American soldiers are currently training high up in the Himalayan Mountains
Troops from the 11th Airborne Division are teaming up with the Indian Army to practice mountainous warfare.
BY NICHOLAS SLAYTON | PUBLISHED NOV 27, 2022 4:32 PM
MILITARY LIFE
Standing in the shadow of the second highest mountain in the Himalayas is not the place soldiers in the U.S. Army likely expect to be. But for right now, that’s exactly where soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division are training near. They, along with troops from India’s army, are in the mountain range as part of Yudh Abhyas, a bilateral training exercise.
The two-week Yudh Abhyas began on Nov. 19, with a ceremony near Nanda Devi, the second-tallest mountain in the range. Soldiers were 9,200 feet above sea level, a high altitude but not as high up as the peaks of some of the mountains — Nanda Devi rises 25,646 feet. Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division are participating in Yudh Abhyas 22. The squadron, based in Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, trains in cold mountainous terrain, hiking the Denali Mountain Range.
“The Denali Paratroopers, joining the [Indian Army’s 9th Assam Regiment], are aptly named for their focus on reconnaissance and mountaineering across the Arctic and Alaska’s formidable terrain – although the Himalayas will certainly be a new test, ” Colonel Jody Shouse, head of 2nd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division, said in the opening ceremony.
https://taskandpurpose.com/military-life/yudh-abhyas-training-himalayan-mountains/
