Training the US Army to Fight the Red Army in Winter—Former Finnish Officers and Military Knowledge Transfer from Finland to the United States During the Early Cold War, 1947–1964

Abstract

ABSTRACTAfter the outbreak of the Cold War, the US Army had little knowledge of winter warfare and was behind the Red Army in this field. In an effort to learn from the experiences of others and strengthen the US military’s Arctic capability, a group of some 20 former Finnish Army officers were recruited into the US Army in 1947. This article examines this phenomenon as knowledge transfer, shedding light on the instructional role played by those Finns. Initially they taught winter fieldcraft, survival skills, and skiing. In order to better disseminate their know-how, the Finns were soon assigned to various military schools and units in which they revised field manuals, conducted classes, trained soldiers, wrote articles, participated in educational film production, tested and developed winter equipment, and planned and acted as umpires in winter exercises. The Finnish officers left their mark, and their legacy was best preserved in training literature and the lesson plans of military schools. They recommended a large winter training program for the US Army, but the Army leadership chose standard divisions employing standard tactics for potential cold weather operations against the Red Army.