U.S. Arctic Angels hone extreme cold warfare

Soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 11th Airborne Division, known as the Arctic Angels, have expanded and intensified cold‑weather and mountain warfare training since the division’s activation in June 2022. Based primarily in Alaska, these brigades prepare to operate where temperatures plunge well below –40 °C, equipment freezes, and human endurance is severely challenged. Commanders stress the goal is not mere survival but sustained mastery of Arctic combat—able to conduct prolonged operations in environments where conventional forces struggle.

Training across the Chugach and other Alaska ranges combines individual survival craft with complex tactical drills. Troops practice glacier navigation, steep ice ascents, and movement on skis and snowshoes; construct improvised shelters and snow‑melting systems for water; and implement detailed cold‑injury prevention and care. Units conduct live‑fire exercises in blizzard conditions, practice weapon and equipment maintenance under severe wind chill, and standardize clothing and layering so performance becomes predictable under extreme stress.

The program emphasizes operational mobility and logistics in degraded environments. Soldiers rehearse air‑assault insertions onto frozen terrain, ice‑bridge construction and crossings, and rapid resupply via snow‑adapted helicopters and tracked transporters. Exercises simulate GPS and communications failures common in whiteout conditions, forcing reliance on redundant navigation methods and decentralized command. The objective is formations that can sustain themselves independently for weeks, projecting power into areas most forces cannot reach.

To back these capabilities the Army fields specialized systems and clothing: Arctic‑rated vehicles and tracked transporters able to traverse deep snow and fractured ice; cold‑resistant drones for reconnaissance in subzero air; and next‑generation insulated uniforms and heated body armor developed with research partners. These items aim to reduce mechanical failures, limit physiological strain, and extend operational reach where both machines and humans are pushed to limits.

Pentagon officials frame the Arctic Angels as part of a broader effort to relearn and modernize cold‑weather warfare—a discipline central during the Cold War but deprioritized for decades. As melting sea ice opens new maritime routes and resource competition intensifies, the Arctic has become a zone of heightened strategic competition. Officials cite Russia’s extensive Arctic basing and China’s growing polar investments as drivers for renewed U.S. emphasis on northern defense.