veteran’s corner

Tom Krabbenhoft

With the grip of cold weather around I find myself disliking winters more each year. A few hours moving snow really brings out the arthritic pain. 

Once upon a time I was a young soldier. Living outside in Alaska sometimes -50 below conditions for days and weeks was normal.

Five of us arrived for mandatory CWIC (Cold Weather Indoctrination Course) training in Northern AK in 1989. All personnel attend CWIC to familiarize themselves with cold operations. I was in good company as there was a SEAL team and over a dozen Green Berets and many officers. It was three days of instruction and two nights outside.

Instruction was straightforward and consisted of shelter building, dehydration, frostbite dangers and basic military operations.

Our first night out my “Arctic buddy” and I set out, the course was laid out in a figure eight. Our instructors pointed and said you two set up there. We scraped up the snow into a valley and set our bags in the middle. Our bags were rated for -30 below. It was close to -30, needless to say our confidence for owning the night was high. I took my peak one stove, he and I combined our hot chocolate and sugar packets and made a hot beverage. Seemed like a stellar idea. We drifted off in our bags.

Not long after dozing off I’m tapped by one of our instructors checking on us. The welfare checks came every half hour or so. Then the cold set in. Finding cold spots that felt like -10 degrees in your bag requires constant reconfiguring of clothing and equipment to capture enough warmth to drift off again. I heard my Arctic buddy struggling, then a zipper sound, snow crunching and a call of nature. I drifted off again only to be awakened. I never have nor have I ever again heard someone’s teeth chatter so loudly and kept me awake.

Morning rolled in and the instructors yelled and told us all to bring it in. I popped out of my bag and put my Bunny Boots on, they felt like strapping ice blocks to my feet. I was shaking fiercely trying to pack up my rucksack. I see the Green Berets run past my position. They threw all their gear in their sleeping bags and were dragging their bags. Which in hindsight was very smart. Stupid pride drove me to pack my ruck despite shivering to the point of muscle spasms.

Walking back to the classroom my feet felt on fire, I had uncontrollable shivering and was tired from several sleepless nights.

The second day of class they taught us what NOT to do sleeping outside. Like keeping your boots outside your bag, getting out of your bag to pee, use your extra clothes to sleep on etc. Essentially everything they explained not to do we did on our first night. Those were hard lessons to learn.

The second night learning about clothing displacement, how to minimize and move air around a bag and how to utilize a spare canteen. We slept ok except for the instructors welfare checks.

Anything veteran related contact me at 11btwk@gmail.com.