The White Falcon - 13.08.1993, Blaðsíða 4

Marines, reservists share field training^
By J03 (SW) Andreas Walter
and J02 Sue Myers
Although the two-week combined forces
exercise, Northern Viking ’93, officially
ended last week, the White Falcon staff dug
up a few last-minute photos of off-base op-
erations to conclude our coverage.
The biennial exercise, which, by last count,
included more than 1,000 off-island, active
duty and reserve personnel from the Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard,
was conceived to test the readiness capabili-
ties of the base in a wartime situation.
Previous editions of the White Falcon
touched on and explained various ‘exercises
within the exercise’ that tested subjects such
as long-range communications across the
island and field training scenarios in the inte-
rior of Iceland. The field training exercises or
FTX, gave Marines from the Marine Corps
Security Force Company, Keflavik, a chance
to pit their skills against those of the
Army reservists. For many of the
Marines, fresh from boot camp, the
exercise was their first venture out
into the field.
The photos on these two pages
illustrate some of the activities and
scenes that the Marines and Army
reservists participated in during their
stay at the SAR-3 site in Spreng-
isandur. The area lies between the
Hofsjokull and Vatnajokull glaciers,
roughly at the center of Iceland.
The barren tundra is surrounded by
mountains and cross-cut by a multi-
tude of frigid and fast moving gla-
cial streams.
One of the primary objectives of
Northern Viking ’93, was to test the
cohesiveness of different branches
of the military under real-world
conditions. The Sprengisandur
Search and Rescue site afforded
that opportunity to the troops. In
The landscape in Sprengisandur gave the Marines and
The multi-day exercise pitted reservists (aggressors)
this case, the Army reservists acted as aggressors, while the Ma-
rines took up defensive positions in the valley. The personnel
acted in four iterations which lasted three to five hours each.
Two lanes, or fields of play, each approximately 800 by 1,000
meters, were identified. The lanes had very different terrain and
offered the troops varying squad movement training opportuni-
ties. One of the two lanes was a pass through a valley at the foot
of the Tungnafellsjokull glacier. The other was a lava rock-
strewn field. Neither of the two lanes could be reached without
fording the frigid streams.
The combined training between the active duty Marines and
the reservist Army troops came to a close with both sides ready
for the six-hour journey back to the base. For the Marines, it was
a chance to test their equipment and challenge the tactics of their
aggressors. For the Army people, the SAR-3 site, as well as
other scenarios in the days before, proved to be a unique
opportunity. A few of the soldiers had set foot on Icelandic soil
before, yet the majority of the group had never dreamed of
finding themselves engaging in war games here.
The enormous C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft were back on
the Keflavik tarmac; ready to swallow the tons of men, macl
ery and support equipment for the flight home. Two weel
earlier, the planes had lowered their cargo ramps and disgorged'
eager troops and clean machinery. Now, the gapping holds of
the aircraft beckoned to the tired personnel and soiled machines,
a testament to two weeks spent in the Icelandic country.
k
rge<^B|^r
The Marines arrived at the SAR-3 site one day prior to the Army and went
about setting up camp. (Photo by PHI (AC) Mark Kettenhofen)
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