FORT GREELY, Alaska — As U.S. Air Force C-130s and C-17s pierced the cover of clouds, stars, and the northern lights, they delivered equipment, packages and paratroopers across two drop zones, marking the start of Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 25-02 into the early morning hours of Jan. 23, 2025, near Fort Greely, Alaska,
As the clock ticked past midnight, the paratroopers of 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division, descended upon Army Allen Airfield and Buffalo Drop Zone, met by the deafening silence of the frozen Alaskan wilderness. Their objective: seize control of the airfield and establish a foothold against the elements, with temperatures below freezing, and the opposing force — their comrades from the division’s 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
“It was chaotic at first, which is typical of a joint forcible entry,” said 1st Lt. Jason Douple, a paratrooper with 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd IBCT (A).
“After we got our feet under ourselves, it was game on,” he said.
JPMRC is the U.S. Army’s newest combat training center, a coliseum of ice and snow where the division’s Soldiers train and fight against their fellow Arctic Soldiers, building the division’s warfighting capability in an Arctic environment and beyond.
The paratroopers wasted no time moving off the drop zone and seizing to their first objective, said 1st Lt. Joseph Watkins, a Battle Captain with 3rd Bn., 509th PIR.
“Our logistical support was executed well, being able to get ammunition, supplies, and gear to paratroopers is especially difficult in an austere, Arctic environment,” he added.
In addition to validating the 2nd IBCT’s readiness, JPMRC 25-02 was also a testament to the interoperability of the joint force and partner and Allied nations, including the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines, Canadian and Mongolian armies, and others from partner nations and across the U.S. Department of Defense.
As the temperatures continued to drop, the 2nd IBCT assembled defensive positions, engineered fortifications and patrolled through snowy-covered miles of fields and forests as the two Arctic elements continued their fight against the environment, and each other.
“Whether it comes to a big, collective task or even the smallest, simplest one, it takes much longer to execute in the Arctic,” said Command Sgt. Maj. David Hanson, eenior enlisted leader of the 11th Airborne Division.
Across the exercise, the two forces met often, with flares illuminating the frosty battlefield, while orange and yellow muzzle flashes lit up the tree lines.
Paratroopers from 2-11 continued the fight and sustained it, despite temperatures below minus 30. It’s a skill set that the 11th Airborne Division and the JPMRC rotation in Alaska are uniquely able to provide to Soldiers and service members across partner nations and the joint force.
“We can’t just survive out here in the Arctic, we have to thrive,” Hanson said. “We are America’s only Arctic division and no one else is going to do it.”
By SGT Jaidon Novinska
