WEBVTT

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Nato's marines have landed this time in

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the Arctic Circle where the nights are

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long and the cold never quits . Their

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mission to push back a simulated attack

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on Norway , improve their ability to

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keep our people safe by defending every

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inch of allied soil . But as these

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marines are about to find out , the

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Arctic is unlike anywhere else in NATO

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and it will push them to their limits .

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Nor in the bitter cold of the winter

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morning marines from the Finnish Navy's

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Nilan Brigade haul their gear onto the

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US navy ship , Gunston Hall . This will

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be their home as they put their skills

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to the test during nato's largest

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collective defense drills in decades .

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Steadfast Defender 24 Gunston Hall is a

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big ship , but that doesn't make it

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easier for the finns and their bulky

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rucksacks moving to their quarters

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requires a bit of multinational team

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work . I got you .

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It's way harder to navigate than I

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thought . Aye . It's for a little

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cramp , different impressions . We have

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too much stuff .

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I was of color . Anchors away for

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this exercise . The Gunston Hall will

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patrol the massive fjords of Norway's

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Arctic coast and help the Finnish

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marines launch raids on the shore to

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get there . They'll hitch a ride with

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their Nordic neighbors . The Swedish

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Amphibious Corps sent two CB 90 combat

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boats to the exercise . Each capable of

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carrying more than 20 marines to shore .

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They dock in the Gunston halls . Well ,

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deck , a massive flood compartment that

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allows it to carry small boats . The

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amphibious Corps was formed to defend

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Sweden's long rugged coastline ,

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including the more than 30,000 islands

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in the Stockholm Archipelago . Now ,

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they're learning how to apply their

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specialized skills to the collective

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defense of NATO allies . So what's a

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distinguished switch marine is that we ,

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we operate so dispersed , we can

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operate by ourselves for a long period

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of time in pretty harsh environments .

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But what makes a marine amphibious

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troops all over NATO take pride in

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being able to cope with the toughness

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of their job . Well , you have to be

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resilient and you have to have a strong

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will , a will to push yourself to the

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extreme and a bit further . They work

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in wet , often cold conditions . They

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have to travel light and without the

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guarantee of resupply , they must think

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on their feet to get the job done .

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They must be innovative to solve uh

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different tasks and when , when

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problems occur because they will

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marines are tough . Sure . But in the

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Arctic , tough isn't enough when the

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temperature drops below 20 °C , it

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stops being cold and starts being

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dangerous for untrained troops it can

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be lethal . That's why the US Marine

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Corps sends troops to Norway to learn

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winter's harsh lessons . These marines

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from first battalion , second Marine

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Regiment have hacked a home out of the

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dense force and deep snow near sermon .

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They sleep and wake in extreme cold to

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drink . They boil snow at this early

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stage . It's just enough to survive ,

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but later , they'll need to learn how

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to not just survive but fight and win

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in these brutal conditions . We have a

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large number of marines who have never

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been in the snow in their life before .

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So as , as marines , we have a , a

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hallmark of being able to fight in any

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climbing place and in order to do that ,

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it just takes practice and just grow in

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that proficiency through the repetition

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for marines used to firm ground . The

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deep snow is a serious obstacle walking

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through . It would quickly exhaust them .

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The only option is to glide along the

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surface using skis ,

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easier said than done . Perhaps the

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falling is all part of it . Um Just

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learning the right ways to fall and

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then the best ways to get back up after

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you fall is very important . Hard part

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about being in the Marine Corps and

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skiing is you have to ski with the main

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pack and your weapon . So teaching the

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guys now the basics without all that uh

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helps just the building block approach ,

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they're picking up very fast and I I'm

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really happy with what I'm seeing out

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here . The marines need a reliable

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source of food , fuel and ammunition .

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Getting it to them though can be a

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struggle . What we're seeing right here

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is the offloading of , uh a resupply

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that comes in every couple of days . Uh

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So that's the biggest challenge is just

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the sheer amount of logistics that's

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required to sustain it . Everything

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gets doubled out here and it's

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significantly more complex . The cold

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exhausts , not just the body but the

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mind as well . Eventually your world

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power breaks down , despair creeps in

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and thoughts turn from accomplishing

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the mission to saving yourself while

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you still can . The marines call this

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going internal to stop this from

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happening . They rely on their greatest

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resource each other . At least for us ,

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we just kind of joke around with each

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other , kinda poke and prod with each

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other . Share stories and the spirits

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up and the motivation can't let anyone

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break off in the Marine Corps . Have

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you ever done anything this hard ? Uh

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No , not really . Uh I personally think

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this is my hardest training I've ever

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done . No ,

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while Norway sleeps , the Finnish

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marines get ready to sneak ashore on

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Swedish combat boats .

