In a statement made Monday, the NATO officials say that U.S. Marines take part in cold weather training in Iceland marking the initial phase of NATO’s largest exercise in many years, Trident Juncture 2018.

Around 350 US Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conduct cold weather training in Iceland as they prepare for NATO’s exercise Trident Juncture 2018. The main phase of Trident Juncture will start in Norway on 25 October.

“We are in Iceland, and we are out, and it’s pretty cold. It’s pretty cold and windy, not very much shelter from the wind and the elements. We expect to get a little bit of training here for the new Marines to prepare them more for Trident Juncture when we head out to Norway, because it’s going to be a little bit colder there, a little bit more intense,“ said Corporal Bartolo Gonzalez 24th MEU

“We’ve got to make sure we prepare them so they are sufficient in all this cold weather environment. We’re looking forward to preparing for Norway, it’s going to be a lot more difficult there and we are going to be working with a lot more NATO Allies and the UK Royal Marines are going to be out there. They’re going to be an essential asset to helping us be prepared for the cold weather environment,” Bartolo Gonzalez added.

Trident Juncture 2018 is NATO’s largest exercise in many years, bringing together around 50,000 personnel from all 29 Allies, plus partners Finland and Sweden. Around 65 vessels, 250 aircraft and up to 10,000 vehicles will participate.