Exercise Arctic Shock:US,Norwegian Armies Put to the Test

From 18-22 March 2024,U.S. Army and Royal Norwegian Army Soldiers took part in bilateral Exercise Arctic Shock,a short notice planning (SNAP) exercise,according to a press release by U.S. Army Europe and Africa.Involved was a flight over the North Pole from Alaska to Bardufoss,Northern Norway for a parachute drop by 150 US paratroopers of the 11th Airborne Division (Arctic Angels),a unit of U.S. Army Pacific,and 100 paratroopers of the Royal Norwegian Army's 2nd Battalion.The scenario was the rapid reinforcement of the Norwegian Armed Forces by Arctic paratroopers from the U.S. Army Pacific.Said MG Brian Effler,11th Arctic Airborne Division's commanding general:This type of exercise shows,once again,Alaska's strategic location in the world and the 11th Arctic Airborne's strategic value to the Army and the nation.We value the chance to work with our Allies in the Norwegian Armed Forces and to learn advanced cold-weather techniques from their vast experience while demonstrating our own growing Arctic professionalism.The Arctic is a critical region for power projection and homeland defence.MG [Lars] Lervik,[chief of the Norwegian Army],and the Norwegian Army are great Allies,and exercises like this are effective in expanding our Arctic cooperation;practising interoperability;and continuing to build our strategic relationships.SNAPs help ensure participants are ready to respond to real-world contingencies with little or no advance notice.*Exercise Arctic Shock is a sub-exercise of Nordic Response,which is part of NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024,the largest NATO drills since the Cold War,featuring approximately 90,000 troops,demonstrating NATO's ability to rapidly deploy forces from North America and other parts of the Alliance to reinforce the defence of Europe.