DENVER (KDVR) — As Russian forces continue to woolen the international community’s eyes in eastern Ukraine, military personnel from here in Colorado are heading to Alaska for some training exercises.
According to their public affairs office, the National Guard has sent around 40 Coloradan National Guardsmen to the Arctic Eagle-Patriot 2022 exercise being held in Anchorage, Alaska. This year’s iteration will run from Feb. 22 to March 10 and will focus on domestic operations.
“For our people to continue to succeed in evolving security environments, we must leverage technology and adapt our equipment, infrastructure, processes and organization,” said Director of the Joint Staff U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Scott Sherman.
In total, more than 900 Air and Army National Guard personnel from 15 states and 200 active duty Air Force, Army and Marine personnel will partake in the large-scale natural disaster simulation.
“This exercise builds situational understanding while enhancing emergency response operations,” Sherman said.
Previous Arctic Eagle excercises
The Arctic Eagle-Patriot Excercise program was first held back in 2012 and was a conscious effort made by the National Guard to increase its awareness and technical ability to operate efficiently in Arctic environments.
On March 12, 2020, the CONG Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield explosive Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) was activated just a few weeks after Arctic Eagle 2020 wrapped up.
Gov. Jared Polis did this to divert support toward CDPHE while they ramped up their efforts to test Coloradans for COVID-19.
According to former CERFP Commander U.S. Army Maj. Perry Read, lessons and tactics learned from the Arctic exercise were almost immediately implemented in Telluride when soldiers were rescued from cold weather injuries through the use of tactics learned at Arctic Eagle 2020.