Two Army National Guard battalions out of Illinois and U.S. Marine Corps squadrons from North Carolina converged at the CRTC this week to practice helicopter maneuvers as part of Winter Strike, a joint military exercise.

Held at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center, which encompasses the CRTC and the Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center, the cold-weather exercise is intended to provide military members a taste of what they’d encounter in combat situations.

Northern Michigan’s landscape and weather provide ideal training for overseas missions, according to Capt. Charles Auer, commander of an Army National Guard unit out of Peoria, Illinois.

A pilot with nine months’ experience in Afghanistan, Auer said Michigan snows offer practice he couldn’t get in a typical soggy Illinois winter.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Snow clouds similar to overseas sand storms envelop two attack helicopters during Winter Strike training exercises at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center on Thursday.

In Alpena, he said, Winter Strike participants can practice taking off and landing helicopters while encompassed in white, puffy clouds of swirling snow — as similar an experience as possible to the talcum-powder-fine dust clouds found in Afghanistan and other overseas locations.

“You can’t read it in a book and become proficient,” Auer said. “You just have to go out and actually fly those approaches. And, if you’re going to do that in a green grass field, there’s no penalty for screwing it up.”

Frigid conditions, like Thursday’s 20-degree temperature, also offer excellent training for military personnel who don’t want to experience such conditions for the first time when they’re in combat, Auer said.

Auer, the 34-year old son of an Air Force officer, grew up fascinated by aircraft.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Capt. Charles Auer stands in the personnel hold of a military transport helicopter during Winter Strike training at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center on Thursday.

“I wanted to fly. I wanted to serve. I wanted to help others,” he said. “That’s why the military fits for me.”

As commander of a unit in Afghanistan, he oversaw search-and-rescue missions, helping downed aircraft and stranded personnel and providing medical aid on the country’s high desert mountain plateau.

Most military types are adrenaline junkies who love the rush of a mission, Auer said, snaps of his fingers punctuating an animated retelling of the first time he turned over a helicopter’s engine.

“All of a sudden, the rotors start turning and it’s like, ‘This is really happening,'” Auer said.

In the belly of the transport helicopter, its heavy rotor blades drooping overhead, Auer gave a tour of the meticulously laid out compartment, its close quarters somehow able to carry 30 people and their gear.

News Photo by Julie Riddle In the cockpit of a CH-47 Chinook Army National Guard transport helicopter, Capt. Charles Auer points to the control panels that — like everything in the military — takes training and practice to master.

In the cockpit, panels crowded with small, gleaming switches lay within easy reach of the pilot’s seat.

The switches are intimidating at first, Auer said, but their use becomes second nature with practice — a premise that lies behind the training taking place on Alpena’s snowy runways this week.

“You build a comfort zone,” Auer said. “But you’re always learning.”

News file photo Two Marine attack helicopters hover feet from the ground at the Winter Strike joint military exercises at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in January 2021.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A crew member checks equipment on an attack helicopter during this week’s Winter Strike joint military exercises at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center on Thursday.