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Winter Strike another chance to showcase region

National Guard units from across the country converged on northern Michigan a week ago to participate in winter weather training exercises. Using Alpena and Grayling as bases, the units prepared for cold weather combat.

Their appearance was another great opportunity for the region to show off its many attributes.

One never knows the environment where fighting units might find themselves, thus preparation in cold weather such as what the units experienced while here helps prepare them for an environment they otherwise might never have experienced.

Driving home that fact in a recent news story was Capt. Charles Auer, commander of an Army National Guard Unit out of Peoria, Illinois.

Auer, who has experienced life in Afghanistan while on a nine-month tour there, said the conditions here in Alpena and Grayling, with snow on the ground, offered a training environment much different than that in Illinois this time of year.

He said in Illinois right now pilots would be landing on green grass, while here they have to contend with snow and ice. In Illinois there would be more moderate temperatures, while here participants experienced some bitter cold conditions that provide new challenges with mechanics and machinery.

Several years ago Guard commanders realized the potential of expanding the ever popular summer training exercise Northern Strike to winter. Building upon a formula that was successful, they geared exercises specifically beneficial to cold weather combat. The result is a win-win for the Michigan Guard training sites as well as for the units who participate.

In addition to the Illinois Army National Guard Unit here in Alpena were several Marine Corps squadrons from North Carolina. Also participating in the exercise but stationed in Grayling were military units from New Jersey, Wisconsin, West Virginia, New York and North Dakota.

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