WINTER IS COMING: ENSURING U.S. SPECIAL FORCES ARE PREPARED TO FIGHT AND WIN IN A COLD WEATHER ENVIRONMENT
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Authors
Wade, Andrew M.
Subjects
cold weather
winter
warfare
Special Forces
mountaineering
winter
warfare
Special Forces
mountaineering
Advisors
Burks, Robert E.
Date of Issue
2018-12
Date
Dec-18
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
For the past 17 years, United States Special Forces (USSF) has been decisively engaged in the Global War on Terror. Due to the deployment cycle and training requirements focused on deployments in the Middle East, many valuable skillsets, including the ability to fight, maneuver, and survive in extreme cold weather environments has atrophied across the force. In a majority of USSF units, extreme cold weather training is synonymous with high altitude and mountaineering training. Some teams and units do specialize in this type of terrain and train to a high level in technical mountaineering tasks, but too often the focus is on technical mountaineering skills and not how to survive and sustain operations in extreme cold weather environments. The recent 2018 National Defense Strategy, the multi-domain battle concept, and actions taken by peer and near-peer adversaries, all call for a shift in focus from the Middle East to adversaries such as Russia, China, and North Korea. Conflict with any of these adversaries will likely include some aspect of cold weather warfare. This research effort will define an adequate cold weather capability for USSF, and make recommendations to reach that capability.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
Defense Analysis (DA)
Organization
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NPS Report Number
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Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.