First night at Ice Camp Whale
First night at Ice Camp Whale. Operation Ice Camp (OIC), formally known as Ice Exercise (ICEX), is a biennial United States Navy mission in the Arctic Ocean that establishes a temporary camp on floating sea ice. It is designed to complete all arctic warfare objectives both operations and strategic as identified by in DOD and NAVY directives. The US Navy employs two U.S. submarines one each from the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. When available, allied submarines may participate. In addition to several US Navy Commands, the Marine Corps, Air National Guard, and Army National Guard have participated extensively along with international military from the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Australia.