Soldiers Adapt Ukraine Lessons for Arctic Operations
Photo by: U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Mikayla Fritz
Mon, 06/23/2025 - 08:33
Airborne soldiers in Alaska are taking lessons from the Ukraine conflict and adapting them to their own operations in the uniquely harsh environment of the Arctic, a senior officer said.
Col. James Howell, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division, said June 13 in a call with reporters that through constant training in dangerously low temperatures, brigade soldiers are learning the limits and capabilities of their communications equipment, their vehicles and their own survivability.
Based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, the brigade is part of the only Arctic airborne division in the Army and the only airborne division in the Indo-Pacific theater. Its soldiers are equipped and ready to operate in any environment, but their specialty is lethality and survivability in the extreme temperatures of the frozen tundra.
“We see what is happening in Ukraine and are testing things in the Arctic and adapting so that we are more survivable in the Arctic particularly,” Howell said, adding that it takes “a lot of innovation to make sure that we can actually fight and win and sustain ourselves in negative 35 [degrees].”
https://www.ausa.org/news/soldiers-adapt-ukraine-lessons-arctic-operations
