Marine Corps artists brave combat and harsh conditions to sketch troops in action

US Marines Corps Maj. Michael Reynolds, a combat artist with the Marine Corps Combat Art Program, illustrates Marines during cold weather training in preparation for the NATO exercise Nordic Response 2024 in Setermoen, Norway.US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Kumakaw

• Combat artists captured Marines braving the cold as they practiced defending NATO's northern flank.
• Over 20,000 troops are participating in a military exercise in Norway known as Nordic Response 24.

Combat artists in Norway captured Marines braving frigid temperatures and snow during military exercises known as Nordic Response 24.

The NATO-led exercise, which will run from mid-February to mid-March, brings together thousands of Norwegian and allied troops from more than a dozen nations to practice defending NATO's northern flank.

Nordic Response is part of NATO's Steadfast Defender 2024, the alliance's largest military exercise since the Cold War.

Though Russia was not mentioned by name in public remarks, the wargames also serve as a show of strength to deter the Kremlin two years after its unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine.