Photo By Sgt. Salvador Castro | Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT WAINWRIGHT, ALASKA (Feb. 11, 2025) – Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), traveled over 3,000 miles to Alaska starting their journey to Arctic Forge 25.
Arctic Forge 25 is a biennial U.S. Army Europe and Africa-led exercise that will be held from Feb. 17 to Feb. 28, 2025, and will leverage Arctic host nation exercises—Local Defense Exercise 25 in Finland and Joint Viking 25 in Norway—to build Arctic readiness and interoperability in support of the U.S. Army's Arctic Strategy.
“It’s a great opportunity to have the multinational element for this exercise,” said Capt. Nicholas Steinmetz, the planner for 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division. “It’s been great building a team here at Fort Wainwright, from driver’s training on the Small Unit Support Vehicles (SUSV) to snow machine training. It's been really good to see people learn collectively.”
The preparation, time, and effort required to plan and execute an exercise of this caliber demanded a meticulous planning process and a team of strategically aligned, skilled partners, who are ready to collaborate and complete the mission successfully.
“This exercise is a long time coming. The first planning conference was in May 2024, a second one in July 2024, and a final planning conference in Finland this January. It's a lot of planning effort from all attached,” Steinmetz said.
The planning also involved Canadian and U.S. Army Soldiers participating in a Cold Weather Indoctrination Course with a classroom portion before stepping out to sleep in the frigid temperatures on Feb. 7. The course, taught by instructors with the 11th Airborne Division, was designed to train and build confidence in Soldiers, preparing them to face the Arctic.
“The biggest threat to our formation is the environment itself,” said Staff Sgt. Dustin Baker, a platoon section leader assigned to 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division. “If we can teach the individual Soldiers methods to protect themselves within the Arctic, then we are more successful in self-sustainment and mission achievement.”
Eyelashes heavy with ice, boots covered in snow, and their breath lingering in the frozen air, Soldiers began the hands-on training. The course taught Soldiers how to build thermal shelters, drive SUSVs and snowmobiles, and practice crucial survival skills that will help them in the Arctic Forge exercise.
"It takes a village. When you're out there in the elements with your squad or platoon, you have to look out for each other," said Sgt. Dennis Butcher, a senior medic assigned to 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
“You have to supplement where you can. If someone has wet gloves, you may have to hand off your extra pair to them. It's things like that that will keep Soldiers alive."
Every aspect of cold-weather training is vital knowledge that can make or break Soldiers while out there in the fight. Honing in on the skills learned and helping their battle buddies to the left and right of them is the essence of survival.
"You can learn everything off a PowerPoint, but until you're out in that environment, it's a different story," Butcher said. “You don't know how you're going to react to the cold or how you're going to survive and thrive in that environment until you face it."
Looking ahead, Soldiers are excited to travel to Finland to tackle new challenges and achieve mission success.
"The next stop is Finland. We're gonna kill it, see new sights, and experience some amazing things. I'm pretty excited," Butcher said.
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.12.2025 09:32 |
| Story ID: | 490598 |
| Location: | FORT WAINWRIGHT, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 267 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Embracing The Arctic: 10th Mountain Division begins their journey to Arctic, by PFC Makenna Tilton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
