70 Air National Guard airmen gathered at Camp Ripley Training Center, Minn., from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8, 2025, to train and conduct mission-essential tasks in extremely cold temperatures, during the Air National Guard’s Cold Weather Operations Course (CWOC).

The class comprised of mostly security forces personnel from 37 wings representing 27 states, also hosted a maintenance group commander, medical personnel, a cyber communications specialist, and a public affairs specialist. Two participants and one instructor from the 3rd Canadian Division’s Lake Superior Scottish Regiment, 38th Brigade Group also attended the course.

Class participants spent the first phase of the course in a classroom where they studied troop movements, risk management, cold weather injury care, and specialized equipment use.

The second phase sent students outdoors to practice over snow movement, Ahkio sled hauling techniques, land navigation, and thermal structure building.

The final phase was a six-day, five-night field training exercise where students traversed snow-covered terrain, reacted to leadership challenges, established a patrol base, constructed and slept in thermal or arctic shelters, and provided hypothermia care while enduring Minnesota’s winter weather.

The class was divided into six teams who navigated the field training as a group. The teams rucked long distances, while pulling Ahkio sleds filled with equipment, the first two days, then built self-sustaining camps, and slept in a10-man arctic tents with a small stove for heat.

Thermal shelters were constructed on the third and fourth nights using only supplies in an airmen’s pack or found in nature. While some teams created two or three-person “lean to” or A-frame style thermal structures, other teams created 10-person shelters to capitalize on body heat. Class attendees used fire as their only heat source while temperatures dipped below zero and wind gusts reached 30-miles per hour. It also snowed on the days they slept in thermal shelters.

Despite the challenging conditions, most of the class expressed building and sleeping in thermal shelters was their favorite part of the field training exercise. “Students enjoy thermal shelters because it tests their resilience, mental fortitude, and newly learned skills,” said course planner, 148th Security Forces Squadron Master Sgt. Heath Parks. “Sleeping in a thermal shelter in negative temperatures after days of exhausting ruck movements is not for the faint-hearted. Completing multiple nights in extreme field conditions demonstrates our airmen can do anything they put their minds to.”

The final day of the field training consisted of one last ruck to Lake Farrell. Upon arriving, teams set up and heated their 10-man artic tents then participated in a cold-water immersion supervised by the United States Coast Guard’s Training and Rescue Station from Duluth, Minn.

During the cold-water immersion, one individual from each team was transported after his or her jump, via Ahkio sled, to their arctic shelter to allow teams to conduct thermal rescue techniques and prevent hypothermia.

During the field training, airmen ate arctic versions of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE). Many of the students experienced bumps, bruises, and blisters commonly found when navigating rough terrain. Students were supported by three Aerospace Medical Services Technicians from the 148th Fighter Wing.

“Training courses like the CWOC enhance lethality and increase our airmen’s combat capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Rios, Chief, Air National Guard Security Forces Operations Branch, who participated as a student in the course. “The CWOC allows personnel to employ these skills in extreme weather conditions so they can secure and defend U.S. national interests and support our allies and partners anytime, anywhere, around the world.”

This was the second annual CWOC planned and hosted by the Minnesota National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing. Camp Ripley is a 53,000-acrew regional training center located near Little Falls, Minn., which features diverse landscapes from heavily forested areas to prairies to lakes and ponds.

Story by Audra Flanagan

148th Fighter Wing Public Affairs