Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis, who is now retired, says serving above the Arctic Circle as a brigade operations officer in Alaska in 1989 brought a whole new meaning to the term "cold war." For one thing, when temperatures are 76 degrees below zero, nothing works like it does in warmer climates.
"It's a tough environment," he asserts. "It gets extremely cold. Fuels … actually become solid. Artillery rounds … are all subject to ballistic mistakes."
He says it is necessary for America to have bases on the world's largest island to stop adversaries from exploiting a valuable sea route.
"It's a barrier to the Russians, who have the other half of the Arctic region, and the Chinese also would like to be able to dominate the Arctic region," Maginnis notes. "The Chinese and the Russians use the northern route for transportation ... the extraction of all sorts of energy, as well as precious minerals."
He explains the agreement amends the 1951 U.S.-Danish defense pact, allowing the U.S. to modernize and expand Pituffik Space Base and establish new defense areas at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Mestersvig in the northeast, while giving U.S. forces broad land, air and sea access.
It also bars non-NATO countries from establishing military installations or maintaining a persistent military presence in Greenland and restricts non-allied control or significant influence over sensitive infrastructure and resources; the agreement is intended to remain in effect even if Greenland becomes independent and requires a future independent Greenland to remain in NATO.
Meanwhile, Maginnis says President Trump has introduced the Golden Dome to protect the nation using facilities on land, sea and in outer space, and while he sees the necessity of this agreement, he says U.S. troops are going to have to train extensively to work there.
"The details have yet to be worked out. That's the problem," Maginnis submits. "We have to figure out what will be permitted."
