FORT DRUM, N.Y. (WWTI) — Fort Drum is preparing for a large-scale training set to start next month.

Fort Drum Public Affairs announced that on Monday soldiers began clearing the snow-covered military base in preparation for a large-scale 10th Mountain Division command post training exercise.

This work involved soldiers from A Company, 41st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team where they spent several hours working in the snow on Fort Drum’s Division Hill.

According to Squad Leader Staff Sergeant Eric Vanstrander, the training requires an area of approximately three football fields. To clear this area which was covered ins now, the soldiers used the High-Mobility Engineer Excavator and the 2.5-cubic yard bucket loader.

“The ground right now is frozen, but we’re getting it done,” Vanstrander said in a press release. “Like the engineers motto says, ‘We clear the way.’”

Additional soldiers are also set to return to the site to lay hundreds of iron pickets into the ground to surround the area in concertina wire before the training at Fort Drum.

No additional details were provided regarding the training exercise, however, it is set to commence in late February 2022.