United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) have successfully completed Arctic Edge 2025 (AE25), a joint and combined multidomain field training exercise designed to strengthen their ability to safeguard North America in the face of China and Russia’s increased ambitions in the Arctic. The exercise, conducted across Alaska from August 1-31, 2025, coincided for the first time with exercise Northern Edge 2025, led by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), and demonstrated readiness, improved interoperability and advanced capabilities in the Arctic.
AE25 included participants from USNORTHCOM, Air Forces Northern, Army North, Naval Forces Northern, Marine Forces Northern, Special Operations Forces North and Alaskan Command. Allied nations, including Denmark and the United Kingdom, also participated, as well as interagency partners such as the Alaska National Guard, the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Alaska state and local law enforcement, and Alaska Native communities.
AE25 highlighted the level of difficulty and innovation that fighting and operating in the Arctic require. Among the key events, a joint explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team led mine-clearing operations at Port MacKenzie in Cook Inlet, conquering extreme tidal changes, high currents and limited visibility to gather data for future EOD operations in Alaska. The EOD team also recovered and transferred a simulated enemy unmanned underwater vehicle.
A joint Marine Corps/Coast Guard team performed a simulated raid on Port MacKenzie, seizing it and reestablishing force flow through the port. The Army’s 3rd Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) opened the unimproved port and led transit operations there.
Marines from the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force demonstrated critical chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear response techniques to Coast Guardsmen at the Don Young Port of Alaska in Anchorage. That included decontaminating personnel and scanning shipping containers for hazardous materials.
Other highlights included High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Rapid Insertion missions, live-fire exercises, integrated air and missile defense, and maritime security operations in the Bering Sea. The events provided crucial training opportunities and strengthened USNORTHCOM’s Arctic readiness.
USNORTHCOM also conducted cross-combatant command coordination and shared a common operational picture with USINDOPACOM during the concurrent exercise Northern Edge 2025. “Cross-combatant command integration … is a new thing that we’ve never done before and stressed managing the challenges of real-time coordination across exercises,” U.S. Air Force Col. Craig Rumble said.
In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 13, 2025, Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of USNORTHCOM and NORAD, said: “Arctic responsibilities are shared across multiple geographic and functional combatant commands, and as competition in the region increases, safeguarding Arctic access and freedom of maneuver will depend on Joint Force Arctic operational capabilities and build on the already strong ties between Arctic partners. USNORTHCOM places enormous value on the ability to conduct operations and exercises in the High North and to execute assigned missions in coordination with fellow combatant commands.”