The Arctic is no longer a distant frontier; it’s the next front line. Forces train in Alaska at temperatures as low as 40 below zero, where frostbite pulls soldiers from the field and drone batteries lose their fight against physics. Washington Times Defense and National Security Correspondent John T. Seward is on assignment in frigid northern Alaska, covering the U.S. Army’s “premier Arctic training exercise.”
In the remote expanse of Alaska, U.S. and Canadian forces are preparing for conflict in one of the harshest environments on Earth.
In this exclusive two-part series, Threat Status was given access to the 11th Airborne Division and 10th Special Forces Group, as they train for a possible future on the front lines of global competition and well below zero.
[SEWARD] I’m John Seward, Defense and National Security Correspondent for Threat Status at the Washington Times. I’m here in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Army’s annual Arctic Warfare training to follow around special forces as they conduct a deep reconnaissance operation and talk to the 11th Airborne Division, the Arctic Angels, about what the future of modern Arctic warfare looks like.
It was 11 degrees and snowing when I first landed in Fairbanks at 3 in the morning. I’d been warned that multiple soldiers were already being pulled out of the field for frostbite, and by the time overnight temperatures hit -35, the air felt like it was pulling moisture directly out of you.
Even the snow was a fine dry powder that didn’t pack down quickly. My rented parka and heavy boots weren’t optional equipment. The temperature wouldn’t get above zero again until the day I left. The boots and parka were the difference between doing my job and becoming a medical statistic.
As I followed units around over several days, I saw a mix of technologies and techniques from entirely different eras being used side by side out of necessity. Some of the newest equipment struggled. Some of the oldest methods worked better than anything else. The gap between what the Pentagon wants and what actually functions at minus 40 degrees turns out to be one of the most important questions the U.S. military is trying to answer here.
[SHEA] For 450 years, people have dreamed about being able to send ships on the shortcut between Europe and Asian ports over the top of the world. And it wasn’t until 1906 that somebody was actually able to sort of bump their way through the Northwest Passage.
[SEWARD] This is Neil Shea, an author and Arctic explorer.
[SHEA] What stunned me when I really started looking at this stuff was that 1906-ish, Roald Amundsen makes the first transit. It’s not for another 50 years that somebody bothers to try it again. So that tells you something about, you know, it’s not a practical thing.
[SEWARD] There are two primary routes from the Arctic into the North Atlantic, the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap and the Northwest Passage. Control, or deny, movement through those areas, and you reshape the strategic picture for every NATO ally, both economically and militarily.
Russia and China now have a growing presence in the far north, while Canada, Norway, and Finland have maintained presence, patrols and settlements close to the Arctic Circle. Greenland is stuck immediately between both routes and is now the focus of diplomatic posturing and pressure by the Trump administration, as well as Denmark and its European allies.
[SHEA] Russia has been sliding submarines down the east coast of Greenland for a long time, and they’ve been sending them over the top of the globe down into the Arctic for a long time, too. We do the same thing in the other direction.
[SEWARD] To access those routes, Russia currently operates more than 40 icebreakers, including at least six heavy nuclear-powered vessels. The United States Coast Guard only has three, one of which used to be commercial and was purchased by the government in 2024 to try to keep pace in the Arctic. Even if you include research vessels, estimates only put an additional five under U.S. control.
It’s only been in the last few years that the United States has partnered with Finland to build more of their own icebreaking vessels. In October, the Trump administration poured gas on the fire, announcing that it would expedite the purchase and construction of a new class of icebreakers known as Arctic security cutters, and saying it would drastically increase funding to the Coast Guard’s polar budget and equipment.
The main focus isn’t about who can control the Arctic as a region so much as it is about who can move freely through that Arctic space.
[BRAWLEY] As the sea lanes are starting to open, we’re starting to see access to places that we didn’t have access to before.
[SEWARD] Colonel Chris Brawley, the commander of 1st Brigade, 11th Airborne Division, talked to me about the importance of the Arctic. His soldiers simply call him The Wolf.
[BRAWLEY] Our adversaries are starting to take advantage of those open sea routes and may start trying to grab pieces of real estate in the Arctic.
[SEWARD] When we start to talk about their strategic considerations, these things start to matter. We recently saw Russia actually shift some of their strategic bombers further north. That’s because of Operation Spider’s Web, a devastating attack conducted by the Ukrainians that destroyed much of the Russian strategic bomber fleet. Now they’ve pushed those bombers into areas where those same technologies — small, unmanned drones — can’t be as effective.
[BRAWLEY] Missile defense is critical in the Arctic, and having a force like the 11th Airborne Division that’s capable of operating in the Arctic is essential to America’s national security.
Watch the video for the full conversation.
