Photo By Sgt. Michelle Reif | U.S. Marines train with the Norwegian army Cold Weather and Mountain Training...... read more read more
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BLÅTIND, Norway, (Oct. 27 – Nov. 4, 2016.) — U.S. Marines completed cold weather training alongside Norwegian army Cold Weather and Mountain Training Instructors in Blåtind, Norway, 27 Oct. to 4 Nov., 2016, to improve their ability to operate in mountainous and extreme weather environments.
“It is important for them to go through this because prior to this training they have just as much fear for the climate as they do for the enemy,” said Maj. Jan Heen, a Norwegian Winter Warfare Center Instructor. “When they are done doing this training, they will only have respect for the climate and know that they can fight in it.”
Marines originate from a wide variety of geographical backgrounds and many of them have never been exposed to such a cold environment. Leaders of the training agreed that the biggest challenge for the Marines was overcoming the mental barriers the weather created.
“I think the Marines are very well suited to work in this climate as they are and I think the key take away is that they are able to do it, that they have no fear for it and they see that they can hack it regardless,” said Heen.
During the four-day training evolution, the Norwegians taught the Marines how to navigate a snowy terrain, search for comrades after an avalanche, build hasty shelters and recover from a fall into icy waters.
“Right now we are here to conduct cold weather training alongside our Norwegian counterparts,” said Maj. Kevin Newport, the combined arms company commander. “We started in the crawl phase and ultimately we are going to end with a battalion level force-on-force exercise called Reindeer II here in a couple of weeks after we conduct some battalion level live-fire.”
The Marines were very impressed with the knowledge and professionalism of the Norwegian army and looked forward to working with them more in the future.
“We are very similar to our Norwegian counterparts both from a training mindset perspective as well as a capabilities perspective,” said Newport. ”I think both partners have a lot to offer and a lot to bring to the table especially as we continue to train and fight together.”
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2016 04:25 |
| Story ID: | 214087 |
| Location: | BLåTIND, NO |
| Web Views: | 317 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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