Northern Strike, one of the Department of Defense’s largest reserve component readiness exercises, is taking place in locations across Michigan including the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) until Aug.16. Northern Strike has over 7,500 participants from 35 states and territories and nine international partners, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Alpena CRTC Chief of Staff Brian Wyrzykowski, also known as W-10, said Northern Strike takes place in August every year.

“And it’s held here in Michigan at what we call the national all domain warfighting center, which is basically how we describe Northern Michigan and all it has to offer,” he said. “Northern Strike brings the Army and the air together, along with industry partners, international partners as well, we come together for a large-scale exercise, working together as a joint force towards common goals and objectives.”

On Friday morning, Army reserves from the 861st Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company based in Nashville were performing a heavy drop and paratrooper operation. Other exercises happening at the air base during Northern Strike include rapid runway repair, homeland defense scenarios, counter maritime training out on the water, and urban terrain training.

News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Sergeant Michael Gray enters the C-130 plane on Friday at the Alpena CRTC.

The community can expect to see military personnel out and about in Alpena, whether in uniform or not, when their leadership can give them a break from training exercises, Wyrzykowski said.

Men and women in the Army reserve from Nashville prepared for the paratrooper operation in a warehouse at the CRTC base. Due to weather conditions, only two paratroopers and a small cargo load, called a door bundle, were dropped from a C-130 plane Friday morning. Paratrooper operations are scheduled into next week where around 20 personnel and larger cargo loads will be dropped from the plane, 861st Quartermaster Theater Aerial Delivery Company First Sergeant Charles Hare said.

Army reserve personnel could be seen packing parachute bags and hanging out before the time came to load the C-130. These troops are specifically called parachute riggers, Hare said.

In due time, the C-130 plane pulled up to the warehouse, and personnel began preparing for flight.

Staff Sergeant Michael Gray was loaded with around 90 pounds of combat equipment, including a rucksack and weapons case, and a T-11 parachute as one of the two jumpers during the exercise Friday. T-11 parachutes are one of the main parachutes used for personnel.

News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Parachute Rigger Shania Hampton picks up a door bundle after it was dropped from a C-130 plane on Friday at the Alpena CRTC.

Once Gray had all his gear on, another parachute rigger inspected him to make sure everything was secured properly.

Once the C-130 had taken off, personnel on the ground next to the landing location were measuring wind speed with an anemometer and communicating with personnel in the plane. The landing location was marked with an orange triangle, the goal being for the door bundle and the paratroopers to land within 50 meters of that spot, Hare said.

The C-130 passed over the first time, dropping the door bundle. It landed further than 50 meters away from the target, and personnel ran to retrieve it.

The C-130 passed over two more times without letting the paratroopers off, once because a plane was on the runway, and a second time because multiple planes in the airspace were preparing to land.

With another pass over the target area, the paratroopers were let off the plane. Sergeant Gray jumped first. He pulled a lanyard on his chest to release his weapons case down a line to dangle below him. Ideally, this is to avoid landing on the weapons case, Hare said.

News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Sergeant Michael Gray comes in for a landing via parachute on Friday at the Alpena CRTC.

Both Gray and the other paratrooper landed further away from the target area than ideal. Gray landed on a strip of pavement, and personnel ran to him to make sure he was not injured.

Gray did not appear to be injured, and he began packing his parachute into a bag for temporary storage.

If Hare had to guess, around two in 100 paratroopers would get hurt from landing in an exercise like this. Typically, those would be minor injuries like a sprained ankle. Even with a parachute, the impact of landing is about equivalent to jumping off a second story balcony, Hare said. However, Paratroopers utilize techniques like rolling to lessen the force of impact.

Both Hare and Wyrzykowski expressed their appreciation for the support of the community during Northern Strike. Community partners for Northern Strike include the Michigan State Police, the Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Control protection.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.

News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Sergeant Michael Gray starts packing up his parachute after his landing on Friday at the Alpena CRTC.

News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Parachute Rigger Jacob Damon packs a parachute bag at the Alpena CRTC on Friday.