Alaska
US soldiers are fighting to get back lost skills for war in the 'most challenging environment on the planet,' Army general says
Out on the Alaskan tundra, the US Army is pushing soldiers to their limits and recovering lost skills needed to fight in the sub-zero temperatures and ever-changing conditions of the Arctic.
The ability to fight in this part of the world, which a commanding general called “the most challenging environment on the planet,” is a renewed priority for the Army after many years of shifting focuses caused readiness for Arctic combat to atrophy.
In February, USARPAC led the third annual Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center training near Fairbanks, Alaska, which Business Insider was able to observe. Throughout the training, soldiers with the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division and troops from over a dozen international allies and partners drilled in Arctic warfare, running combat scenarios while adapting their essential gear, kit, and equipment to freezing conditions.
The training, carried out in what many described as the harshest part of winter in Alaska, pushed more than 8,000 troops to challenge themselves, Army leaders said, innovate in an unpredictable environment, and learn how to fight, survive, and thrive. It comes at a time when the US military has identified readiness to fight in the Arctic, and the Pacific region more broadly, as vital for the American military.
U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Elijah Magaña
For the last 20 years, Maj. Gen. Brian S. Eifler told Business Insider during the training, “we were focused on Iraq, Afghanistan, and really the forces up here, really two maneuver brigades developed up here because of that, were not here for anything other than deploying from and getting to Iraq and Afghanistan.”
During the Cold War, the Army’s forces in Alaska were focusing on cold weather combat, but JPMRC demonstrates a new and unprecedented investment. Troops told BI they felt like they were writing history with these exercises, doing something not seen across other divisions in the Army and US military.
Army leaders conduct the JPMRC training in the middle of winter, when conditions can be especially rough. On the flip side, JPMRC also does an annual rotation in Hawaii, training soldiers to fight in the wet, humid jungle.
USARPAC leaders have identified these environments as the ones in the Indo-Pacific region Army forces need to be able to effectively fight in. Last fall, USARPAC commander Gen. Charles Flynn said the vast Pacific was “likely to remain the geostrategic center of gravity well into the 21st century.”
Regional tensions require preparedness. Flynn noted that aggression, particularly from China, was reinforcing a focus on both maintaining readiness and deterring potential conflict in the area.
U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Brandon Vasquez
To do that, specifically in the Arctic, the Army reorganized its forces in Alaska back in 2022. US Army Alaska officially became the 11th Airborne Division, a newly reactivated unit, with the focus on Pacific and Arctic combat.
“Our mission is to deter the threats and be ready to fight and win both in the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic,” Eifler said at the time. “And yes, that’s a unique and difficult mission.” The general told reporters US Army Alaska had “sort of lost the Arctic ethos” because of its focus on counterinsurgency in the Middle East.
“We were a brigade, and we had an airborne battalion, then it was going away,” he said. “Then we had the Strykers. Then [we were] deploying to Iraq. You know, all over the years, we were all over the place.”
Following the release of the Army’s new Arctic strategy, Eilfer, along with another Army officer, then laid out the plan for how best to regain that “Arctic ethos,” in a 2022 paper called “Forging the Arctic Warrior.” Throughout it, they reiterate the need reprioritize the Army’s ability to fight in cold weather conditions in order to counter regional threats in the Pacific such as Russia and China.
The Army, they said, had already “embarked on this path and remains committed to success.”
“It must continue to adjust and adapt to ensure the Army is ready to thrive, fight, and win in the most challenging environment on the planet,” they wrote.
U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Brandon Vasquez
Now, with a renewed focus on the Arctic, USARPAC hopes to regain the cold weather fighting skills that had, as Eifler told BI, atrophied across the full spectrum, from operations and functions to training, leading, and combat capabilities.
Some skills that were lost, Eilfer said, included the ability to engage in combat with the right gear and equipment in a variety of cold weather conditions, including subzero temperatures and heavy snow. He added that the Army’s presence in the area, particularly its relationship with the community, had also dwindled.
At this year’s JPMRC, troops told BI the progress was palpable. Some of the exercises conducted during the training, such as a 150-mile helicopter deep strike, were the largest and most complex in the training’s short history.
Soldiers also drove five new cold-weather, all-terrain vehicles, tested new kits and gear, and ran simulated missions involving a host of air defense threats, jamming, and fire tools.
Eifler explained that these exercises demonstrated movement in the right direction. “We used to say, every year we take a step forward and [a] step back with Arctic skills,” he said. “Now we’re taking about four steps forward and one back each year.”
