New England's 'Cold Steel Warriors' have proved they've got what it takes to operate in the harshest winter environment.
Over 700 Marines with the 1st Battalion, 25th Marines completed exercise Nordic Frost this month: two weeks of rigorous cold weather training in subzero conditions, moving and shooting across the mountains of the Ethan Allen Firing Range outside of Jericho, Vermont.
While inclement weather is part of life for these Marines, the Reserve infantry unit's annual training validated their ability to sustain operations through extreme conditions, battalion commander Lt. Col. Chris Graves said.
"We wanted to jump in the deep end of the pool," he said. "Marines love to step up to a challenge and take pride in accomplishing something hard."
Operating in the cold means everything takes 50 percent longer to accomplish, Graves noted.
The training provided his Marines with tangible experience in adapting to and overcoming friction inherent to such environments, including properly using issued gear, operating weapons systems in suboptimal conditions and small-unit leadership.
"The Marine Corps is really great at providing good gear, but that doesn't always mean Marines know how to use it correctly," Graves said.
Sgt. Steven Thompson, a scout platoon leader, experienced this as he saw the capabilities of his M40a5 sniper rifle drop off.
"Marines don't have the experience of exposure to this environment," he said. "This training gave us an opportunity to share our experiences and learn how to do things differently."
The hardest part, Thompson said, was not being able to get more training in.
"I wish we had more," he said. "The Reserves are different than active duty: We've got to get everything in in a short amount of time."
Over the first few days of the training, cadre from the Marines' Mountain Warfare School in Bridgeport, California, joined staff of the Ethan Allen range, which is home to the Army's Mountain Warfare School, to provide the Cold Steel Warriors with a crash course in cold weather operations.
From there, the Marines pushed out into the field, bivouacking in four-man tents.
One company at a time, they conducted weapons tests and ran through live-fire lanes replicating offensive and defensive operations.
For their final exercise, they went toe-to-toe with the Jericho Militia, the notional insurgency wreaking havoc in the New Jersey countryside.
Their performance, battalion Sgt. Maj. Fred Ott said, was excellent.
"They are really motivated," he said. "Marines want the challenge, want to train; drills or [annual training] is one thing, but they'd rather be out here in the field learning how to use their weapons systems."
A key take-away of the training, Ott said, was the degree of empowerment exhibited by the unit's noncommissioned officers.
"There were zero cold weather injuries," he said. "With over 700 Marines, that shows that small-unit leadership is working."
Matthew L. Schehl covers training and education, recruiting, West Coast Marines, MARSOC, and operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Marine Corps Times. He can be reached at mschehl@marinecorpstimes.com.
