2015-09-25
The Danes are holding a 10-day Arctic exercise to train to support emergency operations.
In an article published by the Danish Ministry of Defence on September 9, 2015, details were provided concerning the exercise.
The purpose of the exercise is to train the Arctic Command in Nuuk to work with the Arctic Protection Force. The Arctic Command is in the lead to conduct operations at sea, on land and in the air on both the east and west coast of Greenland.
Defence contributes to Arctic Emergency Power with forces from the Army, the Navy, Air Force and Special Operations forces. All Defence parts of the Arctic Protection Force are being trained to work in Arctic conditions.
Forces included the following:
Infantry soldiers from Slagelse, members of the Frogman Corps, specialists in anti-chemical warfare agents from both the Armed Forces and the Emergency Management Agency, and members from the Special Forces and Air Force medical evacuation unit.
Keflavik base is used as the headquarters of supplies to the East Coast. Iceland also participates directly with ships, aircraft and a special Arctic rescue team that specializes in search and rescue.
The exercise on the west coast took place in the area around Nuuk, Greenland to relieve a ship in severe distress and combating pollution. On the east coast, part of the exercise was to rescue persons involved with an airplane crash.
If a plane crashes on the ice cap, it is important that survivors are quickly able to receive shelter and warmth , and that they are provided with food and drink. In an inaccessible terrain, this task can best be solved by means of aircraft. During the exercise survival pallets were delivered from aircraft close to the accident site. The soldiers from the 2nd Brigade tested these survival pallets containing survival equipment such as tents, water and food.
Thanks to our partner Risk Intelligence for providing this link to the Danish Ministry of Defence.