Wanda and Wayne,
My wife and I moved to Alaska four years ago for work and adventure, thinking we’d stay a couple of years and see how it felt. We fell hard for it almost immediately. But by our second winter, my wife started talking about how hard the cold and dark were on her, and every winter since that feeling has grown heavier.
This recent cold snap and snow dump really pushed things over the edge. She’s deeply unhappy right now, withdrawn, sad and openly talking about how depressing it feels to live here, especially being so far from family and old friends. She tries to manage it with running, yoga, the gym, but even those things she often does alone. She hasn’t really built a community here, partly because she’s introverted and partly because she sticks closely to her routines and her co-workers aren’t the very social. Meanwhile, I’ve found connections through work and the outdoors, especially skiing in the winter (cross country and touring, downhill, backcountry, all of it!), and Alaska still feels full of possibilities to me.
But now she’s done. She wants to move back “home” soon. She wants to start trying for kids within the next year and doesn’t feel like Alaska is the right place to raise a family. She worries about schools, politics, the economy and being so far from family support. We both have careers that could take us almost anywhere, as well as savings, and a house we could sell quickly, and many of the Alaska toys we could also sell. Logistically, it would be easy. Emotionally, I feel like I’m being told to leave after I just got settled.
There are places I still want to explore, trips I’ve been planning, seasons I want to experience differently now that we’re more established. I keep thinking: If we can just get through to summer, maybe she’ll feel better. But I don’t know if that’s hope or denial, and yeah, summer feels a long ways away and goes by pretty quickly. Honestly, now I’m starting to get bummed about the idea of leaving.
I love my wife and I don’t want her to be miserable. But I’m scared that if we leave now, I’ll resent her, and if we stay she’ll resent me. Is there a way to buy time without dragging this out painfully? Or is this one of those moments where love means choosing between two incompatible futures?
Wanda says:
If this was your first Cheechako winter here, or your second, I could write off your wife’s apprehension to culture shock or a sophomore slump. But this is year four, which means she’s endured winters of record snowfalls, weird snow shortfalls, terrible windstorms, bleak darkness and desolate below-zero temps. Sorry to say, but it’s likely there’s no number of laps at the Dome or downward dogs on the mat that will make her find the special beauty of an Alaska winter.
This place is tough. For every old-timer who jokes, “I came for two years and I’m still here,” there are plenty who maybe made it that long and bailed. While the state shines with possibilities, rugged beauty, unique traits and cool people, it’s also far from basically everything, pretty expensive and definitely extreme. Some people will thrive here. Some people won’t. No one’s better or worse, or wins or loses. Were you on your own, at a different point in life, you may have made your forever home here. But instead you pledged forever to your wife, and I’m afraid it’s time to start out on your next adventure — in the Lower 48.
Your wife gave this a real shot. She’s stayed four years. That’s four long — and for her, miserable — winters. It was also four seasons of no doubt incredible summers, full of fresh halibut and farmers markets and quirky festivals and blue skies at 11 p.m. If these special aspects of Alaska haven’t yet been enough to convince her the winters are worth it, they won’t ever be.
Wayne says:
Sure, your Alaska bucket list is still growing faster than you can check things off, but take it from a lifelong Alaskan: You’ll never do it all. People fall in love with this place in a million different ways. You and I? We believe there’s always another season of adventures ahead, another trail and another corner of the state to explore, and we’ll always feel some serious AK FOMO when we’re stuck at the office working while everyone else is ice skating on a perfect winter day or dipnetting during a hot salmon run.
Here’s the perspective shift you need. You love your wife. You’re committed to a happy life together. And by any reasonable measure, you’ve made the most of your four years here. So ask yourself this honestly: Is another spring of shredding pow in the Chugach more important than her mental health and your marriage? And why resent her for being ready for a new chapter after she showed up and gave Alaska a chance? When you frame it that way, “incompatible futures” sounds dramatic and “buying time” sounds selfish.
And Alaska isn’t going anywhere. You know that. It’s a flight or two away no matter where you end up Outside. Maintain your friendships, stay on the airline alerts, narrow your must-do list to the Alaska all-timers, and plan to come back regularly. And imagine this: years from now, bringing your kids here after years of telling them stories about the winters you survived and the mountains you climbed. That’s not losing Alaska, that’s carrying it with you wherever you go, along with your wife and your marriage.
[Wayne and Wanda: How can I support my partner’s hardcore New Year’s reset, even if it’s not for me?]
