THE FRIDAY FOTO (January 13, 2023) DOUBLE FEATURE

LOOKS EASY …

(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Class Patrick Sullivan) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

U.S. Air Force fire protection specialists assigned to the 673d Civil Engineer Squadron conduct ice rescue training at Six Mile Lake, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Alaska on January 8, 2023.

According to the Air Force, Fire Protection specialists deal with everything from brush fires to burning rocket fuel and hazardous material fires. “Upholding our mission to ensure the safety of others, these specialists don’t just act on Air Force bases, but assist civilian fire departments when needed as well.”

After completing a classroom course, the JBER firefighters in the photo above took to the ice to test their skills in a series of scenarios designed to simulate real-world rescues. The firefighters received certifications as ice rescue technicians after qualifying in the skills needed to conduct ice rescue and recovery efforts in extreme cold-weather environments.

… BUT IT REALLY ISN’T

Especially in Alaska, in January.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Class Patrick Sullivan) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Joseph Jenkins, a fire protection specialist assigned to the 673d Civil Engineer Squadron, pulls a fellow firefighter out of the water during ice rescue training at Six Mile Lake. Brrrrr.

ARCTIC NATION: Big Multi-Service Exercise coming to Alaska; NORAD Tracks Russian Spy Planes;

DEFENSE

Exercise Northern Edge.

U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps personnel will be participating in Exercise Northern Edge 21 across Alaska this Spring, according to Pacific Air Forces, a unit of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The exercise, held in odd-numbered years, will take place May 3-14 at several military installations, as well as local airports and training areas around Alaska.

The exercise provides realistic war fighter training, develops and improves joint services interoperability and enhances combat readiness, Pacific Air Forces announced, adding that details on participating units and exercise locations will be released as it becomes available.

Marines with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force 7, conduct a training raid using air-delivered Polaris MRZR 4 all-terrain vehicles during exercise Northern Edge 2019 at Fort Greely, Alaska.  (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Rhita Daniel)

More than 25 units, 10,000 personnel, almost 200 aircraft and five naval ships — including the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt — participated in Northern Edge 2019.

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Russian Spy Planes

The Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Region reported on March 29 that it positively identified and tracked two Tu-142 Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone.

The Russian aircraft, which operated in international airspace, did not entered United States or Canadian sovereign airspace, and Alaska Command did not indicate whether U.S. or Canadian aircraft scrambled to intercept the big four engine Russian planes.

Russian Navy Tu-142 patrol aircraft, known as Bear. (Photo by Fedor Leukhin – _MG_0277, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26608395)

Captain Lauren Ott, director of public affairs for Alaskan Command, said the Russian planes came within 60 nautical miles of the Alaskan coastline. By international convention, a nations’ sovereign territory extends 12 miles from the coast, Medill News Service (via the Military.com website) reported.

It was at least the second time this year that Tu-142s have entered the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), after a similar incident in January. In 2020, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) conducted more intercepts than in recent years, as Russia repeatedly flew bombers, maritime patrol aircraft, early warning aircraft, and fighters into the region, according to Air Force magazine.

NORAD’s commander, Air Force General Glen VanHerck — who also leads U.S. Northern Command — said Russia’s expanding activities in the Arctic region was due to the current great power competition.

“We’re back in the peer competition,” he told a March 31st Defense Writers Group discussion. “Clearly, Russia is trying to reassert on a global stage their influence and their capabilities. That’s exactly what’s going on. It’s great power competition,” he said, according to the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) website. He added: “The difference between the past and now is the intercepts are more complex – multi-axis, multi-platforms and often times they’ll enter the ADIZ and stay for hours,” USNI reported.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Service Committee on March 16, VanHerck said the escalation “of Russian activity and Chinese ambitions in the region demonstrates the strategic importance of the Arctic. Competition will only increase as sea ice diminishes and competition for resources expands.”

“These Russian military operations include multiple flights of heavy bombers, anti-submarine aircraft, and intelligence collection platforms near Alaska. These efforts show both Russia’s military reach and how they rehearse potential strikes on our homeland,” VanHerck said in written testimony.

“Last summer, the Russian Navy focused its annual OCEAN SHIELD exercise on the defense of Russia’s maritime approaches in the Arctic and Pacific. The multi-fleet exercise, intended in part to demonstrate Russia’s ability to control access to the Arctic through the Bering Strait, included amphibious landings on the Chukotka Peninsula opposite Alaska, as well as anti-submarine patrols and anti-ship cruise missile launches from within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,” the testimony added.

