Military Review English Edition November-December 2014 | Page 64

NOTES
1. There are numerous exercise reports filed with the U.S.
Army Heritage and Education Center that focus on Arctic operations. The most notable follow: ICE CAP, Sixth Army, Exercise
Ice Cap, Greenland, July & August 1960, general plan, Presidio
of San Francisco, 30 December 1959. U253.2.I24.U543, Arch.;
ICE CAP, 4th Infantry Division, Exercise Ice Cap, Greenland, 8
July-11 August 1960, final report, Ft Lewis, WA, 14 Oct 1940,
U253.2.I24.U543, Arch.; LODE STAR, Fifth Army, “Final Report,
Exercise Lode Star,” Ft Carson, CO, 7 June 1956, UD463.A35,
Arch.; NANOOK, Ralph W. Hunt, “Report of Operation Nanook,” Engineer School, Arctic Research Section, Ft Belvoir, VA,
December 1946, G630.A5.H86, Arch.; SKI JUMP, “Final Report,
Exercise Ski Jump,” Chicago, 26 April 1954, U253.2.S56.U54,
Arch; SNOW CHUTE, 82nd Airborne Division, “Exercise Snow
Chute,” after action report, 12 January 1961, U253.2.S62.E93,
Arch; SNOW DROP, “Snow Drop: Parachute Drop, Final Battalion
Combat Team Airborne Field Exercise,” report, n.d. UD483.
S58, Arch.; SNOW FALL, Exercise Snow Fall, “Final Report,”
Camp Drum, NY, 29 February 1952, U253.2.S65.E93, Arch.;
SNOW FALL, “General Plan,” Pine Camp, NY, 5 November 1951,
U253.2.S64.G46, Arch.; SNOW STORM, Exercise Snow Storm,
“Final Report,” 31 March 1953, U253.2.S67.E93, Arch.
2. Charles Moses McAfee, “The Strategic Importance of the
Arctic,” (student paper, Army War College, 1953), 21; Gerhard
Baumann, “The Arctic-Strategic Center of the World,” Military
Review (Dec 1962): 85-97.
3. Anthony Harrigan, “Northern Defense Frontier,” Military
Review (Dec 1969): 3-8; Bob E. Edwards, “The Role of the Army
in Polar Regions” (student paper, Army War College, 1960), 8.
Interestingly, many of the Arctic strategists of the 1950s voiced
common assertions that the Arctic, although potential key
terrain during the Cold War due to the short distance between
the United States and former USSR, would not truly reach its
potential until the “mining potential of the Far North should be
tapped … harbor areas and storage areas should be constructed … [and] giant vessels regularly ply the Northwest Passage,”
attracting sufficient government and business interest to require
a military focus on the region.
4. Siemon T. Wezeman, “Military Capabilities in the Arctic,”
background paper, Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute, 2012, 1.
5. “Siberian Scientists Prove Russia has Right to Huge Arctic
Mineral Resources,” The Siberian Times, 02 May 2014; Shaun
Walker, Harriet Salem, and Ewen MacAskill, “Russian ‘invasion’ of
Crimea Fuels Fear of Ukraine Conflict,” The Guardian, 28 February 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/28/russia-crimea-white-house. Between the original draft of this paper
and its publication, the intensification of the conflict in Ukraine
hints that Russia’s territorial ambition may be significantly stronger than many military and political analysts predicted.
6. U.S. Department of Defense, Arctic Strategy, 22 November 2013, http://www.defense.gov/pubs/2013_Arctic_Strategy.
pdf; Alan L. Kollien, “Toward an Arctic Strategy” (student paper,
Army War College, 2009).
7. Wezeman, 1.
8. Rex Finley, personal interview with author, 5 May 2014.

62

9. Harold D. Hansen, “The Adequacy of Mountain and Cold
Weather Operation Capabilities in the U.S. Army” (student
paper, Army War College, 1957), 12.
10. Edwards, 13.
11. Canadian Rangers, Personal conversation with author, 4
March 2014. During Guerrier Nordique, the author and the U.S.
team members spent considerable time conversing with and
learning from the Canadian Rangers. Comprised almost entirely
of native Arctic peoples, the Rangers are the most knowledgeable Arctic practitioners in the Canadian Army. In one conversation, the Rangers detailed the differences between various types
of skins and furs in relation to their water resistance, warmth,
durability, and breathability. The Rangers choose what skin or fur
they wear based on the conditions at hand.
12. McAfee, 21; Lauris M. Eek, Jr. “Maintainability of Military
Motor Vehicles under Arctic Winter Conditions” (student paper,
Army War College, 1969), 9-13.
13. The outer loft jacket and pants have no functional pockets for carrying equipment and, because standard fighting-load
carriers also crush insulation and freeze when worn on the
exterior, many soldiers during Exercise Guerrier Nordique 2014
resorted to carrying items in interior pockets where they were
extremely hard to access. In contrast, the Canadian insulation
system incorporates large exterior pockets that hold ammunition
magazines, flashlights, maps, and other mission-critical combat
equipment that typically resides in or on the fighting-load carrier. This design allows access to mission-critical gear, maintains
insulation loft, and prevents equipment from fully freezing.
14. Carl Pelletier, Personal interview with author, 1 March 2014.
15. Hansen, 26.
16. Ibid. 14.
17. Todd Gagnon, personal interview with author, 10 March
2014.
18. Hansen, 22.
19. Pelletier.
20. Eek, 10.
21. Edwards, 18.
22. Pelletier.
23. David A. Hoffman and Greg Netardus, “Re: Arctic Warfare Research Paper,” message to the author, 1 May 2014.
24. Vitalie Micov, “Modern Perspectives for Tactical Level
Operations in the Arctic Region” (student paper, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 2013), 50; Edwards, 18; Walter
A. Downing, “Future War in the Arctic” (student paper, Army
War College, 1954), 16-17.
25. David A Grossman, “Maneuver Warfare in the Light Infantry: The Rommel Model,” www.killology.com/maneuver_warfare.
pdf.
26. Downing, 1-3.
27. Joint Publication 1, Joint Doctrine for the Armed Forces of
the United States (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 25 March 2013), I-1.
28. Chad M. Briggs, “Environmental Change, Strategic
Foresight, and Impacts on Military Power,” Parameters (Autumn
2010): 76-90.
29. Harrigan, 3-8.

November-December 2014  MILITARY REVIEW