News file photo A cargo plane flies low over Camper’s Cove as part of the Northern Strike military exercises run out of the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in 2022.

LANSING. – Northern Strike (NS) 26-2, one of the Department of War’s largest reserve component readiness exercises, returns to Michigan Aug. 3-14, bringing together more than 9,000 military personnel from 36 states and territories and five international participants for realistic, multi-domain training across the Michigan National Guard’s (MING) National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC).

Participants will conduct training focused on Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), Combined Arms Live-Fire Exercises (CALFEX), Cyberspace and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA), Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO), and contested sustainment and logistics in support of building military readiness for large-scale combat operations (LSCO).

This year’s exercise expands homeland defense and force protection training through integrated counterunmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) operations supported by more than 28 fixed-wing aircraft conducting force protection, aerial refueling and operational support missions. Medical personnel will exercise the En-Route Patient Staging System (ERPSS), preparing simulated casualties for Aeromedical Evacuation while delivering critical en route care (ERC). Maritime training on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron will include protection of high-value assets, integration of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and target acquisition and engagement in both littoral and open-water environments. The Joint Personnel Recovery Agency will also integrate with participating units to evaluate emerging combat search, rescue and recovery capabilities while establishing an Expeditionary Port Mortuary in support of LSCO.