Norway Hosts Tactical Exercise In Far North With 15,000 NATO Forces - Pentagon

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th February, 2020) US forces in Europe and fellow service members from at least nine NATO countries will head to the Arctic reaches of northern Norway in March to practice tactical operations in cold-weather environments, the Defense Department announced in a press release on Monday.

"Between 15,000 and 16,000 service members from the US, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are expected to participate in [Exercise] Cold Response 2020," Norwegian Rear Admiral Sverre Engeness said in the release.

The March 2-28 exercise will predominantly involve land and amphibious forces, but sea and air forces also will participate, the release added.

"Exercises such as Cold Response 2020 exhibit the... dedication of the US and allied and partner nations have for maintaining the secure and stable Arctic," the commander of US Marine Corps forces in Europe and Africa, Major General Patrick J. Hermesmann, said.

All branches of the US military are slated to participate in the exercise, which will take place in northern Norway on the edge of the Arctic Circle, according to the release.