US steps up winter warfare training as global threat shifts

MARINE MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER, Calif. (AP) — Nearly 8,000 feet up at a training center in the California mountains two U.S. Marines are melting slush to make drinking water after spending the night digging out a defensive position. Their laminated targeting map is wedged into the ice just below the machine gun.
Other Marines just a few kilometers away are preparing to attack, and forces on both sides must be able to battle the enemy and the unforgiving environment.
The exercise i