[Wayne and Wanda: I kissed my high school crush during a holiday trip home. Now I’m questioning everything]
[Wayne and Wanda: My girlfriend’s dog fostering has consumed her life and derailed our relationship]
[Wayne & Wanda: My husband has been having a secret, yearslong emotional affair]
Alaska
The Alarming Prices Of Groceries In Rural Alaska — And Why They’re So Expensive – Tasting Table
Many households across America have been struggling with their grocery bills due to inflation that hit the global markets after the COVID-19 pandemic, but for families in Alaska, especially in rural communities, the prices of basic goods have reached alarming heights. Alongside inflation, the main issue for the climbing prices is Alaska’s distance from the rest of the U.S., which influences the cost of transport that’s required to deliver the supplies.
Given that Alaska is a non-contiguous state, any trucks delivering grocery stock have to first cross Canada before reaching Alaska, which requires a very valuable resource: time. According to Alaska Beacon, “It takes around 40 hours of nonstop driving to cover the more than 2,200 highway miles from Seattle to Fairbanks” on the Alaska Highway. That’s why a fairly small percentage of the state’s food comes in on the road. For the most part, groceries are shipped in on barges and are then flown to more remote areas, since “82% of the state’s communities are not reachable by road,” per Alaska Beacon. As such, even takeout in Alaska is sometimes delivered by plane.
Planes, trucks, and boats all cost money, but they are also all vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, which are not uncommon in Alaska. Sometimes local stores are unable to restock basic staples like bread and milk for several weeks, so Alaskans struggle with high food insecurity.
How much do groceries cost in Alaska?
Groceries in Alaska cost significantly more than in the rest of the U.S., but even within the state itself, the prices vary based on remoteness. You’ll find that prices of the same items can double or even triple, depending on how inaccessible a certain area is. The New Republic reported that prices in Unalakleet, a remote village that’s only accessible by plane, can be up to 80% higher than in Anchorage, Alaska’s most populated city. For example, the outlet cited Campbell’s Tomato Soup costing $1.69 in Anchorage and $4.25 in Unalakleet. Even more staggering is the price of apple juice: $3.29 in the city, $10.65 in the village. Such prices might make our jaw drop, but they’re a daily reality for many Alaskans.
As one resident shared on TikTok, butter in his local store costs $8 per pound — almost twice the national average. Fresh produce is even more expensive, with bananas going for $3 a pound, approximately five times the national average. It’s therefore not surprising that most of the people who live in Alaska have learned to rely on nature to survive.
Subsistence living has great importance for many communities. They hunt their own meat, forage for plants, and nurture their deep cultural connection to sourdough. For rural Alaskans, living off the land is a deep philosophy that embraces connection with nature and hones the survival knowledge that’s passed down through generations — including how to make Alaska’s traditional akutaq ice cream.
High avalanche danger in the mountains around much of Southcentral Alaska prompted officials to issue a backcountry avalanche warning Saturday for areas from Anchorage to Seward.
The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center said that a combination of heavy snowfall, strong winds and low-elevation rain Saturday “will overload a weak snowpack, creating widespread areas of unstable snow.”
The warning is in effect from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.
Human-triggered and natural slides are likely, and avalanche debris may run long distances into the bottoms of valleys and other lower-angle terrain, the center said.
In Saturday’s avalanche forecast, which noted high avalanche danger at all elevations in the Turnagain Pass and Girdwood areas, the center said avalanches were likely to fail on weak layers about 1.5 to 3 feet deep.
Forecasters recommended that people avoid traveling in avalanche terrain, staying clear of slopes steeper than 30 degrees.
“Avalanche conditions will remain very dangerous immediately after the snow finishes,” the avalanche center said in its warning.
The center also said conditions may cause roofs to shed snow, and urged that people watch for overhead hazards, use care in choosing where to park vehicles and watch out for children and pets.
Areas covered under the backcountry avalanche warning include the mountains around Anchorage, Girdwood, Portage, Turnagain Pass, Lost Lake and Seward.
Farther north, the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center in its forecast Saturday said danger was considerable at upper elevations and moderate at middle elevations.
Snowfall in Anchorage and Mat-Su
A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 9 a.m. Sunday from Anchorage up to the lower Matanuska Valley, including the cities of Eagle River, Palmer and Wasilla.
The National Weather Service said total accumulations of 4 to 8 inches of snow were possible, with localized areas potentially receiving up to a foot of snow.
The snowfall was expected to peak Saturday evening before tapering off Sunday morning, the weather service said.
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