During the latest iteration of the Arctic Regional Security Orientation Course (ARSOC), Maj. Gen. Michele Kilgore—a distinguished alumna from the June 2022 cohort—addressed emerging Arctic practitioners, senior leaders, and defense planners. General Kilgore highlighted how foundational education from the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies directly informs strategic decision-making, joint warfighter readiness, and homeland defense posture. Her address reinforced a clear imperative: the Department of War must shift from theoretical planning to rigorous, winter-tested operational execution to defend the northern approaches.
As former commander of the ski-equipped LC-130 fleet, General Kilgore executed deep polar logistics for the National Science Foundation, Danish Joint Arctic Command, and interagency partners. Her mission experience across the Greenland Ice Sheet and Antarctica underscored the stark logistical demands unique to polar airlift—from continuous engine runs in sub-zero conditions to dynamic skiway landings.
The Strategic Imperative: Defining “Arctic Readiness”
A foundational theme of General Kilgore’s address was the urgent need to move the defense enterprise past oversimplified, one-dimensional benchmarks of cold-weather preparedness. True Arctic readiness cannot be calculated merely by meeting arbitrary temperature thresholds on paper; Operating at negative 40 degrees Fahrenheit places severe, non-linear stress on electrical infrastructure, specialized flight equipment, and mechanical systems that standard operational planning models consistently underestimate.
General Kilgore emphasized that the military definition of readiness must fundamentally evolve beyond basic tactical survival. While emergency survival training—such as the rigorous “Barren Land” curriculum she experienced on the Greenland Ice Sheet—remains an indispensable core capability, homeland defense requires units capable of projecting power, maintaining complex command and control, and sustaining distributed combat logistics under continuous darkness and extreme thermal stress.
To bridge the gap between policy objectives and joint warfighter capability, General Kilgore cautioned against the systemic habit of scheduling high-visibility demonstrations in temperate climates or mild summer months. Demonstrations conducted in favorable conditions obscure fatal supply chain bottlenecks, rapid battery degradation, and maintenance friction points. To validate genuine capability and ensure the joint force is prepared to defend the homeland, the Department of War must rigorously test and exercise its personnel, equipment, and logistics systems during the dead of winter across the most demanding operational environments of Alaska, Canada, and allied territory.
The Value of the Ted Stevens Center
For senior defense officials and strategic planners, the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies provides an essential bridge connecting tactical operational realities with comprehensive national strategy. General Kilgore credited her own participation in the June 2022 ARSOC cohort with fundamentally broadening her perspective beyond service-specific stovepipes and purely military responses.
While her tactical background as a command pilot and wing commander immersed her in the physical rigors of extreme cold-weather operations, the Ted Stevens Center provided the strategic framework necessary to analyze the high north through all instruments of national power—diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (DIME). General Kilgore highlighted how this interdisciplinary education became directly applicable as she transitioned to shaping strategy on the Joint Staff, Headquarters Air Force, and U.S. Northern Command.
“That year and a half that I was working on Air Force Arctic Strategy—working with the Danes, Joint Arctic Command, Canadians, Greenland, and Sweden—was really an opportunity to take everything that I had learned from being tactical in the Air Force growing up, doing exercises in Alaska and Canada, and then using what we learned at ARSOC. These experiences assisted me in leveraging economic and diplomatic tools, to get beyond just the military strong-arming of our adversaries.”
In addition to elevating strategic literacy, General Kilgore underscored the Center’s practical role in optimizing Department of War resources. By establishing clear regional security priorities and serving as a collaborative venue for international allies, the Ted Stevens Center helps streamline disparate training efforts into premier, high-impact multinational exercises. This alignment reduces operational friction for partner nations, enhances joint interoperability across the services, and ensures that the warfighter is organized, trained, and equipped to deter aggression across an increasingly complex Arctic battlespace.
Strategic Outlook & Near-Term Imperatives
Looking toward 2030, General Kilgore presented clear-eyed assessment of the structural investments required to safeguard national security in the High North. Chief among these requirements is closing the polar access gap through surface fleet recapitalization and resilient infrastructure.
When asked to identify the single most critical capability the United States must secure before the end of the decade, General Kilgore delivered a direct and unambiguous response:
“We desperately need more icebreakers. If we truly intend to fight—either defending the homeland or countering a Russia or China threat—then you need those icebreakers and those ports, because you don’t get to pick the month of a conflict.”
Beyond maritime surface capability, General Kilgore emphasized that securing the northern approaches demands sustained investment in strategic infrastructure, such as deepwater port developments like Nome, alongside enduring bilateral cooperation in Greenland.
Highlighting Greenland’s geographic proximity to Canada and its integral alignment within the North American defense envelope under U.S. NORTHCOM and NORAD, she stressed that defense investments in facilities like Pituffik Space Base demonstrate the island’s irreplaceable position in safeguarding the homeland.
Concurrently, as great power competitors increase coordinated air and maritime patrols across polar corridors, the Department of War must integrate regional allies through initiatives like the State Partnership Program and NATO burden-sharing. By empowering Arctic allies to manage initial regional defense lines, the United States preserves the agility needed to deter aggression and defend vital national interests globally.
Guidance for Future Arctic Practitioners & Strategic Leaders
Addressing the graduating ARSOC cohort, General Kilgore urged future defense planners and operators to discard monolithic assumptions about high-latitude environments. True strategic mastery, she argued, begins with recognizing the operational and geographic diversity that defines the circumpolar region—from the mountainous terrain of Alaska and Greenland to the flat expanses of Western Sweden.
Reflecting on how foundational education at the Ted Stevens Center reshaped her own operational outlook, General Kilgore challenged emerging practitioners to maintain intellectual rigor and lean heavily on interagency and international networks.
“This course showed me where the seams are in our plans, the vast ally and partner network that we have, and how we can leverage that,” said Gen. Kilgore.
General Kilgore concluded by advising future leaders to look beyond purely military solutions by fully mobilizing the diplomatic, informational, and economic instruments of national power. By coupling hard-tested warfighter readiness with proactive allied collaboration, graduates of the Ted Stevens Center will serve as the vanguard ensuring that the Department of War remains agile, prepared, and dominant across every Arctic domain.