Military specialties follow the terrain a state must defend, not simply terrain within its territory. Britain has mountains but no mountain frontier, so it does not maintain the same kind of national mountain formations as France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, or Italy. Its Royal Marines train for mountain and Arctic warfare because NATO assigns them a role in Norway, while Gurkha units provide another source of mountain experience. Continental alpine states draw personnel from populations living in those regions and treat the mountains as defensive depth. Geography, recruitment pools, and alliance obligations can all produce specialist units.
Notable Point · 1:16:52-1:18:29
Mountain troops follow borders - or alliance commitments
Britain has mountains but no mountain frontier, so its specialist training reflects NATO duties in Norway while continental alpine states organize around terrain on their own borders.