American marines are known for their stamina “from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.”
Surely most of us in our right minds, however, would agree that stripping to perform military maneuvers in freezing snowy temperatures is a lot to ask, even from a marine.
A few years ago,
China began conducting snowy training maneuvers.
South Korea has since followed suit, as today solders in the national army have been conducting their military training partially naked in what can only be called arctic temperatures.
This training applies to both male and female soldiers, and the drill exercises are performed in the Pyeongchang region, some 50 miles from North Korea, where the 2018 Winter Olympics are slated to take place.
“I put the fact that I am a member of the Special Forces before the fact that I am a woman. So I have been thinking only about accomplishing my mission flawlessly,” one female soldier told the press.
The purpose behind the rigorous exercises is to strengthen the physical and spiritual capabilities of the soldiers in training, who must learn to maintain their duties in any situation.
These special military forces live and die by the creed that they can do anything that is expected of them, even if others cannot.
Overcoming freezing weather, 20 degrees below zero in some areas, would seem to be extreme military training, to say the very least, especially when performing these maneuvers wearing about as much clothing as one would don at the beach on a hot summer day.
Are these maneuvers taking that American Boy Scout mantra of being prepared a bit too far?
Not according to these hardy souls.
One can only wonder that if this half-naked attire works in freezing temperatures, what would be an appropriate costume for the beach in summer?
Food for thought, no?