Man Living in the Arctic; Proceedings of a Conference, Quartermaster Research and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts, 1, 2 December 1960 (1961) / Chapter Skim
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THE ARCTIC
THE ARCTIC
Pages 1-48
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1 THEME: THE ARCTIC PAUL A SlPLE, presiding Chairman Siple: Ladies and gentlemen it is with pleasure that I welcome you to this conference on "Man Living in the Arctic," jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences -- National Research Council Advisory Board on Quartermaster Research and Development, The Arctic Institute of North America, and the United States Army Quartermaster Corps.
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We are pleased that this conference is a joint effort by the National Academy of Sciences -- National Research Council Advisory Board on Quartermaster Research and Development as well the The Arctic Institute of North America. It is in groups such as these that the objectives of free men will be accomplished.
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If there is no vehicular transportation, the Quartermaster Corps is expected to provide sleds, skis, snow shoes, and packboards so that troops and supplies can get through. If there is no chaplain available to conduct the burial service, an officer of the Quartermaster Corps assumes the
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The Quartermaster Corps must be ready to meet all the foregoing needs. Supplies and equipment have always been of prime importance in any pattern of human life in the Arctic.
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In the Arctic the individual soldier comes into his own as the critical element of our combat forces as he does in few if any other areas. However successfully a native or a dedicated explorer may combat the environmental forces of the Arctic and come out on top, we cannot expect the average soldier to do as well unless he has been properly trained and unless he has supply support adequate to meet his essential needs.
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But being temporarily cut off from his logistic support should not preclude his ability to function as an effective soldier. Similarly, the unit to which he belongs should be able to man-carry its entire combat gear and supplies, if the situation requires it, and still remain effective.
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A strategic fact of such importance will not be neglected by those enemies of the Free World who would use it to their own advantage. It is known that the Communists are expending great energy in learning how to overcome the natural barriers of the arctic and polar regions; and we know the Reds will not hesitate, if need be, to employ their combat forces in this environment.
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The responsibility for coordinating all Greenland tests later passed to the Corps of Engineers, now assigned primary responsibility for Arctic construction as well as field experimentation in the arctic and polar regions. We of Army Research and Development have continued to support an Arctic Program at Fort Greely and Fort Churchill and a Polar Program at Camp Tuto in Greenland and out on the icecap.
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Here, the Quartermaster Corps, the Corps of Engineers, and other Army technical services are conducting a program to determine the requirements for successful arctic and polar operations. The emphasis is placed on meteorology, on physiological and psychological problems associated with small unit operations, and on the physical properties of snow, ice, and frozen ground.
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The implications of this drilling technique are truly impressive to physical and social scientists alike. Army research work in Greenland has already contributed to other national efforts.
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Also, missiles cannot be fired effectively without electronic devices to collect target information and to guide the missiles to the target. Here, communication satellites will ultimately provide a reliable and efficient means of spanning the oceans and polar regions for both military and commercial purposes.
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We are working to develop true air vehicles that will fly just above the "nap of the earth," permitting the combat soldier of tomorrow to overcome normal terrain obstacles such as snow, mud, swamps, rivers, and forests. This type of vehicle will have the take-off and landing characteristics of the helicopter coupled with the advantages of the fixed-wing aircraft in forward flight.
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At this time I would like to congratulate the Quartermaster Corps for its many achievements which have aided immeasurably in improving man's operational capabilities in the Arctic. I refer particularly to the development of improved shelter, clothing, and food.
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LIMITATIONS TO LIVING IN THE POLAR REGIONS PAUL A SIPLE Army Research Office Department of the Army Washington, D
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Thus in order to realize a contented future Arctic population, it will be necessary to provide all "the best of everything" that other cultures have to offer. We recognize the major motivating forces that have taken modern civilized man into the polar regions: adventure, economic hopes, population pressure, national security, scientific quest, premium wages, and even escape.
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This progress is advancing steadily into Alaska, parts of Greenland, the Scandinavian countries, and the USSR. Our own North American Arctic, however, is very sparsely populated and will continue to be so until we can supply the fundamental demands.
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At tenday intervals they would return to a laboratory set up in a resort hotel in the mountains of southern Norway where both oxygen consumption and body temperatures were measured throughout eight hours of moderate cold exposure at night. During the experimental period, the subject lay on a cot with his 17
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There was no difference in the rectal temperatures of the two groups. These findings were interpreted to mean that modern Europeans exposed nightly to moderate cold for a few weeks become acclimatized by increasing their capacity to produce heat in order to maintain a warmer skin temperature.
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tions of this "proper bush" sleeping has produced a culture of cold exposed people. Using methods similar to those employed with the young Norwegians, the thermal and metabolic responses of the central Australian aborigine were measured during a night of moderate cold exposure (2)
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The natives responded with little or no metabolic compensation resulting in a greater fall in core and skin temperatures. By increased heat production, the white subjects were approaching thermal equilibrium with the environment while the natives continued to lose heat content throughout the night.
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The average thermal and metabolic responses of seven central Australian aborigines in the summer and six white subjects to moderate cold exposure at night are shown in Fig.
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OL " o 0I2345678 HOURS 0I2345678 HOURS 80 70 60 a: 40 30 20 I0 0 x FIGURE 5. Average thermal and metabolic responses of seven central Australian aborigines (solid lines)
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and six control white subjects (broken lines) during a night of moderate cold exposure in the summer season.
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The average heat production and body temperatures of nine Alacaluf Indians during a night of cold exposure are shown in Fig.
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The integrated effect of the higher over-all metabolism and the slightly lower average skin temperature was a body conductance for heat flowing from core to periphery which was a little higher than the body conductance of the unacclimatized white man during the latter half of the night.
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The rectal temperatures and the average skin temperatures measured in the Arctic Indians in the spring are compared with the average results obtained in the autumn in Fig.
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It is puzzling to understand why the slightly greater resting metabolic rate of the Arctic Indian was accompanied by a lower rectal temperature and by a lower average skin temperature. On the other hand, the greater resting metabolic rate accompanied by a higher foot temperature is suggestive of the same type of metabolic acclimatization seen in the Norwegian students and must differ only in degree from the adaptation to cold described in the Alacaluf where a high resting metabolic rate accompanied by a high foot temperature was characteristic of this group.
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. temperature slightly lower than the control white subjects, an average skin temperature 1 to 2°C higher than the white skin temperature and a slightly higher body conductance.
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the unacclimatized, urban European or American starts the period of cold exposure with a metabolic rate at or near a basal level and increases it markedly as his body temperature falls, b) the central Australian aborigine starts with a metabolic rate near basal and slides slowly downward as his rectal and skin temperatures fall to a little lower values than those of urbanized white controls, and c)
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The initial metabolic rate was intermediate but, unlike the Alacaluf's response and like the unacclimatized white man's response, the metabolic rate of both the Arctic Indians and the Eskimos increased slightly as the body temperatures of the Arctic Indians (except the foot temperature) fell more than those of the control whites and the rectal temperature of the Eskimos fell slightly more than that of the whites while the average skin temperature fell less.
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villagers o -- o controls Neutral thermal environment 0I2345678 Time in hours FIGURE 13. Average rectal temperatures of nomadic Lapps (solid circles)
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ABORIGINE |50 Z 45 • ^40 o x 35 : °°v< 30 25 to 36 35 34 33 32 3I Ti -C FIGURE 14. Heat production versus mean body temperature of control white subjects, A and D; central Australian aborigine in summer, B; tropical Australian aborigine in summer, C; central Australian aborigine in winter, E
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35 ^ 35 30 30 • 25 25 eo I 1 1 I I I 20I I I I I t 36 35 34 33 32 3I TB °C 36 35 34 33 32 3I TB "C FIGURE 15. Heat production versus mean body temperature of Alacaluf Indians cold in winter (upper left)
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A., Thermal and Metabolic Responses of the Australian Aborigines Exposed to Moderate Cold in Summer, J
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More recently the nuclear powered submarine, a mobile missile base cruising in the northern waters, has brought the strategic importance of the Far North into sharper focus. Should there be a general war, these new weapons -- jet aircraft, land based missiles, and missile carrying submarines -- will transform the Arctic Ocean into the Mediterranean of World War II.
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. The shortest distance between the principal population and industrial centers of Eurasia and North America is over the polar regions.
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These shorter distances via the Polar Route bring the strategic importance of the Far North into sharp focus when viewed through the lens of our rapidly developing ability to travel above, across, or under the Arctic. We must be able to get maximum warning of an air or missile attack on the United States launched from Eurasia.
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Thus in the Far North, geography combines with the increased range of modern weapons to highlight the strategic importance of the area as an advanced outpost for early warning, interception of air missile or satellite attacks, and for launching attacks or counterattacks. Political.
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Should an enemy secure even a limited beachhead on the most bleak coast of northern Alaska, she could proclaim to the world that United States territory has been successfully invaded. Invasion of United States soil would adversely influence the uncommited nations in the early stages of a general war.
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The strategic importance of the Far North arises from its geographic location on the shortest route between North America and Eurasia. This military significance is further increased by important political, economic, and psychological factors.
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warfare on strategic outposts long before fighting the final battle in the more temperate climate of Europe. Similarly, in any future war between the United States and a power on the Eurasian land mass, significant air, sea, and land battles will be fought over the Arctic Basin as the opposing forces contest for this strategic outpost.
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2. Protect their northern flanks by dominating the Arctic regions.
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The Army must be prepared to conduct offensive and defensive operations in the Far North. This capability should exist now to provide swift reaction in the early stages of a general war when control of our strategic outposts is essential.
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These are the implications of the strategic importance of the Far North! The Kind of an Army Program Needed An Army program is certainly needed!
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II. More rugged, realistic training in northern operations.
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The Army recognizes "MAN" as the ultimate and decisive weapon. These personnel procedures will attract, retain, and motivate the soldier to become more professionally skilled in the specialized techniques of northern operations.
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II. The Army must be prepared to conduct offensive and defensive operations in the Far North, since opposing forces will attempt to neutralize each other's military potential in the strategic outpost of the Arctic.
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