Courtesy Photo | Rugged personnel from U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground’s Arctic Regions Test Center...... read more read more
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It is vital that military equipment work wherever in the world American Soldiers need it, and extreme cold is a weather condition troops have had to contend with frequently over the years.
From Korea to Afghanistan, the lives of American Soldiers have depended on functioning equipment in inhospitably cold environments across decades of American history.
The rugged personnel of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground’s Arctic Regions Test Center (ARTC), the Army’s extreme cold weather test center, are recognized as world class experts of developmental test of military equipment in these challenging conditions.
Their reputation was recently underscored by their participation in Operation Nanook-Nunalivut, a multi-week, multi-national science, technology, and experimentation-oriented expedition conducted by the International Cooperative Engagement Program for Polar Research (ICE-PPR) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Conducted in the furthest northern areas of Canada’s Northwest Territories, the expedition included soldiers from the United States, Canada, and Finland, including the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division. All told, the expedition covered nearly 500 miles across wintery arctic tundra and frozen sea ice, conducting operations in and between remote patrol bases. The expedition also conducted a community day for the residents of Tuktoyaktuk, a hamlet of around 1,000 people at terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway, followed by a school visit to local middle and high school students several days later.
ARTC Technical Director Jeff Lipscomb and Heavy Vehicle Mechanic Jonathan Saatkamp brought their considerable arctic weather expertise and two Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicles (CATV) to bear on behalf of the expedition. The CATV underwent punishing developmental testing at ARTC in recent years, and the expedition served as an additional real-world test of the vehicles’ capabilities.
“ARTC’s membership and involvement in ICE-PPR and the associated international security cooperation events such as this expedition ensure that the organization continues to be tied into and included in the ranks of the extremely small cadre of Arctic and Polar subject matter experts from throughout the world,” said Lt. Col. Brian Karhoff, ARTC Commander. “The Arctic experience and expertise of the ARTC personnel, as well as the CATV support, was an indispensable resource for the expedition.”
| Date Taken: | 03.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.27.2025 09:46 |
| Story ID: | 493843 |
| Location: | NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CA |
| Web Views: | 171 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Army Arctic Regions Test Center personnel support major joint expedition, by Mark Schauer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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