Mark & The Norwegians

There are some definite benefits to duty in NATO, and especially in Norway. I travel frequently to some pretty neat places. This past year has included trips to Singapore, London, Brussels, Mons, Rome, Latina, Norfolk Virginia, Leavenworth, Fort Lewis Washington, Lillehammer, Sweden, Poland, Oberammergau, Garmisch, Ramstein, Little Rock Arkansas, Istanbul, and shortly, The Hague in the Netherlands and London again. But few of these were quite as unique as the offsite/battle staff ride at Narvik in northern Norway.

The offsite between the Joint Warfare Centre and the Norwegian Joint National Headquarters was sandwiched into the planned battle staff ride for the JWC staff--so in a sense we killed two birds with one shot.

Monday
We lifted off from Stavanger Airport early Monday morning on a charter plane (120 or so folks from the NJNHQ and the JWC on board) and landed at Evenes airport near Narvik. From there by bus to a Norwegian naval base, a couple of briefings, then lunch in their dining facility, then on to the Nordkapp, a Norwegian vessel about the size of a frigate to approach Narvik from the sea like the German destroyers did in 1940. About a 2 hour trip into the harbor with various discussions and tours enroute. We visited the Narvik museum, which was very informative. Interesting tidbit that the Germans ran concentration camps throughout Norway mostly for Russian and Serbian POW's, and used them to build the main north-south railway and various gun emplacements along the Norwegian coast. The current Norwegian railway essentially traverses the same route built with great sacrifice of life. On to the hotel to check in, followed by a reception JWC hosted for the NJHQ.

Tuesday
While everyone else went off on the staff ride, all of the Colonels and above stuck around the hotel for a series of meetings (offsite) with the the NJNHQ Colonels and above, followed by a delicious dinner (lamb) hosted by the Norwegians.

Wednesday
This was the grueling hike day with a morning amphibious crossing followed by a scramble up the fjord side following the path of the French Foreign Legion and the Norwegian forces. The Norwegian military went up the hill like mountain goats, not so for most of the rest of us--very exhausting. We then went to the other side of Narvik to take the Polish Brigade approach. The weather was excellent (i.e., no rain), and we finished up at the hotel by early evening.


Thursday
We took the train (same one that goes to the Swedish iron ore mines that was the proximate cause of the WW2 campaign) toward the Swedish border, to Bjornfjell, site of some of the fiercest fighting between the German mountain troops and the Norwegians. Lots of snow in the high country. Spectacular train ride. We even saw two reindeer. Finished the day with another dinner for the JWC staff at the hotel.


Friday
Checked out of the hotel, then on to Harstad northwest of Narvik. Lunch at the Trondenes military dining facility, then a visit to the museum, a tour of Trondenes church (Medieval church), and finally a visit to the infamous "Adolph Gun"--a battleship gun (acutally 4 of them) that could range the Narvik approaches. The guns were so successful that the Allies didn't even try to maneuver up the fjords to Narvik during the rest of WW2. Finally back to the airport, a charter flight back to Stavanger, and home by 2230.


All in all, a great visit north of the Arctic Circle--we Arctic Circuleans look down on all the lower mortals of course--even saw some northern lights out of the airplane--or maybe it was the lights on the airplane wingtips, hard to say . . .