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Far from the theatrics of Hollywood ,

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modern amphibious operations often rely

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on speed and stealth to succeed .

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That's where the Swedish Marines come

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in .

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The combat boat . 90 or CB 90 cuts

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through the Norwegian fjords like a

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knife with a steel reinforced hull that

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can grind against the rocky nordic

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shores and enough gun mounts to handle

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any threats on the beach . CB 90 is an

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apex predator in its natural

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environment . Uh , it's like driving a

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sports car . It's the best , uh , work

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I could imagine it , uh , built to be ,

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uh , durable and , uh , can go ashore

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on , uh , on rocky cliffs , virtually

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anything .

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Oh , but

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so how was the ride ? What , how was

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the ride ? It was good .

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The Finnish Marines of the Neelan

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Brigade are unique . Unlike the rest of

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their country's defense forces . Their

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first language isn't Finnish but

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Swedish . This means they can work hand

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in glove with their Swedish

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counterparts . Our brigade is founded

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by a Swedish king . A Swedish company

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can come to Finland reporting to the

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battalion commander and three hours

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from that , they can do a , a combined

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mission already

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together . The marines must trek

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through the hilly terrain to scout out

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a helicopter landing zone . The forest

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is dense and the ground is steep . It's

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slow going even for expert skiers like

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the Finnish marines . The thing about

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Fins is we all more or less grew up on

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skis . But yeah , I'm a bit

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scared to climb the biggest hills here

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because it's , it's quite different

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from Finland . Finland is very flat ,

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so with the landing zone secured , it's

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time to kick off a uniquely NATO

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operation . An Italian helicopter lifts

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a Finnish snowmobile off an American

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warship and carries it to a clearing in

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Norway . But this is the standard for

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the other helicopters are coming

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three Niner , this is 30 .

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This snowmobile will make their lives

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much easier as they push further in .

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Meanwhile , the Swedish fire control

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team decides to get a head start on

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NATO integration . They meet up with

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the Italian Marines from the San Marco

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Brigade who have landed nearby and are

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practicing calling for artillery fire

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from an Italian warship . This is

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uniform . Fortunately , the Swedes are

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already familiar with the lion's

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tactics and procedures say , for

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instance , in a future conflict , uh

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being able to fight with the different

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countries , just the one that is on

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station in that area at that time is

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making us 100 times more dangerous

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for a possible enemy . It's always nice

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to hear different countries , uh voices

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on the radio and knowing that you do

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basically the same thing already . So

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don't need that a pre train , just get

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right into it .

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Us marines have come a long way both

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figuratively and literally after

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training in Certe Mon , they have

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deployed to Finnmark , Norway's

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northernmost region for a sort of final

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exam in winter warfare . Here , there

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are no instructors . The marines are on

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their own with miles of Norwegian

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wilderness before them . Fortunately

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hard lessons have paid off the

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difference between us a month ago and

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now is night and day . People know how

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to take care of themselves better .

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They understand their daily day to day

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routines . They understand the basics

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of what they need to get through day to

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day , which means that the battalion

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can focus more on being enemy oriented

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rather than focusing on sustaining

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ourselves internally . Being able to

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move in this challenging terrain is one

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thing being able to fight is quite

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another . The deep snow slows the

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marines down . And in this mostly

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featureless landscape , there's little

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cover from hostile fire to prevail the

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marines need to be fast and aggressive .

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Being able to operate in an environment

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like this truly makes us capable of

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operating in any climate place , which

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provides more options for our decision

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makers when they need the military to

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respond . As these young marines and

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sailors get to work side by side with

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the Norwegians , with the Finns , with

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the Swedes , their own confidence in

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just how good these allies are

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continues to grow in March

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2024 while its marines were deployed to

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Norway Sweden made history by formally

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joining NATO as the alliance's 32nd

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ally . It was an emotional moment for

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the Swedes who in joining NATO ended

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more than 200 years of military

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nonalignment being part of NATO feels

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good from now . It's going to be a lot

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easier in many ways and I hope the

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interoperability with the allied

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partners will be easier from now .

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Sweden's joining NATO absolutely makes

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the alliance stronger . I can tell you

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they are highly competent , they are

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very skilled and they share our values

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and our kind of collective ethos that

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goes into our operations . The Nordic

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countries are now united under the

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banner of collective defense . At a

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time when European security is

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threatened by a major conflict . Nato's

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Arctic Marines must stand ready to

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defend the alliance no matter the time

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or place .