In a first for the Russian navy, three Russian nuclear ballistic missile submarines surfaced simultaneously breaking the Arctic ice during drills, according to the commander-in-chief of the Russian fleet at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Reuters news service reported March 26.

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B-1 Bombers in Norway

A B-1B Lancer assigned to the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron sits on the flightline at Ørland Air Force Station, Norway, March 14, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Colin Hollowell)

U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, were deployed to Orland Air Base, Norway, for the first time in a bomber task deployment which included several firsts in the Arctic and across Europe.

During the deployment, which ended March 25, the B-1s flew nine sorties, including training with Norwegian F-35s, Swedish JAS-39 Gripens, Danish and Polish F-16s, and German and Italian Eurofighter Typhoons, according to U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

The Lancers conducted a hot-pit refueling in Europe for the first time, and trained with U.S. special operations forces along with Norwegian and Swedish joint terminal attack controllers, according to Air Force magazine.

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ENVIRONMENT.

Arctic Lightning Strikes

As the Arctic warms at an alarming rate, the frequency of lightning is also changing, according to a new University of Washington study, CNN reports. In fact, Arctic lightning has tripled in just the last decade, according to the study, published in late March in the journal, Geophysical Research Letters.

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Warmer Arctic Waters and the LNG Market

The discovery and extraction of vast liquefiable natural gas reserves on the Yamal peninsula in Siberia in the past decade has renewed interest in bulk transport on the waters of the high north, according to The Economist.

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Nuclear attack submatine USS Toledo (SSN-769) surfaced in the Arctic Ocean 2020. (U.S. Navy Photo by MC1 Michael B. Zingaro)

ARCTIC NATION is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military and environmental developments in the Far North. The 2013 U.S. “National Strategy for the Arctic Region” describes the United States as “an Arctic Nation with broad and fundamental interests” in the region. “Those interests include national security protecting the environment, responsibly managing resources, considering the needs of indigenous communities, support for scientific research, and strengthening international cooperation.

ARCTIC NATION: Air Force/Space Force Arctic Strategy; Navy Exercises; New Icebreakers for Coast Guard; Siberian Heat Wave

Defense and Homeland Security News.

U.S. Air Force/Space Force Arctic Strategy.

Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft fly over the Alaska Highway on April 21, 2020. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergent Adam Keele)

The U.S. Air Force and the new U.S. Space Force rolled out their combined Arctic Strategy on July 21.  The Arctic sits at the intersection between the U.S. homeland and two critical theaters, Indo-Pacific and Europe, making it an increasingly vital region for U.S. national security interests.

“The Arctic’s increasing strategic importance, coupled with the Services’ significant regional investment, requires the Department [of the Air Force] to have a unified, deliberate and forward-looking approach, ensuring the Air and Space Forces can compete and defend the nation’s interests in the Arctic region,” the strategy’s 14-page summary noted.

The strategy outlines four coordinated lines of effort that Air and Space Forces will use to enhance vigilance, reach and power to the nation’s whole-of-government approach in the Arctic region:

• Vigilance in all domains
• Projecting power through a combat-credible force
• Cooperation with allies and partners
• Preparation for Arctic operations

In the Arctic, U.S. Air and Space Forces are responsible for the majority of Department of Defense missions in the region, including the regional architecture for detecting, tracking, and engaging air and missile threats. Space Professionals in the region are responsible for critical nodes of the satellite control network that deliver space capabilities to joint and coalition partners, as well as the U.S. national command authority.

***

U.S.  Destroyer in Arctic Exercises.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) completed a passing exercise — also known as a PASSEX — with Norwegian navy ship off the coast of Tromso, Norway on July 15, 2020. Passing exercises are done between the ships of different navies to ensure they are able to communicate and cooperate in emergencies — whether war or humanitarian relief.

Norway, Sweden (CIA World Factbook via University of Texas Libraries)

The Roosevelt (not to be confused with the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt) and the Norwegian ship HNoMS Gnist (P979) conducted the exercise in the waters of the Norwegian Sea.

Forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, the Roosevelt is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations which includes the waters of Europe and West Africa.

Earlier in July, the Roosevelt participated in an anti-submarine warfare exercise, Dynamic Mongoose 2020, with a number of NATO Allies off the coast of Iceland. Naval forces from Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States  participated in the exercise led by NATO Allied Maritime Command. Other U.S. Navy participants included Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Indiana (SSN 789), and two P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft based out of Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy.

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Polar Security Cutter.

President Donald Trump has ordered a review of the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking polar security cutter (PSC) program, Seapower magazine reports.   The order seeks to focus on exploring options for including nuclear power and heavy armament — and leasing icebreakers in a stopgap measure.

