The assault team from Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, followed in one another’s footsteps because that was easier than walking through the deep snow that covered the ground at Alaska’s Donnelly Training Area. It also hid their numbers as they continued the advance. To the assault team’s left, a support by fire team moved into position as the assault team reached the tree line. The support by fire team opened fire. Now the assault team assumed shooting positions. Two dropped to their knees, and two laid prone.
Shooting from the prone position was unusually difficult. The Soldiers laid on top of two feet of powdery snow, which made accurate shooting a challenge as the snow shifted under their weight. They could not stay down too long, because with the temperature rarely rising above 10 degrees Fahrenheit, staying dry was critical.
Welcome to Arctic Eagle 2018 – where the morale was high, the temperatures were low and the environment was rugged.
Hosted by the Alaska Army National Guard, and held Feb. 20 to March 8, Arctic Eagle is a Statewide exercise designed to train Soldiers on conducting sustained operations in austere, arctic conditions, said Exercise Planner Alaska Army National Guard MAJ Sean Pence.
Nature cooperated with providing the austere and arctic conditions – frigid temperatures, deep snowdrifts, icy winds and multiple snowstorms. Nonetheless, more than 1,100 Soldiers of National Guard forces from Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming not only endured during the training, they thrived.
Also included in the event were active duty and Reserve Soldiers of U.S. Army Alaska, members of U.S. Coast Guard Alaska, personnel from the Environmental Protection Agency, staff from several Alaska State-level agencies and soldiers of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The two-week exercise consisted of scenario-based events at multiple locations, including Anchorage, Valdez, Ft. Greely at the Donnelly Training Area; Bethel, Kwethluk and Quinhagak in Western Alaska; along the Alaska-Canada border and areas north of Fairbanks near Murphy Dome. The scenarios included hazardous material detection and response, security and protection of critical infrastructure, triage, domain awareness patrol, communication and transportation support.
