Donnelly Training Area, Alaska. (February 24, 2024): Vast sheets of ice, hurricane force winds, and temperatures of thirty below zero. Welcome to America’s “Siberia.” In this photo by Specialist Wyatt Moore, PFC David Hanson recovers a parachute after jumping onto the frozen Donnelly Drop Zone during recent Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness training held here.

This 655,000-acre training area, located a hundred miles from Fairbanks, experiences some of the most severe arctic weather on earth. In a sort of American “Siberia,” temperatures at Donnelly in the winter fall as low as thirty below with high winds whipping frozen, very rugged terrain. With America’s renewed emphasis on fighting and winning in the artic, the Donnelly facility will play a vital role due to its size and facilities.

The base has eight light maneuver training areas of over 500,000 acres and another seven reserved for heavy equipment maneuver encompassing 567,734 acres. There are additional machine gun, rifle, and pistol firing ranges and a “live fire” practice area for combined arms training. The facility also offers instruction on  Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical defense including a “gas chamber” where troops experience (safely) the effects of a chemical agent. Donnelly is also the host to major maneuvers including Air Assault, Airborne (including establishing landing zones), and various ground units that must operate in an arctic environment.

Thanks to the Donnelly Training Area, American troops will be ready to fight and win in the Arctic.