In a June 9 White House memorandum to several federal departments —  “Safeguarding U.S. National Interests in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions” — Trump ordered a review of requirements of the acquisition program for a suitable fleet of polar security icebreakers “capable of ensuring a persistent United States presence in the Arctic and Antarctic regions in support of national interests and in furtherance of the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy, as appropriate.”

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Environment and Climate News.

Siberian Heatwave.

A heat wave continues in Russia’s Arctic, causing wildfires in Siberia. It’s also causing Arctic sea ice to melt at an alarming rate.

Sea ice loss accelerated in early- to mid-July, bringing sea ice extent — which measures the area of ocean where there’s some ice cover, down to record-low levels for this time of the year, the Washington Post reported. Using data from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Post said as of July 18, the Arctic as a region had an ice extent that was about 193,000 square miles below the previous record low for the date,

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado — which tracks ice trends and climate change — the record-low ice extent is in part the result of the Siberian heat streak that has lasted from January through June, and into July.

Arctic Region (CIA World Fact Book map)

What’s the Cause?

A recent study concluded that the unusual warmth in Siberia could not have happened in the absence of human-caused global warming, the Post reported.

The study found that six straight months of anomalously mild conditions in large parts of northern Siberia so far this year — along with an Arctic temperature record of 100.4 degrees (38 Celsius) that occurred in June — would have been virtually impossible without human-induced global warming.

The study, released July 15 by the World Weather Attribution project, was produced through a collaboration between climate researchers from multiple institutions in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

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ARCTIC NATION is an occasional 4GWAR posting on the Far North. The U.S. “National Strategy for the Arctic Region” describes the United States as “an Arctic Nation with broad and fundamental interests” in the region. “Those interests include national security needs, protecting the environment, responsibly managing resources, considering the needs of indigenous communities, support for scientific research, and strengthening international cooperation on a wide range of issues.”

FRIDAY FOTO (March 13, 2020)

Destination Deadhorse.

(Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Amy Picard)

Soldiers assigned to the Alaska National Guard travel aboard a CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to Deadhorse, Alaska on February 24, 2020.

They were participating in Arctic Eagle, a homeland security and emergency response exercise operating throughout the state of Alaska. The exercise is an exercise designed to increase the National Guard’s ability to operate in extreme cold-weather conditions.

The high that day was minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. The low was 23 degrees below zero.

FRIDAY FOTO (January 17, 2020)

Fighting Fire with …

(U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Pena)

U.S. Air Force fire protection specialists navigate in freezing water while practicing self-recovery techniques during ice rescue training at Six Mile Lake at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, January 11, 2020.

The training, conducted in below zero temperatures, provides the knowledge and skills necessary for safe rescue and recovery operations in, on and around ice and cold water.

You gotta wonder if these folks ever dreamed they’d be doing this — as firefighters, no less  — when the joined the Air Force.

ARCTIC NATION: Homeland Security Priorities in the Arctic UPDATE

Falling Behind.

UPDATE: Adds 6 new paragraphs at the end, to detail testimony on how the United States is falling behind other Arctic nations in asserting its role and status as an Arctic power. 

The American people and their leaders need to wake up to the fact that the United States is an Arctic Nation before it loses control of its commercial, environmental and strategic  interests in the rapidly warming — and developing — region, a panel of experts told a congressional subcommittee Thursday (September 19)

The amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock transits the Gulf of Alaska headed for Seward, Alaska during Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nicholas Burgains)

Changing climate reduces polar sea ice and opens up access to untapped natural resources as well as maritime trade routes across the top of the globe — including Alaskan waters. And many nations, including Russia and China, which have both identified increased presence in the Arctic as a strategic priority, are moving faster than the United States to take advantage of the changing situation.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic  holds 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas. Russia, one of five nations that border the Arctic Ocean, has seen a five-fold increase in commercial activity along its Northern Sea Route. It has invested heavily in building ice breaker ships, and at more than 50, has the largest ice breaker fleet in the world

Meanwhile, China — which recently declared itself a “near Arctic state,” even though it is located nearly 1,000 miles from the region — is moving to take advantage of the commercial opportunities in the Arctic’s warming waters. It, too has an ice breaker construction plan, and is investing strategically in economic activity like liquid natural gas drilling in Russia’s Yamal Peninsula. Beijing is planning a virtual “Polar Silk Road,” of deepwater ports in friendly nations to help cut shipping time from China to Europe by two weeks.

