WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army and Air Force teamed up Nov. 3-4, to deploy Stryker vehicles north of the Arctic Circle for the first time ever, according to a U.S. Army Alaska news release issued today.

Operation Arctic Pegasus, a joint, multi-agency exercise tested the rapid deployment capability of the Army’s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, with Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft delivering four Stryker vehicles and approximately 40 soldiers to Deadhorse, Alaska.

The brigade regularly trains to rapidly deploy in support of contingencies across U.S. Army Alaska’s unique area of operation, stretching from the Arctic Circle to the southern reaches of the Asia-Pacific region, and elsewhere as directed.

The Stryker platoon deployment took place in coordination with the Air Force, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the North Slope Borough. The average winter temperatures in the area range from 23 degrees below zero to minus 11.

The record for February low temperature is minus 57 degrees, but in January 1989 nearby Prudhoe Bay hit a wind-chill of minus 96 degrees.