American army forces occupy Narvik harbor in connection with exercise Immediate Response – NRK Nordland

It is in connection with the NATO exercise Immediate Response 2024 that the US Army is practicing landing personnel and equipment in Narvik.

Several hundred containers and vehicles are to be brought ashore and then transported across the border.

– What we are training on now is Narvik as a transit port with a new border with Russia in NATO, which has become much larger, sayschief of the training regiment in the Army, colonel May Brith Valen-Odlo to NRK.

Narvik has previously received American forces, at the latest in 2023, but then only for receiving them for exercises in Norway. Now the army forces are to be transported by train and road to Finland, via Sweden.

Valen-Odlo says Narvik is ideal for this purpose.

– We have Ofotbanen and access to trains. It is very beneficial. The size of the port itself is good, in addition we have the garrison Elvegårdsmoen in Bjerkvik quite close. There we can collect equipment and materials temporarily.

500 containers and vehicles

There are US Army forces from «US Army 3rd Infantry Brigade» which unloads equipment in Narvik. In total, it is aboutver 200 vehicles and more than 300 containers belonging to this brigade.

This shows the new everyday life with Sweden and Finland in NATO, says Per Erik Solli, defense analyst in the Research Group for Security and Defense at NUPI.

– Military mobility in the Nordics is already an important topic and it will be high on the agenda for a long time to come, states Solli.

– A litmus test

Solli points out that many years ago the US Marine Corps began to remove material from the advance storage in Trøndelag, and send personnel and equipment further into the Nordics to take part in exercises in Sweden or Finland.

– This time it is Narvik that plays the main role in a significant challenge of receiving and sending on an American army brigade.

What is happening in Narvik today is an important test for the defense alliance, Solli believes.

– The litmus test this time is whether all facilities and the entire infrastructure in Norway and Sweden are suitable and sized for this purpose.

Means a lot to the municipality

Narvik is well used to a military presence in both modern and old times. The city is internationally known for the Battle of Narvik in 1940 and the place where Hitler suffered his first defeat during World War II.

Nevertheless, it is causing a stir that an entire American army brigade is to be landed there.

– It is an anniversary and at the same time an exciting day. We are excited to see how this goes. There is an enormous amount of people and equipment going through the city, says mayor Rune Edvardsen (Ap) to NRK.

Edvardsen believes that today’s exercise shows the importance Narvik has as a logistics hub, both civilian and military.

At the same time, he believes the NATO exercise will be a wake-up call for Norwegian politicians.

– Both Ofotbanen and the E10 over Bjørnfjell are in poor condition. Action must be taken here, says Edvardsen.