MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota and Norway are linked by a common heritage and climate.
We also share the legacy of hosting the longest troop exchange in the history of the United States Department of Defense.
Last fall, Norwegian troops were in Minnesota at Camp Ripley to train with the Minnesota National Guard.
“The most important thing is to bond with the Minnesota National Guard, make new acquaintances, make new friends, and see how the Minnesota National Guard performs their training compared to ours,” said the Major Kim Horgoien of the Home Guard of Norway.
Members of the Norwegian Home Guard learned everything from field medical training to individual soldier skills, such as weapons qualification and land navigation. Soon it will be our turn to go to Norway.
Leading the Way: Maj. Katie Lunning of the 133rd Airlift Wing.
“I’m very excited to be the ICO for the 50th annual troop exchange between Minnesota and Norway,” said Katie Lunning.
The Air National Guard flight nurse who flew to Kabul after the 2021 airport suicide bombing. Her actions earned her the Distinguished Flying Cross accolade.
“There were so many injuries, so we really had to focus on our job as much as possible,” Lunning said.
She worked on patients as she was fired upon, managing to get the most critical onto a plane and out of harm’s way. She helped save 22 people during the eight-hour flight.
“It was a show of humanity and of people who needed help,” she said.
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His next mission in Norway is not as dangerous, but just as important.
“We go to their on-the-job training, and the on-the-job training experience is pretty much the same as what they put their new hires through,” Lunning said. “So they teach us how to build tents, how to make fires, how to survive in the cold, how to survive an avalanche, how to provide medical care in the cold, and we do all this training ground exercise at the winter environment. »
This relationship between Minnesota and Norway predates the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program by 20 years. The hope is that in this 50th Norwegian Reciprocal Troop Exchange (NOREX), it will become an official part of the DOD’s state partnership, joining Croatia as official exchange partners with Minnesota.
NOREX started with a simple handshake between the Norwegian Inspector General and the Chief of the National Guard in 1973.
Next week, WCCO will travel with troops from Minnesota heading to Norway for training. Look for special reports by Reg Chapman and photojournalist Tom Aviles on WCCO and CBS News Minnesota.