About 170 Marines in Norway just took a bone-chilling plunge into a frozen pond.
Earlier this month, the Marines jumped into a hole cut into the ice of a frozen pond and then climbed out, Newport told Marine Corps Times on Friday. Once Marines emerged from the icy water, other members of their team were responsible for getting them dry, making sure they changed into new clothing and monitoring them for hypothermia, he said.
 “It’s amazing what your body will do when you jump into the ice,” Newport said in a phone interview. “Your body naturally pushes everything to your core so you don’t feel as cold as you mentally thought you would feel walking up to the ice.”

The company of Marines has been training in Norway since Oct. 26, Newport said. They are spending two months in the country as part of the Black Sea Rotational Force.

In January, about 330 Marines are expected to begin a six-month rotation in Norway.

For Staff Sgt. Jason Detwiler, jumping into the frozen pond was an eye-opening experience.
“You jump in and it kind of takes your breath away for a moment just because of the pure shock that your body goes through” Detwiler said Friday. “Once you regain your breath and you remember what the fundamentals were – working your way out of the ice and back up to the warmth – I don’t know the best way to describe it, but I could say it’s unlike anything I’ve done thus far, that’s for sure.”
Read the whole article from Marine Corps Times.
Featured image courtesy of Sgt Michelle Reif.