US Dept. of Defense drops new Arctic Strategy
Last week, the U.S. Department of Defense released a new Arctic Strategy.
Updating the last plan from five years ago, it outlines a series of actions for the federal government to take around the area’s unique geopolitical tensions, climate change resilience and defense strategies, which includes infrastructure improvements and maintenance, and search and rescue.
The DoD walked out their new plan on a virtual gathering broadcast from the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan Washington D.C. think tank that promotes objective research to inform public policy, with a deep dive into the plan’s conceits and a panel discussion including several high-ranking military officers.
“The region is undergoing change at so many different levels,” Mark Green, President and CEO of the Wilson Center, said in his opening remarks.
The strategy, which was praised by the panel members for its clarity and simplicity, is built around “3 E’s”: Enhancing, engaging and exercising.
According to the plan, this means that it will enhance Arctic capabilities, engage with allies and exercise presence in the Arctic.
“In addition to relationships with Allied and partnered militaries, regular engagement and government-to-government consultations with Alaska Native tribes, communities, and corporations are critical to achieving shared objectives,” the Arctic Strategy document reads. “Many of our Allies and partners live every day in the Arctic operational environment and can bring significant capabilities and expertise to bear.”
Communication gaps
Amanda Dory, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans and Posture, drove the importance of allies home, including Alaska Natives, telling the audience that the implementation mattered more than the plan itself, and that the main thrust of the strategy was all about working with partners.
This proved at least partially true this week as Nomeites have watched Operation Polar Dagger take place in the skies above town with constant Blackhawk helicopter fly-overs.
Operation Polar Dagger has a stated goal to demonstrate over-the-beach operations, long range movements, maritime interdiction operations, medical evacuation and personal recovery, and conduct engagements with Alaskan Native leadership and communities.
Some of the action of Operation Polar Dagger has taken place in and around St. Lawrence Island, where a SEALS team even worked with a local guide to “support their long-range movement” across the island. Special Ops teams were working with the USS John Canley, a newly commissioned expeditionary sea base with the third largest flight deck in the U.S. Navy which can accommodate four simultaneous helicopter operations at once. On Tuesday, the USS John Canley sat visible from Nome in the roadstead and increased helicopter traffic had Nomeites wondering what was going on.
But the communication with allies seemed to have been limited to Native tribes, as emergency planning for the City of Nome and other local state entities were left in the dark about Operation Polar Dagger. The mayor, city manager and city clerk confirmed that they were unaware of any notifications from the operation’s command.
Regional tension
Operations such as Polar Dagger tacitly declare the region as the front line for a new cold war.
The new Arctic Strategy was released in the middle of a summer of immense geopolitical tension in the Arctic and Bering Sea region. During the first week of July, four Chinese military ships were spotted in the Bering Sea and escorted out of the Exclusive Economic Zone waters by the USCG cutter Kimball – the same vessel that visited Nome last week.
Then, on July 24, The North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD for short, intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers near Alaska; it was the first time that aircraft of the two countries were intercepted while running drills together. While neither incident was considered a direct threat, they both amount to political strains in the region.
As discussed at the Wilson panel, Russians are known for having the most Arctic operational experience and infrastructure, and the Chinese, although not technically an Arctic country, are pushing hard to be a player in the region.
“Although the vast majority of the Arctic is under the jurisdiction of sovereign states, the Peoples Republic of China seeks to promote the Arctic region as a ‘global commons’ in order to shift Arctic governance in its favor,” the Arctic strategy paper reads. “The PRC’s 2018 Arctic Policy claims non-Arctic states should contribute to the region’s ‘shared future for mankind’ due to the Arctic’s global significance.”
Assistant Director Dory spoke to this very issue, saying that the DoD sees China and Russia’s alignment as “a particular concern”, adding that the DoD is watching the situation closely.
Lt. General Thomas Carden, another speaker at the Wilson Center event, noted, “The Arctic is perhaps the shortest and least defended threat vector to North America.” Meaning that western Alaska is more vulnerable to attacks from enemies than anywhere else in the continent.
Other concerns
The concern is one of national defense as much as it is economical. As laid out in the Arctic Strategy, the region contains “strategically significant maritime chokepoints” and, with a greater reduction in sea ice due to climate change, these chokepoints are becoming more navigable and significant to the economy.
That’s partly why the Arctic Strategy outlines solidifying scientific partnerships with other federal entities like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study sea ice and its melting. Not only because of busier trade routes, but because sea ice has apparently posed unique issues to the functionality of sonar, which is essential to oceanic operations.
The Arctic Strategy also notes how much of the U.S. Arctic infrastructure is from the Cold War era that has declined over time “due to the harsh environment, lack of investment, and climate change-driven permafrost thawing and coastal erosion.”
The DoD also intends to invest in infrastructure that will allow the military to “rapidly project power across the Arctic.”
Investments will also come by way of ice breakers. While the plan continues to support the acquisition of ice breakers for the U.S. Coast Guard – which have been notoriously slow to be built and have gone several billion dollars over budget – it also announced a new collaboration between the U.S., Canada, and Finland to build ice-worthy vessels together.
A general on the panel noted that the region could experience an ice-free summer in the Arctic as soon as 2030, an earlier year than often mentioned previously by officials and scientists.
The Arctic Strategy seeks to stay in lockstep with capitalism in general, as clarified by Iris Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience.
“Industry is critical for success of the strategy,” she said in the panel’s discussion.
An example of this is the DoD’s award of $37.3 million to Graphite One to help fund the company’s feasibility study. On May 17, 2024, Graphite One entered into a revised cost-share agreement with the DoD to adjust the DoD’s share of expenditures related to the accelerated feasibility study from 50 percent to 75 percent, based on a revised contract value of $49.8 million. The DoD’s maximum share is still $37.3 million.
As the many-medaled panel wound down, it was casually mentioned that a DoD envoy was headed to Alaska to visit towns and villages. Their PR team is on the way to Nome.
Principal Director of DoD's Arctic & Global Resilience Policy Office Greg Pollock arrives to meet with “local interests” on August 1.
They’re working in conjunction with the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.
The stated goal of the visit is to “Conduct a number of community level roundtable discussions across Alaska where there are important local defense interests, inclusive and with particular attention to Alaskan Natives in order to provide orientation of the pending release of the updated DoD Arctic Strategy.”