SODANKYLÄ, Finland — Army 2nd Lt. Emily Rief, concealed by a whitened camouflage tent and the cover of a nondescript patch of pine forest blanketed by powdery snow, tracked enemy movements with cutting-edge technology.

She also had an analog board that would have looked familiar in the mid-20th century, because technology sometimes fails when the thermometer reading plummets below -20 F.

In a part of northern Finland that even hardy Finns find austere, U.S. soldiers are learning quickly about the obstacles they may face if conflict erupts in a region where military and economic competition is rapidly increasing. Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best.

“U.S. forces, we got some really awesome equipment that enables us to maybe go further in some ways than the Finns,” Rief said. “But they have history in the Arctic to make them better.”

Soldiers with the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division have been training here in Lapland — about 100 miles from the Russian border — for a little over a week in a first-of-its-kind exercise for the unit that American and Finnish military officials are calling a success.

It’s the latest in a surge of activity by U.S. personnel in the Arctic in recent years, following Russia’s military expansion and China’s aspirations to grow its influence in higher latitudes.

This week’s Arctic Forge exercise reflects the Army’s role in ensuring that the U.S. and its allies maintain a favorable balance of power in the region, which is undergoing rapid change due to melting sea ice, even though other branches of the military are often more associated with Arctic operations aimed at protecting the U.S. homeland.

“The land component is where the people are. That’s the area we need to influence,” Lt. Col. Dan Ludwig, a squadron commander with the 11th Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade, told a small group of journalists Thursday during a mock land battle involving U.S., Finnish and Canadian soldiers. “And it is gaining prominence.”

Ludwig cut questions short after enemy troops, played by Finland’s Jaeger Brigade, attacked his mobile command post, forcing him to rush back to the fight.

The three-day battle was the highlight of Finland’s portion of Arctic Forge, which ended Friday. The exercise was designed as if enemy forces had invaded Finland, a new NATO member, which in turn called on the U.S. for urgent support.

Upon receiving the call, a company of New York-based soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division and a platoon of Canadian infantry flew to Fort Wainwright, Alaska, to form a task force with an 11th Airborne Division company.

After training together for several days — including sleeping outside in bone-chilling weather, ski practice and shooting in the snow — the task force flew in C-17 cargo planes with their equipment over the North Pole to Finland.

Soon after, they hit the ground — or rather, sank their boots into it. Finns here say the snow is unusually wet for this time of year.

The soldiers had just a few extra days of training before going into battle.

“This exercise has shown that if we needed to deploy tomorrow to this type of environment, we’re more than capable of winning here,” said Canadian Brig. Gen. Robert McBride, who serves as deputy commanding general of operations for the 11th Airborne Division.

While Arctic defense was a priority during the Cold War, attention waned as counterinsurgency operations in the Middle East took precedence. Now, as the U.S. prepares for near-peer conflict, it is again looking north.

The Arctic is warming significantly faster than the global average, according to scientific studies, resulting in ice melt that is expected to open access to natural resources and new shipping lanes.

Russia and China are poised to take advantage of those opportunities, analysts say.

A 2023 study by the Rand Corp. warned that the U.S. faces significant capacity gaps in the Arctic, including limited icebreakers, inadequate communications and insufficient troops trained for extreme cold-weather operations.

One reason the 11th Airborne Division was established in 2022 was to develop more Arctic-ready troops. Soldiers assigned to the unit typically spend three years training in Alaska, gaining area-specific expertise that could be shared within the force.

Exercises like Arctic Forge build skills and act as a deterrent, said Dan Hamilton, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.

“And if deterrence fails and conflict is to happen, better for it to happen ‘there’ rather than ‘here,’” Hamilton said.

The Arctic was a focal point for potential missile and air attacks during the Cold War, as it is the shortest route between Russia and North America. The Air Force and, more recently, the Space Force monitor Arctic airspace for threats, while the Navy and Coast Guard patrol the waters.

“No one expects that we’re going to be fighting (enemy ground forces) in Alaska anytime soon,” McBride said when asked how the Army’s Arctic efforts protect the United States.

“But there is a real possibility we could come over here to northern Europe to fight,” he added, emphasizing the importance of collective defense training with allies.

Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the third anniversary of which coincided with Arctic Forge, prompted historically neutral Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

While this strengthens Arctic cooperation among allies, it also means there is far more Arctic territory to defend. Finland shares an over 800-mile border with Russia.

“At the moment in Finland, we feel that we are somehow like a front-line country,” Col. Ari Mure, deputy commander of Finland’s Jaeger Brigade, said Thursday at the Sodankylä training area, which is about 600 miles north of Helsinki.

“It’s no secret that we’re thinking if we someday have an enemy, it will be Russia,” Mure added. “And it’s very close to here.”

Mure said he was impressed by how the U.S. troops performed during the exercise, in which the invading team, played by the Finns, used tanks and various simulated weapons systems.

The North American forces called in simulated long-range fire support from a U.S. unit stationed in Norway, some 200 miles away.

That unit, the 41st Field Artillery Brigade, is becoming a regular presence in the High North, having trained in Finland in May and November 2023.

Soldiers with the Virginia National Guard, which paired with Finland last year under the U.S. State Partnership Program, were also in southern Finland conducting engineer training as part of Arctic Forge.

Mure said the demand for foreign troops to train in Finland’s Arctic region has surged in recent years.

“We can’t take all who want to come here now,” he said.

But of all the recent exercises, Mure said Arctic Forge was particularly important, as it tested for the first time the ability of U.S. Arctic forces to rapidly deploy to Finland in case of an attack.

“I feel this has been the best show of capability of U.S. troops that I’ve seen here in these conditions,” Mure said.

Finnish soldier Santeri Koivula agreed. His rank, also called jaeger, is the Finnish equivalent of a U.S. Army private.

“I thought it would be easier to beat them because this is our environment,” Koivula said Thursday. “But it’s actually been quite balanced.”

previous coverage

• Membership bid of NATO country No. 31 reaches Finnish line
• Soldiers at northernmost US base test skills, endurance and train in frigid, dark Alaska winters
• US not prepared for potential global war as China, Russia alliance grows, defense strategy commission finds
• Trump reiterates interest in buying Greenland for US security