U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Robert Dulaney, right, a motor transport operations chief with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, speaks with a Norwegian Home Guard officer in Narvik, Norway, March 8, 2026. The coordination was part of a long-range convoy that validated the battalion’s readiness to provide flexible logistical support during exercise Cold Response 26. A key component of NATO’s enhanced vigilance activity Arctic Sentry, exercise Cold Response 26 is a Norwegian-led winter military exercise designed to enhance collective defense capabilities and ensure U.S. readiness to rapidly deploy and seamlessly operate alongside NATO Allies in challenging arctic conditions. Dulaney is a native of California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Apollo Wilson)

Helene Keyun Torgersen, a conscript serving with the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation at Rena camp, says she spent four months as the only woman in a basement room with four male fellow soldiers. Although the Norwegian Armed Forces’ practice is to place at least two people of the same sex in shared rooms, the unit said there was no other available space after increased intake numbers put pressure on accommodation.

Torgersen says she did not experience inappropriate incidents, but described the arrangement as isolating, short on privacy, and marked by “guttastemning,” or a male-heavy atmosphere. Read the entire piece in Forsvarets Forum.