US naval officials plan to conduct more Arctic operations

USMC and NATO forces trained for Arctic operations during Exercise ‘Cold Response 2022‘ in Norway. (Michael Fabey)

The US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC) will be conducting more operations in the Arctic, according to officials from both services.

”In both Alaska and frankly in Europe, we‘re going to more frequently deploy smaller units for two to four weeks at a time,” General David Berger, USMC commandant, testified on 18 May before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during its hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2023 USN and USMC budget request.

“You do large exercises to learn big lessons and send big messages, but smaller units more frequently on a more enduring basis have a lot of return on investment too,” said Gen Berger.

The USMC trained with other NATO forces in northern Norway earlier this year during the exercise ‘Cold Response 2022'.

During the same hearing, Admiral Michael Gilday, USN chief of naval operations (CNO) noted the service's recent history of increased operations in the region.

“In the fall of 2018 [it] was really a watershed moment for us,” Adm Gilday testified. “We had our first carrier strike operations above the Arctic Circle in over 30 years.”

The aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75) strike group operations north of the Arctic Circle represented the first carrier presence in the region since USS America (CV 66) operated there in September 1991 during NATO exercise ‘North Star‘, according to the navy.

Since those operations by Truman