Veteran alpinist and 10th Mountain Hall of Fame member, highlights early lessons from division’s roots
FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Maj. Gen. Scott M. Naumann, commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division, welcomed Christian Beckwith — host of the “90-Pound Rucksack” podcast, alpinist historian and author — to deliver a leader professional development session on his research into the division’s origins on March 12.
Beckwith was inducted into the 10th Mountain Warrior Legend Hall of Fame in 2023 and is a leading voice in research and awareness of the division’s alpine history, spotlighting its unique mountain legacy during World War II.
“I’ve been working on the story of the 10th Mountain Division for … four years now,” Beckwith said. “It’s going to take me longer to tell the story of the 10th Mountain Division than it took for the 10th Mountain Division to come into being in the first place.”
His research has taken him into the lesser-known roots of the division’s formation, the unexpected contributors to its early development, and the untold lessons behind the success of this first-of-its-kind unit.
Beckwith highlighted three critical elements of that success.
“Number one, if you go into these places again and again and again, you develop a certain level of fitness that allows you to execute missions over extended periods of time,” he said. “And in order to get up to that speed, you have to be training all the time.”
He continued, “In climbing, it is your dependence on your partner for your well-being — and your partner’s dependence on you — that is absolutely critical. It’s a camaraderie that, with the 10th, would be key to their success because it was the esprit de corps that held them together.”
He underscored a third element: a love for the mountain environment.
“I think there’s another thing here, and this is something that is right at your fingertips here at Fort Drum as well, and that is love,” Beckwith said. “If you fall in love with these places, you will get up at 2 o’clock in the morning and go out and suffer for hours at a time.”
Sgt. Maj. Daniel Brooks, the division’s command career counselor, shared his impressions.
“Listening to Mr. Beckwith talk about the challenges of training for austere conditions really felt personal,” Brooks said. “It is clear that you cannot just create a specialized organization overnight. It takes time, effort and a lot of trial and error.”
He added, “That ability to adapt and fight in the harshest conditions has shaped our resilient and determined mindset that every mountain soldier carries with them. It is that same attitude that helps us tackle modern challenges, no matter the environment or mission.”
Beckwith closed his retelling of the division’s origin with the historic Battle of Riva Ridge.
“And because of that incredible fitness that they developed during all those years of training, and because of that esprit de corps — that camaraderie, that fellowship that had accompanied their training as well — they began to roll over the Germans like a tsunami,” he said.
Brooks said these attributes remain part of the modern division.
“I have served in other great units … but the camaraderie and esprit de corps here at the 10th Mountain Division are unmatched,” he said.
Naumann thanked Beckwith for his time and for his “tremendous impact on telling a story … that hasn’t been told very well until lately,” and presented him with a token of appreciation.
Subscribe
