Northern Strike in Michigan is putting more than 9,000 service members through a fast-moving combat exercise designed for a battlefield that military leaders say is changing by the day. Tanks have rolled across northern training grounds as troops from 36 states and territories, along with five international participants, take part in Northern Strike 26-2, one of the country’s largest reserve-component readiness exercises.
The Michigan National Guard said this summer’s event is the biggest Northern Strike has drawn since it began in 2012. David Kennedy, a public affairs officer with the Guard, said the scale reflects how much attention the exercise now gets from across the force. Brig. Gen. Ravindra Wagh said lessons from conflicts around the world, including the war in Ukraine, are shaping how the military prepares. He said the point is to test and refine tactics before troops ever face them in combat.
Wagh described the training area in northern Michigan as a useful stand-in for a wider range of operational needs. The exercise gives troops access to more than 200,000 acres of land, the Great Lakes, and air, space and cyber capabilities. It also brings together multiple branches of the military and partner forces so they can practice working side by side. Wagh said the goal is to train with the allies and partners troops may fight alongside in the future and to work through problems at home rather than in a crisis overseas.
Fox News observed British troops as they moved through a mock attack during the exercise, one of several combat drills underway. In another training lane, a crew inside a Paladin howitzer prepared a fire mission before moving into live-fire work. The exercises are meant to mirror the pressures and coordination required in real operations, where speed, communication and timing matter as much as firepower.