{"id":34376,"date":"2019-11-26T18:31:18","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T18:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/26\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:00:52","slug":"northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/11\/26\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\/","title":{"rendered":"NORTHCOM commander says US needs Arctic early warning system"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top general for U.S. Northern Command says the U.S. needs to invest in an early warning system for the Arctic similar to the series of radar stations built in 1957 that became known as the Distant Early Warning Line, or DEW line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to be aware of what is happening in that environment,\u201d Air Force Gen. Terrence John O\u2019Shaughnessy, the commander of U.S. NORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Saturday at the Halifax International Security Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s the latest concern that top military officials have raised about military readiness in the Arctic. Investment there has been limited in recent years despite growing competition for new sea routes and resources in the frozen tundra that is now pushing U.S. defense planners to revamp training, equipment and infrastructure to confront the rising challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Getting American troops to the fight in the Arctic is a complicated mission as the frigid environment complicates tasks that would be simpler in other geographic locations or commands, O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. military has the capability to rapidly deploy American forces and equipment all over the globe, but \u201cthat\u2019s different in the Arctic, it\u2019s very difficult,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy said. The U.S. military needs to innovate and address training gaps to operate effectively in the Arctic, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. appears to lag behind rivals like Russia, which has deployed thousands of troops to the Arctic for exercises \u2014 and according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-russia-arctic-icebreaker\/russia-eyeing-arctic-future-launches-nuclear-icebreaker-idUSKCN1SV0E4\" target=\"_blank\">Reuters<\/a> story is expected to field 13 polar icebreakers by 2035. Russia launched its first nuclear-powered icebreaker in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has only one working heavy icebreaker dubbed the Polar Star, with several more in the pipeline. The Coast Guard \u2014 which commands the ice breaking mission \u2014 awarded a $745 million contract to VT Halter Marine for design and construction of the next icebreaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it\u2019s not just ships that the U.S. military needs to confront rising national security challenges in the Arctic. Stuck in the Middle East for the last 20 years, the U.S. military is in the process of revamping training and equipment to handle the harsh frigid environment of the Arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can\u2019t just take people, and aircraft, and ships, and ground troops and all the equipment that that goes with that and deploy it to the Arctic and expect to be successful if you haven\u2019t trained there, if you don\u2019t have the right kit, the right gear. It\u2019s such a harsh environment,&#8221; O\u2019Shaughnessy said at the Halifax forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"5760\" height=\"3840\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg 5760w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/LAV-firing-europe.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5760px) 100vw, 5760px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force-Europe 19.1 (MRF-E) fire rounds from a Light Armored Vehicle during Exercise Northern Screen at Setermoen, Norway, Nov. 5, 2018. The exercise increases the Marines\u2019 proficiency in cold-weather, arctic, and mountainous environments. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ashley McLaughlin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NORTHCOM commander explained to audience members in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the U.S. was looking at investing in infrastructure, training and new kit to prepare American troops for operations in the Arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve done this before,\u201d he said. But in the Arctic \u201csimple things become hard.\u201d Communications and navigation become complicated. Above 65 degrees parallel north in the Arctic, satellite communications doesn\u2019t always reach, O\u2019Shaughnessy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There needs to be innovation to address these concerns, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. military has undertaken a number of training exercises and has expanded rotations of troops through cold-weather training over the last several years. In fall 2018, the Marine Corps deployed 700 Marines to Norway for training in extreme cold weather environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Marine Corps and Navy also participated in NATO\u2019s largest exercise in decades in Norway in late 2018, dubbed Trident Juncture. American amphibious ships were exposed to and trained in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The amphibious dock landing ship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.navytimes.com\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/10\/24\/heavy-seas-damage-navy-ship-near-iceland\/\" target=_blank>Gunston Hall <\/a>was slightly damaged and several sailors were injured off the coast of Iceland during the exercise due to heavy seas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. military is honing lessons learned as they jump back into the Arctic game. The Corps has already started fielding new cold-weather gear and kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Corps is also potentially eyeing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/07\/22\/why-alaska-could-become-the-corps-next-twentynine-palms\/\" target=_blank>Alaska<\/a> as part of a new Unit Deployment Program akin to the nearly six month rotations Marine units do in Okinawa, Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russia has deployed thousands of troops to the Arctic region for training and is expected to field 13 polar icebreakers by 2035. The U.S. has only one working heavy polar icebreaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,29,117,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3472],"class_list":["post-34376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"IBKYGTCWFZHQXE2GDZN7S6VFY4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2019\/11\/26\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NORTHCOM commander says US needs Arctic early warning system - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Russia has deployed thousands of troops to the Arctic region for training and is expected to field 13 polar icebreakers by 2035. The U.S. has only one working heavy polar icebreaker.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/11\/26\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NORTHCOM commander says US needs Arctic early warning system\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Russia has deployed thousands of troops to the Arctic region for training and is expected to field 13 polar icebreakers by 2035. The U.S. has only one working heavy polar icebreaker.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/11\/26\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-26T18:31:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T02:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shawn Snow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shawn Snow\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"NORTHCOM commander says US needs Arctic early warning system\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-11-26T18:31:18+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T02:00:52+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 718,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/43916226820_b3382b7092_k.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Flashpoints\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Your Military\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/26\\\/northcom-commander-says-us-needs-arctic-early-warning-system\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"NORTHCOM commander says US needs Arctic early warning system - 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