An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Articles
News | Feb. 17, 2022

Beyond the Basics: U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School

By Sgt. 1st Class Whitney Hughes, National Guard Bureau

The education at the U.S. Army Mountain Warfare School doesn’t end at the Basic Military Mountaineer Course.

From the four advanced and specialty courses taught in the hills and mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire to the Mobile Training Teams that travel the globe to share their world-renowned expertise, the AMWS offers far beyond the basics. 

The school’s instructors often travel to units throughout the U.S. military, from military Cadets to special operations units, to teach them mountaineering skills before they deploy.

“That’s important because some organizations are deploying to areas where they know they will need these skills, or they know they will need a certain subset of these skills,” said Lt. Col. Steve Gagner, commander of the AMWS. “It might not be feasible for an entire Special Forces company to send all of their Soldiers to one of our basic courses for two weeks. However, they can request our instructors to go there for a few days, teach them just those skills.”

In addition to stateside training, the MTTs deploy all over the world to teach and exchange skills. Recent exchanges have taken teams from the Chilean Andes to the Austrian Alps and the desert peaks of North Africa.

Four of the school’s instructors recently traveled to Djibouti in northeast Africa to teach the Joint Expeditionary Mountain Warfare course to French commandos and marines. The five-day course focused on the same skills taught in the Basic Military Mountaineer Course — knot-tying, rope-coiling, rappelling, casualty evacuation, and rope-climbing techniques, said Sgt. 1st Class Dustin Dearborn, who helped teach the course.

The students ranged from marines with no mountaineering experience to French Desert Commando Course instructors who teach a military mountaineering course.

“This is part of a mutual cooperation between the U.S. and the French,” said Capt. Benoit Malat, a Desert Commando Course instructor. “The U.S. came here to teach the French their own techniques. So, it is very interesting for us to have a new view on what we do.”

In addition to Djibouti, the instructors frequently travel to Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and Finland to teach.

Back at the Vermont schoolhouse, they also run more technical courses year-round – like the Advanced Military Mountaineer Course, which trains service members to lead small units over difficult, hazardous or exposed mountainous terrain. Like the basic course, it is offered in summer and winter phases.

“A goal of our course is to inspire passion for the mountains. Honestly, whether we have a student for two weeks for the basic course, or whether they come back for both phases of the advanced course,” said Staff Sgt. Tim McLaughlin, an AMWS instructor. “The goal of our courses are to produce Soldiers that are passionate about the mountains.

“They’re going to take the skill sets we give them, and then they’re going to go use them to learn, and they’re going to continue to figure it out. They’re going to go out and have adventures,” McLaughlin said.

The schoolhouse also offers specialty courses for more advanced military mountaineers.

The Rough Terrain Evacuation Course focuses on medical and casualty evacuation scenarios, training students to care for and safely transport an injured person over difficult terrain in austere conditions. The Mountain Planners Course trains leaders to consider the basic skills required to plan, support and execute operations in mountainous terrain under various climates.

The Mountain Rifleman Course trains snipers and squad-designated marksmen mountain-specific skills and high-angle marksmanship fundamentals to improve mobility and lethality in mountainous terrain.

“The mountains really are the last front of land warfare that the U.S. Army needs to learn how to dominate if we are to be as effective as possible,” said Gagner. “I think the biggest thing that students walk away from our courses with is an understanding of the complexity of fighting in this terrain.”

The official logo of the Vermont National Guard.

TAG's State of the Guard - April 2025

Video Thumbnail

 

The above YouTube video link may not work on all government computers. Read the transcript of MG Gregory Knight's full State of the Guard here.

National Guard News
Lt. Col. Zachery Powell cuts the ribbon at the Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th Medical ribbon cutting ceremony April 17, 2025, at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, to mark the opening of a new Medical Training Facility. The building, which provides laboratories, exam rooms, administrative areas, classrooms, record storage, and mobility-training storage for the 124th Fighter Wing’s 124th Medical Group, was completed in March 2025.
Idaho Air National Guard Opens Medical Training Facility
By Staff Sgt. Jadyn Eisenbrandt  | April 18, 2025
GOWEN FIELD, Idaho —The Idaho Air National Guard held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday to mark the opening of a new Medical Training Facility on Gowen Field for the 124th Fighter Wing.The building, which provides...

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Steven Lucas, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter standardization instructor with F Company, 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, Maryland Army National Guard, performs rescue hoist operations aboard a Black Hawk in collaboration with the Maryland Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, April 9, 2025. MD-HART is made up of firefighters who routinely train with the Maryland Army Guard in preparation for response efforts during the hurricane season, tropical storms, and other emergency situations.
Maryland National Guard conducts rescue hoist training with Maryland Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team
By Staff Sgt. Amber Peck, | April 18, 2025
EDGEWOOD, Md. — Soldiers with the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, Maryland Army National Guard conducted rescue hoist training with the Maryland Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, April 9...

Soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are honored during a deployment ceremony at the Cajundome Convention Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, April 13, 2025. Approximately 700 Soldiers are deploying in support of Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo and Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa, where they will provide security and support operations.
La. Guard’s ‘Tiger Brigade’ holds deployment ceremony for overseas mission
By Louisiana National Guard | April 18, 2025
PINEVILLE, La. - About 700 Soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the “Tiger Brigade,” were honored last week during a deployment ceremony.The Guardsmen are deploying to...