{"id":47384,"date":"2023-01-30T17:20:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T17:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/30\/national-guard-preps-for-potential-arctic-conflicts-with-russia-china\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:12:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:12:57","slug":"national-guard-preps-for-potential-arctic-conflicts-with-russia-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2023\/01\/30\/national-guard-preps-for-potential-arctic-conflicts-with-russia-china\/","title":{"rendered":"National Guard preps for potential Arctic conflicts with Russia, China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. \u2015 While active duty troops have been traveling up to the far reaches of Canada and Norway to get acclimated to fighting in deep snow and bitter cold, in January members of the National Guard tested their cold-weather skills on some home turf: northern Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first run of Northern Strike<\/a> 23, a 10-day National Guard combined arms exercise, wrapped up over the weekend. This marks the sixth year the Guard has put on the event, part of the U.S. military\u2019s push to get ready for military confrontation in the Arctic, where, as ice melts, waterways become more navigable and countries like China and Russia increase their military presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at a map from the North Pole, you see how close all these countries are,\u201d Army Gen. Dan Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told Military Times on Thursday. \u201cAnd you also see the vastness of the Arctic. And as we look at the temperatures increasing and further access to the Arctic, some of these scenarios that almost nobody would operate in because they\u2019re so difficult \u2015 now we\u2019re starting to see countries move into those areas. And there will be competition there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to adversaries like Russia and China, there are NATO allies like Norway operating in the Arctic, countries that the U.S. would be obligated to support in the event of a confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be able to go wherever that potential fight may be, and we need to provide presence there,\u201d Hokanson added. \u201cYou need to be able to go there, and not just go there and survive \u2015 go there, operate and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of his visit Thursday, Hokanson took some live-fire practice on the M777 Howitzer, one of the NATO weapons making a difference in beating back Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\t