With around 10,000 soldiers from seven nations, the Joint Viking will be the largest military exercise in northern Norway this year.
The scenario to be trained is exactly what Donald Trump has created uncertainty about: U.S. military help in case a European NATO ally gets invaded by Russia.
“It is important that our allies practice deploying to Norway, and they must train to operate with Norwegian forces in winter conditions,” the Norwegian Armed Forces said in its description of the Joint Viking 2025 exercise. The statement adds: “This knowledge is perishable, so we must train regularly.”
The winter exercise kicks off on March 3 and will last until March 14. The main activity takes place in Troms region, in northern Norway. Navy warships from France and the Netherlands are already at port in Tromsø and thousands of soldiers are deployed to Bardufoss where the snowy part of the war games will take part.
Troops with the U.S. Marine Corps have since January conducted unit-level cold weather training in the area in preparation for the exercise. Now, they make ready for a war games scenario to protect northern parts of Norway from Russian aggression.
The Norwegian Armed Forces makes clear that NATO is ”the foundation of Norway’s defence.” […]
The American soldiers are part of the Marine Expeditionary Force, a rapid deployment unit normally based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina on the U.S. east coast. Arctic warfare is something not possible to simulate at the base home. In Troms, they will train with allied troops from Norway, Finland, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Läs artikel