Sea ice still thinning.
(Photo courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory website)

No longer an “emerging issue,”  Mike Sfraga, director of the Polar Institute, told the House Homeland Security Committee’s Transportation and Maritime Security subcommittee “the Arctic has emerged.”  The Arctic “is no longer an isolated or remote region: rather it is a critical component of our global political, economic, social, physical and security landscape,” added Sfraga, who is also director of the Global Risk and Resilience Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

He was one of four panelists from Washington area think tanks that research Arctic issues — the RAND Corporation; the Arctic Institute and the Heritage Foundation — called to testify about Homeland Security priorities in the Arctic.

Russia has invested heavily in militarizing its Arctic territory — which contains half of the world’s Arctic region and half of the Arctic’s population, said Luke Coffey, director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy at the Heritage Foundation. Over the past decade Russia has built or re-activated 14 operational airfields in the Arctic along with 16 deep-water ports, he added.

Arctic Region (Source: CIA World Fact Book via wikipedia)

Meanwhile, the United States does not have a major deepwater port along 1,500 nautical miles of its Arctic coastline — from Dutch Harbor to Alaska’s North Slope. Without a viable string of ports in the U.S. Arctic commerce, search-and-rescue capabilities and national security interests will not be met, said Sfraga.

The U.S. Coast Guard has only two ice breakers, only one of which — the Polar Star — is a heavy ice breaker capable of dealing with Arctic ice. Congress has voted funding for an additional U.S. icebreaker, the Polar Security Cutter, but it won’t be available for years.

“How did this happen?” asked a stunned subcommittee member, Representative John Katko, a New York Republican. “How did we let our guard down to this extent?”

“It goes back to our lack of awareness of our role and our status as an Arctic power” in terms of the policy makers at the Defense Department, Homeland Security and NATO, said Coffey. He noted five of the eight Arctic nations are members of NATO but the latest NATO Strategic Concept, “which highlights all the challenges to the alliance, doesn’t even mention the Arctic.”

“The U.S. is often called the reluctant Arctic nation,” said Victoria Herrmann, president and managing director of the Arctic Institute. She noted the post of special representative to the Arctic region has been vacant for two years. “We do not promote ourselves as an Arctic nation. We are thousands of miles away from Alaska, and those voices just aren’t heard in these halls [of Congress],” she said.

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ARCTIC NATION is an occasional 4GWAR posting on the Far North. The U.S. “National Strategy for the Arctic Region” describes the United States as “an Arctic Nation with broad and fundamental interests” in the region. “Those interests include national security needs, protecting the environment, responsibly managing resources, considering the needs of indigenous communities, support for scientific research, and strengthening international cooperation on a wide range of issues.”

 

FRIDAY FOTO (July 26, 2019)

F-22 x Two.

(Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant James Richardson)

Two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors fly in formation during training over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex in Alaska on July 18, 2019.

Meanwhile, meteorologists say the weather system responsible for a heat wave that cooked Europe from Britain to Germany this past week will stretch all the way across the top of the globe — including the Arctic — starting this weekend.

While cities like Paris and London wilted under record-setting temperatures above 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) some scientists are concerned about what the heat wave will do to the Arctic after it reaches Scandinavia this weekend and then moves west and north.

This weather system, characterized by a strong area of high pressure aloft — often referred to as a heat dome– could increase the melting of already thin sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet, reported the Washington Post.

Frozen canyons and glaciers in Greenland. (NASA photo by Michael Studinger)

So far this year, the extent of Arctic sea ice has hovered at record lows during the melt season. Weather patterns favorable for increased melt have predominated in this region, and an unusually mild summer has also increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Unlike sea ice melt, however, runoff from the Greenland ice sheet increases sea levels, since it adds new water to the oceans, according to the Post.

Editor’s Note:

Your 4GWAR editor went on a fact-finding expedition, organized by the 2041 Foundation, ClimateForce and The Explorer’s Passage, to the Arctic in June. We saw first hand, what climate change is doing to the polar region and the implications for the rest of the planet — including new sea lanes and military buildups at the top of the world.  Our three-part article with reporting from Norway, Sweden and Washington, D.C. begins Tuesday, July 30.

SEASON’S GREETINGS: Yuletide Customs and Activities of Those in Uniform

Flying Elves

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kristof J. Rixmann)

Airmen dressed as Santa’s elves conduct static line jumps out of a C-130J Super Hercules during Operation Toy Drop 2018, to deliver gifts via cargo delivery system drops at Alzey drop zone in Germany, on December 13, 2018.

Singing Sergeants

(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Michael Keller)

Tech Sergeants Ashley Keeks (left) and Adrienne Kling — members of the Air Force Band’s Singing Sergeants ensemble — sing Christmas carols at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on December 19, 2018.

