QUEBEC CITY, Canada -- The U.S. Army's active duty and National Guard partnership falls under the recently restructured sustainment readiness model, and it allows organizations to regionally unify certain standard operating procedures that contribute to the Army's overall mission readiness.
Testing this system are U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont Army National Guard, who joined soldiers assigned to the 35th Canadian Brigade Group, Army Reserves, Quebec City, Canada, Feb. 25, to prepare for sub-arctic warfare training scheduled for Feb. 27 through March 6, in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, Canada.
The two-day preparatory course gave U.S. Soldiers time to familiarize themselves with how to use their Canadian counterparts' cold-weather equipment while conducting sustained operations in temperatures that average minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit -- a necessity when one is preparing to travel nearly 200 kilometers by snowmobile through some of the most remote areas in North America.
Fortunately, eight-year military veteran and cold-weather warfare expert Sgt. Caroline Roy, an infantrywoman with 35th CBG, was there to guide them through their journey.
"It's very simple, I'm a mentor," she said. "I'm here to first translate French to English, and secondly to share my experiences (and) provide tips and ways of working with the Canadian army."
Roy said that many of the mission's details would not be disclosed until a few hours before they departed and that their best course of action was to establish the basics of winter warfare survival.
"So it's what types of cold weather exist (here), how temperatures are influenced by the winds, how to treat cold-weather injuries, how to complete our bivouac (temporary encampment) and how all of our tactical (procedures work)," she explained.
In addition, the group learned how to set up Canadian arctic shelters; operate gas-fueled lanterns, cook stoves and heating sources; perform snowmobile maintenance and harvest water from ice -- something U.S. Army Capt. Mathew Hefner, assistant plans officer, 1-172 Cavalry, said he had not thought of before his trip last year.
"How do you get water? You don't; you get ice," he said. "That was a valuable lesson to me, because (last year) we spent a lot of time messing around with Hippos (Load Handling Compatible Water Tank Racks), which are heated, and water buffaloes, which are not."
Hefner noted that both water containers were cumbersome to transport and were not worth the effort.
He added that food preparation was another valuable lesson they learned and something they would implement during this training rotation.
"We discovered that they take a pressure cooker, with normal rations, and heat the meals in that," Hefner said. "It takes an inch of water, a little bit of snow, and it is much more water-efficient than using the dehydrated winter rations (the U.S. has)."
Hefner explained that the remote training location restricted the use and transportation of some U.S. military equipment, and that was the reason for learning how to use much of the Canadian army's survival gear.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Kyle Wilson, ready force commander, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd BCT, and a former 86th IBCT Soldier, explained that the rise in counterinsurgency training has left this type of field craft on the back burner.
"This specific mission will help us with the changing tactical climate," Wilson said. "The Arctic is becoming more and more of a volatile place with the opening of resources there. More countries have been trying to occupy that territory, so it's in our interest to work with our Canadian and National Guard neighbors to better understand how to fight in these conditions."
Wilson also expressed his gratitude towards the Canadian army, and he said he looks forward to the lessons he will learn over next few days.
"It's good to work with these guys; they are a similar army to us, but they do things a little differently," he said. "It's good to see something fresh, maybe something we can implement, especially in the winter warfare portion.
"These guys are the masters of cold-weather field craft," he continued. "Any little nugget of information I can bring back to make our Army stronger will be well worth it."
Over the next few days, Wilson and the others will complete their journey near the Arctic Circle and will depart for their respective units. To learn more about their training mission and the lessons they learned while training with the 35th CBG, look for part two of this article in the March 17 edition of The Mountaineer.
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