U.S. Marine Warlords, 16,000 NATO Troops In Arctic Wargames

United States Marine Corps
March 9, 2014

2nd Marine Regiment
Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Warlords, Norwegians prepare for Cold Response
By Staff Sgt. Steve Cushman | 2nd Battalion

Giskaas, Norway: On March 12, the Warlords of 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division will begin the annual multinational and multilateral training exercise, Cold Response 2014.

The exercise will feature various types of military training including maritime, land and air operations. The location, above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway, provides a unique cold-weather environment for all forces involved to learn and develop procedures from one another.

To prepare for the exercise the Warlords spent three days in the field learning to work with the Norwegian Army’s Host Nation Support Battalion, who they will work with during CDR14.

The Marines and Norwegian soldiers learned to work together and use the Bandvagn 206, a tracked vehicle used to move troops and equipment over the snow. The Marines also conducted live-fire ranges and a few learned how to drive snow-mobiles for reconnaissance.

“The Norwegians explained how the BVs worked and how we will be able to utilize them,” said Cpl. Jeffrey Dittmar, a Pottsville, Penn., native and a platoon sergeant with Golf Company. “They showed us how to recover them in case of a rollover, we learned a lot about the BVs.”

The Host Nation Support Battalion’s BV Company will support Golf Company during Cold Response providing transportation to different objectives.

“We got enough familiarization in the field to know how to work with the Norwegians during the exercise,” Dittmar said. “The exercise is going to be a good experience working with other countries, something that many of the Marines have never done before.”

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The Local
March 9, 2014

Swedes train with Nato on Russian border

Over a thousand Swedish troops are participating in a Nato training exercise close to the Russian border and have admitted the two-week drill may risk irritating the military power base in Moscow.

The exercise had been pencilled in long before the crisis in Ukraine and is scheduled to run for a fortnight in northern Norway. A total of 16,000 soldiers are participating in operation ‘Cold Response’ with Sweden providing 1,400 of them.

However, the training exercise is sure to draw the attention of the Russian military who branded a similar operation in 2012 as “provocation.”

“The defence needs to train and this is an excellent chance to train together with Nato,” colonel Jan Mörtberg told Dagens Nyheter (DN).

Asked specifically if the exercise could be interpreted as an act of provocation towards Russia the colonel said; “You can’t exclude that but it should be clear we do not have any scenarios where we are at war with Russia.

“Besides, the training area is far from the Russian border and the exercise has been announced well in advance,” Mörtberg told the newspaper.

Sweden is currently a Nato partner, not a member, but recent events in Ukraine have urged a rethink on their Nato status. Deputy Prime Minister Jan Björklund hinted the crisis could lead to Sweden joining the military alliance.

“You have to build up your fire brigade to the same dimension as the risk of a fire,” Björklund told the TT news agency.

“How many people thought that Russia would go into Crimea? The same argument could hold true for the Baltic states,” he added.

Björklund’s suggestion for “a new defence doctrine” didn’t find favour with the Armed Forces Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson who said the military was on the “right path” with their existing protocol.

The peacekeeping drill in northern Norway is the largest exercise which the Swedish armed forces will participate in during 2014. Colonel Lars Karlsson, who will lead the Swedish soldiers, said it was an important exercise with particular emphasis on safety.

“It is a large and very challenging exercise,” he told DN.

Operation Cold Response is due to finish on March 21st.