Cold Weather Operations Conference 2023
More than 400 participants, 23 exhibitors and 18 nations participated in this year's CWOC in Hamar.
In a fully crowded ballroom, with music from His Majesty The King’s Guard playing, Christian Borch opened this year’s cold weather conference. Centre of Excellence – Cold Weather Operations (COE-CWO) arranged the conference.
There were a numerous number of recognized names on the program. Both from Norway and other nations. Panel debates, lectures and exhibitions from the industry were some of the things the participants could join. The conference was also a good arena for connecting with others, across nations.
The North as a front
Colonel Simen Sandum is the acting director of COE-CWO. Sandum participated on the security policy track during the conference.
– We have formerly talked about the northern areas in NATO as «The Northern Flank». However, the discussion involved whether we should see them as a front, especially in a multi-domain perspective. The northern areas calls for a particular competence to show enough deterrence, says the Colonel.
Sandum is referring to the Arctic Circle conference, which took place in Iceland in October, where also the chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer were present.
– Admiral Bauer underlined the same in October. We need to be prepared that the Arctic could potentially become an area of conflict. Therefore, we need to have the competence, doctrines, structures and the equipment for operating in these areas. Everyone that will operate here needs to prioritize this, not just the North.
Further on, Sandum explains that the security political questions around the Arctic, was discussed, but no conclusions were made. This year’s theme for the conference were «Warfare development for the High North». When asked about what should be done to increase the interoperability among the members of NATO, Sandum says equality in the conceptual approach amongst preparations and planning, but also agreement on standards in the lower military hierarchy.
– It is a great advantage if the Americans use the same type of skis like the Norwegians use. We should establish concepts based on experience management to know how to set up the military forces for success. This could include equality in education and training, says Sandum.
An example on development that improves the logistics is the «Nordic Combat Uniform» (NCU). Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway will have the same type of uniform.
Arena for networking
The COE-CWO is tasked with the Alliance development of Cold Weather Operations. The conference is therefore not Norwegian, but a NATO-conference as a contribution to the alliance. According to Sandum, Norway is far ahead when it comes to research and development of cold weather operations. These type of conferences is golden when it comes to connecting people across nations and departments.
– I am very pleased with the conference! The feedback has been good and there was a lot of great content. Many participants would like to come back.
The participants could join in three different tracks, where the themes were safety politics, climate changes and technology. Simultaneous the exhibitions from the industry displayed equipment. COE-CWO will now start a working group that will analyse this year’s conference and start planning for the next. Sandum cannot reveal what the next conference will include, because this depends on what themes and issues they will face in 2025. For Sandum, this conference is an important meeting point for the alliance.
– Putting NATO up for success in the Nordic areas and other parts of the world, where cold weather influence military operations, is essential from my point of view.
