Exercise Cold Response is a Norwegian‑led, biennial large-scale winter/multi‑domain NATO exercise in northern Norway (and parts of northern Finland and maritime areas nearby) that trains allied forces to operate in harsh Arctic conditions. Its primary objectives are to strengthen deterrence, test and improve interoperability among NATO and partner militaries, validate Norway’s and NATO’s ability to deploy, integrate and sustain joint forces in the High North, and rehearse defence plans for Norway’s northern flank.
A "cave draw" is the process of issuing pre‑positioned equipment and supplies stored in climate‑controlled underground storage (the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program–Norway caves) to arriving units. Logistics teams open inventories in the caves, inspect and prepare gear (vehicles, weapons, munitions, cold‑weather clothing, spare parts, bulk supplies), assemble or configure sets as required, and formally hand them over to the deploying unit for use in the exercise or operation.
Blount Island Command (BIC) is the Marine Corps organization that manages prepositioned shipboard and ashore stocks; its Ashore Prepositioning/Technical Assistance and Advisory teams support Marine Corps Prepositioning Program–Norway (MCPP‑N). BIC teams provide inventory management, issue/receipt operations, equipment maintenance, assembly/configuration, and technical advice to units drawing gear from Norwegian caves so forces can rapidly become operational.
Public reporting of recent cave‑draw operations says thousands of items were issued but does not list a complete catalog. Typical items drawn from MCPP‑N caves for Cold Response include vehicles and vehicle spares, weapons and ammunition, bulk fuel and fuel handling gear, cold‑weather clothing and personal equipment, engineering and sustainment supplies, and unit‑level support equipment; the specific article cited only reports "thousands of items" were issued during the two‑week draw.
II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air‑Ground Task Force‑capable formation headquartered at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, that provides scalable combined arms forces (ground combat, aviation, and logistics) for U.S. combatant commands. For cold‑weather exercises like Cold Response, elements typically deployed include infantry and armor battalions from 2nd Marine Division, aviation units, logistics/maintenance and distribution units (e.g., Combat Logistics Regiment/Distribution battalions), and enabling support (engineers, medical, communications).
Cold Response 26 is scheduled for March 9–19, 2026 (with allied activities before and after) and will be conducted primarily in northern Norway (Nordland, Troms and western Finnmark) with some land activity in northern Finland and maritime/air operations across the Nordic area. The Norwegian Armed Forces list about 14 participating nations (approximately 25,000 personnel), including Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Türkiye, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Belgium (plus NATO elements).