.
“For 17 years we’ve been operating in the urban desert environments of Afghanistan and Iraq, so cold hasn’t really been a focus or an issue,” said Paul Goldberg the Human Performance Program Coordinator with 10th Group. “It is now. We need to address and fill that gap in knowledge to provide our special operators with everything they need to excel in these tough arctic and alpine environments.”
Also known as “The Originals,” 10th Group has a long history of training and operating in winter and mountain operations.
“10th Special Forces Group is the go-to in the SOF world for anything mountaineering and cold weather,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gabriel Maillet, 10th Group’s Force Modernization Officer. “We wanted to bring in professionals to help us get better.”
The two-day symposium, which was held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, offered special operators and civilians an unprecedented opportunity to learn from the experts. Speakers ranged from Olympic-level coaches, to scientists in the field of high-altitude and extreme cold weather, to professional explorers and travelers.
Included were Mr. John Huston, who became the first American to reach the North Pole without resupply or support in 2009, and Rune Gjeldnes, a former Norwegian special operator, who conducted the first and only unsupported Arctic Ocean crossing in 1997, as well as two North Pole expeditions.
One area addressed was the implications of extreme cold weather and altitude on tactical performance, and what most of the guest speakers agreed on was that a five-day field training exercise once a year just wouldn’t cut it.
They emphasized that training in actual arctic temperatures, practicing self-care skills and gaining extensive experience through routine operations in at least -10 degree temperatures was key to developing the type of cold-weather mentality a soldier needs to operate and survive in the arctic.
Gjeldnes credited mental toughness and experience with saving his life when he recounted his trip across the Arctic Ocean, originally a 55-day expedition, and how he and his partner had to get across in 30 days when a fuel leak contaminated their food supply. They ended up having to trek for 23 hours a day, sleep for one, and ration out a handful of food a day to survive the expedition.
“We’re not there yet,” said Sgt. 1st Class Chad Conley, 10th Group’s Force Modernization Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, “Physically, mentally, and emotionally, a lot of guys at 10th Group may not be ready for that kind of significant emotional event.”
Although most of the panel members were civilians, and not personally familiar with the nature of military operations, their insight was invaluable.
One lightbulb-moment for 10th Group came from arctic experts who lauded eating foods with a much higher concentration of fat and proteins to support long, physically exhaustive movements in arctic environments, rather than the carbohydrate-heavy meals found in the military winter MRE’s.
“They showed us that we were behind in how we used our calories,” said Conley.
Yet for Kelsey Bailey, 10th Group’s Human Performance Program’s Dietitian, who also spearheaded the event, this new information was precisely what the symposium was all about.
“You have typical training routines and performance diets that you are used to working with, but these different environments pose challenges that we need to be better prepared for,” said Bailey.
10th Group, which has maintained a legacy skill set of winter skills dating back before the war on terror, also recently stood up a Winter Warfare Detachment (WWD) to address the importance of arctic warfare and survival.
“A handful of people who still have these skills and knowledge are now our senior guys at the group level,” said Maillet. “We established the Winter Warfare Detachment to bring that knowledge and experience together in one place, standardize it once again, and then disseminate it back down to the lowest levels.”
Maillet emphasized the goal of the WWD, which is to make special-forces teams self-sufficient in the realm of winter warfare training, preparation, and development, much in the same way that they are self-sufficient in every other aspect of SF operations.
According to Maillet, the symposium and the WWD are baselines for establishing a clear standard for what SF operators are expected to do if called upon.
“Now that we are having these conversations with multiple countries, other special operations force entities, and our own experts in 10th Group, we are starting to find out what the standard should be, and by finding that out, we know what to hold our guys to and what to strive for,” said Conley.
As time goes on, a keystone component to special operations is its unique ability to quickly adapt and in its agility to be able to succeed in a vast array of environments and conditions. So, in the realm of Winter Warfare, much as in many other unique skill sets Green Berets with 10th Group possess, knowing the standards is the first step to exceeding them.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2018 13:32 |
| Story ID: | 266843 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 441 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The Best Get Better: 10th Group Hosts Cold Weather, Altitude Performance Symposium, by SFC Jorden Weir, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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