FRIDAY FOTO (February 1, 2019)

Winter Blast.

 (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant James Avery)

How cold was it a week ago at Fort Drum in upstate New York near the Canadian border? This photo says it all.

It shows Army Private Ryan Trumm using a blowtorch to melt the ice off tie-down chains that secure vehicles to flatbed trucks or railroad flatcars during railhead operations at Fort Drum on January 23, 2019.

Fort Drum — about 38 miles (61 kilometers) from Kingston, Ontario, where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario — is home to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, a rapidly deployable light infantry unit.

The temperature Thursday night (January 31) at Fort Drum was 2 degrees above zero. Due to inclement weather on Friday (February 1, 2019) the Garrison Commander issued a DO NOT REPORT ORDER for non-emergency/non-essential uniformed military personnel and civilians. Of course emergency and essential personnel will still be on duty at Fort Drum.

Considering the 10th Mountain was created in World War II as an Alpine unit, fighting the Germans in the mountains of Italy during the winter of 1944-1945, and has served often in the mountains of Afghanistan — among other places including Iraq and Somalia — the commandant’s order says a lot about the extreme weather conditions at Fort Drum lately.

Surprising fact: Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division are considered founders of today’s ski industry in the United States by creating ski resorts,  opening ski schools and establishing ski areas when they came home from World War II.