US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team Enhances Combat Readiness for Future Arctic Operations.

The U.S. Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 (EODGRU 2) has intensified its focus on Arctic and mountain warfare through SNOWCRABEX 2025, a rigorous two-week exercise designed to evaluate and enhance combat effectiveness in extreme winter conditions. Controlled this year by Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 (MDSU 2), the exercise underscores the Navy's commitment to operational readiness in austere and frigid environments. As stated in the U.S. Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy 2024, “The United States is an Arctic nation, and the region is critical to the defense of our homeland, the protection of U.S. national sovereignty, and our defense treaty commitments.” 
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link

A U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician, assigned to EOD Mobile Unit Two, fires an M-4 rifle while skiing in Arctic mobility training. (Picture source: U.S. DoD)

Given the increasing strategic importance of the Arctic, the U.S. military is prioritizing its ability to operate in this challenging region, ensuring forces can effectively respond to threats, secure key infrastructure, and project power in the high north.

Taking place in Minnesota’s Camp Ripley, an environment that closely replicates Arctic conditions, SNOWCRABEX 2025 enabled Navy EOD Technicians from EOD Mobile Units (EODMU) 12 and 2, along with Navy Divers from MDSU 2, to test, evaluate, and refine tactics, equipment, and operations in a setting where temperatures drop well below freezing. These conditions challenged their ability to conduct missions effectively while ensuring survival in extreme cold. The training aligns with the Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy 2024, which emphasizes that the Arctic region is crucial to national security and military readiness. As climate change continues to alter the Arctic landscape, opening new maritime routes and increasing competition over resources, the ability to operate in this environment becomes a key strategic priority for the U.S. military.

SNOWCRABEX 2025 provided Navy EOD and Navy Divers with a critical opportunity to test and refine their equipment in extreme cold and snow-covered terrain. Operating in such conditions revealed potential weaknesses in standard loadouts and allowed teams to modify or adapt their gear to function more effectively in an Arctic environment. Given the specialized nature of EOD operations and salvage diving, the ability to test sensitive gear in austere conditions is invaluable. This exercise enabled personnel to evaluate cold-weather performance of protective suits, underwater demolition tools, remote-operated vehicles (ROVs), and communications equipment. Lessons learned from these evaluations will help inform future procurement decisions and ensure that U.S. Navy EOD forces remain operationally effective in Arctic missions.

During the exercise, U.S. Navy EOD technicians conducted simulated unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance operations, secured critical infrastructure, and integrated with U.S. Air Force EOD units to improve joint-service communication and coordination in extreme conditions. Operating in a distributed environment required units to refine their ability to relay information over long distances, navigate challenging terrain, and execute rapid response drills in sub-zero temperatures. In preparation for these operations, Navy EOD personnel underwent extensive avalanche safety, mountain survivability, and winter mobility training in Utah and Wyoming before deploying to Minnesota. This training ensured that personnel were not only proficient in their core mission sets but also capable of surviving and maneuvering effectively in Arctic terrain, including cross-country ski movement, snowshoe travel, and cold-weather bivouac techniques.

A major component of SNOWCRABEX 2025 was ice diving operations, where Navy Divers successfully completed under-ice salvage training, Arctic survivability drills, scenario-based response exercises, and diving casualty medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) training. The unique underwater environment provided by frozen lakes allowed Navy Divers to test their ability to perform search, recovery, and salvage operations in conditions of near-zero visibility and extreme cold, closely mirroring potential real-world Arctic missions.

To further enhance the Navy’s medical capabilities in Arctic conditions, members of EODGRU 2’s medical unit attended a week-long Arctic mountain medicine course in Anchorage, Alaska, from January 6 to 13, 2025. This intensive training covered cold weather injury treatment, casualty evacuation from mountainous and icy terrain, and prolonged field care techniques for hypothermia and frostbite cases. At SNOWCRABEX, the medical team applied their training in real-time, leading cold weather casualty response drills that included advanced rewarming techniques to stabilize hypothermic personnel, field treatment of frostbite and cold-weather injuries, and complex MEDEVAC operations involving a simulated ice-diving casualty, requiring extraction from sub-freezing water, coordination with a helicopter landing zone, and air transport to a medical facility.

SNOWCRABEX 2025 reinforced the growing importance of Arctic and mountain warfare for Naval Expeditionary Combat Forces (NECF). As the Arctic region becomes increasingly contested, ensuring that U.S. Navy EOD and diving units can operate effectively in extreme cold is vital for force projection, infrastructure security, and homeland defense. By rigorously testing personnel, tactics, and equipment in sub-zero conditions, this exercise directly contributes to future Arctic capability development, procurement strategies, and operational planning. The key takeaways from SNOWCRABEX 2025 will shape future training exercises and equipment advancements to ensure that U.S. military forces remain fully prepared to conduct missions in one of the world’s most challenging environments.