USARAK brings equipment experts to cold

Photo By Staff Sgt. Mylinda Durousseau | A Soldier from the Northern Warfare Training Center sets up an arctic tent as part of a demonstration of old-versus-new equipment during the Arctic Equipment Symposium on Fort Wainwright, Feb. 3-6. This updated tent is lighter, faster to set up and less likely to catch fire than its predecessor. The U.S. Army Alaska-sponsored event brought together service members from various cold weather and mountaineering schools across the U.S. military along with other high-level agencies to assess updates and changes needed for current cold weather equipment to enable Soldiers operating in the arctic and mountainous regions to perform better. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Mylinda DuRousseau, 1st SBCT Public Affairs)  

FORT WAINWRIGHT, AK, UNITED STATES

02.06.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Mylinda Durousseau 

1st Brigade, 11th Airborne Division

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska – U.S. Army Alaska Soldiers live and work in the Arctic on a daily basis; they can’t quit when it is -30 F and neither can their equipment.

Throughout the past decade the Army has been focused on equipping Soldiers for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, not for operations in extreme cold weather regions. During this time those operating in Arctic environments have seen little change or improvement in Arctic equipment.

The second U.S. Army Pacific Arctic Equipment Symposium, held at Fort Wainwright, Alaska Feb. 3-6, was designed to identify Arctic equipment shortfalls, assess progress made in the year since the first symposium and determine a viable way to move forward in addressing the issues.

“We have the knowledge, we have the experience,” said Col. Jim Anderson, USARAK assistant chief of staff. “We’re here; we’re in the snow, we’re in the cold, we’re in the ice all winter long.”

Operating in Arctic regions gives USARAK Soldiers first-hand experience and knowledge, good and bad, of what works and what needs updating and improving.

“If someone’s sitting in Florida and you’re trying to tell them, ‘at -30 F it’s very hard to move your fingers so gloves have to provide a better dexterity,’ they don’t really understand what you’re talking about until you get them on a slope at -30 F and have them try to tie boot laces on a [vapor barrier boot],” said Anderson. “All of a sudden it makes sense.”

The symposium brought together personnel from: the Northern Warfare Training Center; 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York; the United States Army Mountain Warfare School, Jericho, Vt.; U.S. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, Calif. as well as Army development and acquisition experts and representatives from outdoor-equipment manufacturers. The participants will assess progress that has been made since last year’s symposium.

“I’ve seen some good stuff come out of [the symposium],” said Staff Sgt. Michael O’Brien, an instructor with the NWTC. “It’s good that we’re getting all of this equipment tested.”

O’Brien came to Alaska in 2010 and took part in the symposium last year as well as this year.

Anderson said the process of finding and making updates to the equipment is very deliberate. Science research and development personnel from across the Army attended the symposium and each piece of equipment was discussed individually.

“Is there something out there that’s really that much better?” Anderson asked. “If there isn’t we’re probably not going to invest a large amount of money that really gives you no value added.”

The 10-man arctic sleeping tent is one piece of equipment O’Brien said has been improved to address the concerns discussed at last year’s symposium.

The new version of the arctic-ten man tent is made of a different material; it is lighter, set up with fewer stakes, equating to a lighter load to haul, set up quicker and less likely to catch fire, said O’Brien.

“I watched a [demonstration] fire inside both of them,” O’Brien said. “They lit a sleeping bag inside them and the 10-man tent that we use burnt down in a minute and a half, their tent actually self-extinguished.”

Those kinds of advances are what the symposium was designed to find.

From new technology, new materials making equipment safer and lighter, to new methods making operations more efficient, the lessons learned during this year’s symposium can help keep Soldiers from USARAK and across the Army ready and capable to complete their mission, no matter what the Arctic brings.

“Our real purpose in this is not just to equip U.S. Army Alaska Soldiers, our goal is to establish a standard for any unit that may have to operate in an arctic or sub-arctic environment,” Anderson said. “What works for USARAK, because we live, train and operate in this environment, we know it’s going to work for everybody else.”

• Date Taken: 02.06.2015
• Date Posted: 02.10.2015 22:15
• Story ID: 154160
• Location: FORT WAINWRIGHT, AK, US