Let's talk about Trump reforging arctic NATO operations.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump reforging Arctic NATO operations.

For an uncomfortably extended period, Trump's rhetoric about Greenland and the possibility of getting the island one way or another raised tensions within NATO and brought the alliance to the brink. He backed down after he claimed he was going to work out a shiny new deal. Based on what's been publicly disclosed, it certainly seems like somebody just read him the 1951 Greenland defense agreement and pretended like it was a new deal.

If you don't know, ever since the 50s, the US has had a ridiculous amount of leeway when it comes to military presence and operations in Greenland. Trump seems super excited about the deal he was going to get. That doesn't seem different than the one that's been in place for the last 75 years. Whatever. Let him have it.

Now NATO has launched Arctic Sentry, which is basically an exercise in the Arctic in High North. It'll be under Joint Force Command Norfolk. Basically, they're rebranding and combining Denmark's Arctic Endurance and Norway's Cold Response exercises with some other stuff to try to dissuade Trump from undermining NATO. I think the UK's Lion Protector exercise is going to coordinate with this or at least compliment it to show Arctic security is a priority. As if the British forces at Camp Viking weren't a demonstration of that. It does look like they're trying to make the best of a bad situation and will work out any potential bugs in a multinational Arctic deployment.

NATO leadership has said, "What is really new about it is that for the first time now, we will bring everything we do in the Arctic together under one command. Basically, it'll give them a chance to make sure all the individual components that work independently can work together. For Cold Warriors, it's a mini-Arctic version of the Reforger exercise. Basically, a dry, albeit cold run to make sure the theoretical and strategic plans match actual capability. The irony being that most experts expect the gaps in Arctic warfare preparedness to be found mainly in US forces.

Once this is all charted, troops from all over the world will deal with the temperatures. Learn they need a different lubricant and see why some features on their weapons get larger in an Arctic environment. First gloved hand. Cool learning experience for a lot of troops who are in militaries running on lessons learned in desert and urban environments, but it will be a giant waste of money that could be better spent.

And this will mostly all be done so Trump can feel better about a threat that is purely hypothetical at the moment. It's important to remember that while Russia has three brigades stationed in the region on paper, two of them went to Ukraine and they're not coming back. NATO is basically humoring Trump in the hopes that the US soon wakes up and realizes how far it's declining.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.