This is 50% true. Many National Guard units specialized in Winter Warfare and The Army Mountain Warfare School in Vermont has routinely trained soldiers in this stuff since the 1980s.
NWTC has been training the Army in Arctic, mountainous and cold weather warfare continuously since 1963. The Army’s presence in Alaska has been the same since WWII. This video has gotten a few things wrong. We’re not starting over from scratch, and the units that make up the 11th Airborne, have been here for decades
The US Army Alaska was reflagged to 11th Airborne Division which already had airborne units like the 501st Infantry Regiment Airborne. They are shifting the ground pounders from Strykers to other Arctic vehicles. This is just that the eyes are looking back at the units up here. The mission never went away, people were just looking elsewhere. My father was stationed at Fort Richardson in the 70s as part of the 172nd Infantry Brigade and it’s shifted divisions from 6th infantry Division Light to 25th Infantry Division whose subordinate units in Alaska under United States Army Alaska were brought under the newly reflagged 11th Airborne Division. So these aren’t units learning about the Arctic just recently. There have been US Army presence heavily in Alaska especially during World War II and after when there was the Alaskan Command which then became US Army Alaska that would eventually become US Army Alaska and now 11th Airborne Division. The main points here in this video are important as the waters in the Arctic shift from being ice locked a good portion of the year to becoming more navigable year round the need for increased military presence and more units will be necessary
There was an AirBorne Division when I was stationed there back in the late 80s. There was also a National Guard unit there. Apparently they were deactivated to saved the money. They are gonna spend more money bring them back. Little has changed in not just the army but the US Govt.
Saying that the US Army is starting over from scratch is absolute nonsense. Granted GWOT took Alaska units out of the state and into Iraq & Afghanistan rotation but the techniques and the terrain haven't changed very much in Alaska. Ask some soldiers who served here in the 1960s and 1970s and earlier. I'm one. It won't take long to come back to the competency levels of those days with the advantages of better communications, other tech and lighter equipment. Some equipment. A lot of the gear used 40 years ago and older is just as effective and important today in 2024 as it was in 1960 and a lot more durable. The Army STILL, hasn't found a winter replacement insulated boot. And it's been on the drawing boards over 40 years. Read some damn manuals Army leaders. Utilize all the training that came before instead of trying to re-invent the wheel. Vermont? When was the last time it was -50F in Vermont? You can't be serious.