‘Lest We Forget

(U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser)

Marine Corps Major Jason Bowers lays a wreath in front of a headstone during the 27th National Wreaths Across America Day at Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia on December 15, 2018.

Here Comes Santa Claus

(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore)

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Barry A. King (left) and 1st Lieutenant Emery Gumapas make adjustments aboard a C-130J Super Hercules on its way to airdrop supplies to the island of Nama in Micronesia on December 10, 2018, during Operation Christmas Drop, a humanitarian operation and training mission for U.S., Japanese and Australian cargo plane crews.

G’Day Santa

(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Gilmore)

As noted in the photo above, American crews and aircraft aren’t the only participants in Operation Christmas Drop. Here we see Royal Australian Air Force Flight Lieutenant Simon Mason, a C-130J pilot f the 37th Squadron RAAF Base Richmond, Australia, checking the horizon on Santa 99’s way to the atoll of Kapingamarangi in the Federated States of Micronesia on December 13, 2018.

Starting with the first airdrop to Kapingamarangi 67 years ago, Operation Cargo Drop is the world’s longest running airdrop training mission, providing critical supplies to 56 Micronesian islands and affecting approximately 20,000 people across 1.8 million square nautical miles of operating area.

A Visit from St. Nicholas — and the Marines.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Samantha Schwoch)

Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Marcus B. Bailey reads “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to children attending a holiday concert in New Orleans on December 9, 2018. The concert is designed to promote the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program.

Toy Drop Objective

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sinthia Rosario)

Captain Rizzoli Elias, company commander of the 5th Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company in the 16th Sustainment Brigade, gives a German child a stuffed animal as part of Operation Toy Drop at Alzey, Germany on Dedcember 13, 2018. Operation Toy Drop is an annual multi-national training event designed to strengthen relations with the local community and develop interoperability among military partners.

Santa Gets a Lift.

(U.S. Coast Guard photo)

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter delivers Santa, his elves and gifts to the children of various remote villages in Alaska on December 12, 2018. “Santa to the Villages” was created in 1974 by the Coast Guard Spouses Association in an effort to spread holiday cheer to children throughout remote portions of Alaska.

Santa Training

(Canadian Army photo by Corporal Genevieve Lapointe)

Alaska isn’t the only part of the Far North to be visited by Santa. He worked out with the Canadian Army to get ready for his big day, whi8ch will include climbing up to a lot of chimneys.

Pushing Parcels

(Photo by Second Lieutenant Natasha Tersigni, 38 Canadian Brigade Group Public Affairs)

Members of Fort Garry Horse and 38 Combat Engineer Regiment prepare Christmas hampers during their 33rd annual Exercise PARCEL PUSH last December. Canadian Army Reservists and Army cadets will be delivering Christmas hampers again this year on behalf of Winnipeg’s Christmas Cheer Board.

Snow Singers

(U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Michelle U. Blesam)

Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division’s band and chorus perform holiday classics during a concert at the Crown Theatre in Fayetteville, North Carolina on December 13, 2018.

 

 

FRIDAY FOTO (December 14, 2018)

Dashing Through the Snow.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Felix Fimbres)

Army Reserve soldiers practice navigating through snowy terrain during winter warfare training at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin on December 8, 2018.

This is the second photo we’ve seen in recent weeks of Army troops in winter warfare training wearing camouflage white on their lower half only. (See photo below).

Does anyone know the logic behind this? Camouflage protection in snowy woods? The white jackets are on back order?

(U.S. Army photo by Alejandro Pena)

In this photo, Army paratroopers of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) er breached a simulated enemy obstacle during infantry platoon live-fire training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska on November 8, 2018. Were the white uniform tops on back order?

FRIDAY FOTO (July 27, 2018)

That’s Close Enough.

(U.S. Army photo by Major Carson Petry)

It’s been mighty hot in Texas lately, but these are not firefighters dealing with a prairie blaze. This is a photo of Army combat engineers blasting through a concrete wall during demolition training at Fort Hood, Texas.

This photo also illustrates the fact that the jobs of many servicemen and servicewomen place them in harm’s way — even when they are not facing hostile forces.

The soldiers in this July 17, 2018 photo are assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division.

Here at 4GWAR we’ve been big fans of Army combat engineers since a visit to Fort Leonard Wood, the home of the Army Engineer school and the annual Best Sapper Competition. Sapper is an ancient name for military combat engineers who both construct defensive positions, but breach them as well. The phrase “sapper” comes from the French saper (to undermine, to dig under a wall or building to cause its collapse). The combat engineer’s tools may change over the centuries, but not the mission.