FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2017) -- Survivability, sustainability and lethality are all priorities when Soldiers are training or executing real-world missions. A variety of factors can affect these priorities -- terrain, time, personnel, etc. -- but the most unpredictable factor is weather. Here in the North Country, Soldiers know to expect the unexpected, especially from Mother Nature.
It's that unexpected factor that allowed Fort Drum to be classified as a Zone 7 (Arctic) base in 2015. Previously, Fort Drum was categorized a Zone 5 area, meaning the area has warm or hot summers and cold or very cold winters, defined as the warmest month being above 68 degrees Fahrenheit and the coldest month being below 32 degrees. While those measurements were true of the North Country, it was common knowledge that the area frequently experiences temperatures well below freezing in the winter months.
To put the designation in perspective, as a Zone 5, Fort Drum was categorized along with installations like Fort Lee, Va., and Fort Bragg, N.C. As a Zone 7 installation, it falls in with Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and Camp Ethan Allen in Jericho, Vt.
The biggest change from the re-designation is the $12.5 million allocated to Fort Drum to improve its cold-weather sustainability. As all processes in the Army, funding, testing and ultimately selecting gear for the new designation took some time.
"We need to ensure that the Soldiers are getting the equipment that they need," said Sgt. Maj. Chay Blount, 10th Mountain Division Transportation Office senior enlisted adviser, adding that while the process takes time, it is thorough to ensure our Soldiers get the best equipment possible for their mission set.
One small group of instructors is especially looking forward to the new equipment and clothing to improve their training. The 10th Mountain Division Light Fighters School Mountain Warfare Course teaches Soldiers how to survive in below-freezing temperatures and to use a variety of arctic gear, including snowshoes, skis and Ahkio sleds.
Staff Sgt. Gary Stancell, lead instructor for the MWC, said the new equipment will improve their sustainability and maneuverability in cold conditions so Soldiers can focus on their objective and mission instead of being cold.
Stancell used the example of snow blindness to illustrate the degraded capabilities suffered from cold-weather injuries.
"Now a Soldier can't use his eyes, so we're using another Soldier to guide him around, so that takes out two people," he explained, adding that this degrades the mission capability all around since each individual has a part in the mission.
Aside from clothing and individual / team equipment, Fort Drum is also beefing up its infrastructure, adding improved aviation bays on Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield to accommodate its unmanned aerial vehicles and rotary wing aircraft.
"Having the aircraft inside during the winter lowers the time required to get them in the air for missions, especially MEDEVACs," said Andrew Kennedy, director of plans, training, mobilization and security, highlighting the fact that even with the new zone designation, training does not stop at Fort Drum during winter.
"They have training they have to do, they have skills they have to keep up, and the requirement to maintain them doesn't go away because the weather is bad or the winter is cold," Kennedy said.
Although the new authorized gear is on order, Soldiers and units won't see the items in their clothing bag until October.
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