Hello from [hold on I need to adjust my mask I'm freezing] Alaska!

See that guy in the photo getting destroyed by a Chinook?  That's me. Photo by Seth Robson from Stars & Stripes.

The Chinook helicopter flew directly over us and landed, a deviation from the expected "fly near us and land".  That meant a -70F downdraft nailed me, the Army shooter and the Stars and Stripes photographer as it coasted over our heads on the way to deliver the top-level international and U.S. badasses that were in Black Rapids to share their knowledge.
 

"WHY AM I HERE?"

Because melting ice in the Arctic means new transportation alleys and new resource opportunities.  And also because we need to continuously talk to our allies, and we need to do it in person.
 
Never underestimate the power of showing a Mongolian officer how to blow it up after a fist bump.

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I just got back from Black Rapids, Alaska, the Army's premiere training site for cold weather survival and combat.  They just hosted a first of its kind international event that saw 12 countries flying in to share their knowledge of sub zero tactics.

I spent five years in South Florida before enlisting in the Navy.

No problem. I enlisted to serve...and sacrifice.

Back row from left to right: Finland, Japan, Norway, Germany and Mongolia.

Much of the event happened in a conference room at Black Rapids.  That was disappointing for a camera guy but it paid off eventually for the countries involved.  They bonded!

Here's one of my favorite parts of the mission.  Emily is from a local Alaska TV station.  She absolutely killed it with that camera.  I'm terrified of those things, so big ups to her!  Stand by for a link to the story she created from the event.

Zack interviews the Mongolian representative for NPR.

This is Zack from a local NPR affiliate.  This guy gets it.  He said to me, man as long as you're curious and humble, you'll get the story.

YES.

Survival tip:  Former MC Andrew Breese told me to route my wireless mic through a Zoom recorder to achieve less background noise.

LISTEN TO THIS ADVICE.

This is me using the latest technology!  It doesn't happen often but I'm pretty sure no one in the military is using the new Feiyu Tech G4 stabilizer.  It makes using the GoPro siiiiiiiiiiick!

This is my favorite photo.  This is a super high-ranking Japanese officer that loved my GoPro setup.  He was very cool considering he probably could've 1-inch death punched me at any time.