National Guard soldiers conduct mountain warfare training in Montenegro during Common Challenge 2023

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Video by Master Sgt. Amber Monio

National Guard Bureau

Feb. 28, 2023 | 1:00

Approximately 50 members of the Maine and Vermont National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 172 Infantry Division (Mountain), joined more than 200 members of the armed forces of Montenegro, Austria, Italy, and Macedonia for Common Challenge 2023.

For two weeks during January and February, the nations came together to train in the harsh winter conditions in the mountains of Montenegro.

The soldiers conducted casualty care and evacuation, winter survival techniques, mountaineering skills, and avalanche operations.

The Common Challenge exercise is designed to jointly strengthen capabilities to conduct combat search and rescue as well as mountain warfare tactics in winter conditions.

(Video by Capt. Corey Jones and Maj. Carl Lamb. Edited by Master Sgt. Amber Monio)