CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. – Snowflakes floated to the ground, bringing a hushed quiet to the darkened woods. Aside from the falling snow settling to the ground, the only sound was the muffled swishing of Soldiers as they pushed through knee-high snowdrifts toward their objective. That still quietness was vanquished by small-arms fire as muzzle flashes erupted in front of them.

“Contact right,” somebody called out and returned fire.

Movement commands were shouted as the Soldiers responded to the attack. The darkness, snow and cold were all elements they had to battle, and the Soldiers had just come across the other element they had to fight: the training exercise’s opposing forces, or OPFOR.

“The first role of the OPFOR is to give the rotational training units, the RTUs, a realistic look as to what they may see on the battlefield,” said Sgt. 1st Class Todd Teuling, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the OPFOR during exercise Northern Strike 24-1, a winter training exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard at Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Training Center in late January.

During the exercise, elements of the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group operated with close air support from Air Force and Michigan Air National Guard units while Michigan Army Guard units provided mortar and helicopter support.

Meanwhile, the Special Forces Soldiers had to plan and fight against the opposing forces, made up of Soldiers from Michigan Army Guard units.

“We work with the RTU’s leadership and kind of get an idea of what they want their Soldiers to see,” said Teuling. “We work together to plan — how many OPFOR, what kind of weapons and what kind of simulated pyro or explosives they want them to see, and they want their Soldiers to react to.”

Though the training scenario may be planned out — such as the RTU conducting a raid or an assault on target area — the Soldiers on the ground must plan for the mission and then react to the opposing forces’ tactics and movements as the scenario unfolds.

“Last night we were just doing a roving patrol,” said Teuling. “We kind of knew where were; the intent was to do a patrol and then to go attack them.”

Teuling’s team then moved in to where they thought the Special Forces team was positioned.

“Our OPFOR was in the woods with them and almost right on top of them, coincidentally,” he said. “It was just kind of perfect. And then they attacked them [using blank ammunition] and the RTU did exactly what they were supposed to do and got the training they wanted.”

Just as the Special Forces Soldiers must shift in response to the OPFOR’s action, their supporting elements must also do the same.

For Soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, Michigan Army National Guard, that may mean firing illumination rounds during a night mission before shifting to other types of rounds.

“The Special Forces guys, they’re on an objective or they’re maneuvering somewhere. They think they see something hundreds of meters in front of them. They’re not sure what it is. [They can] call in for illumination rounds,” said Staff Sgt. Alex Reams, a squad leader with the unit. The illumination rounds would then allow the observer on the ground to assess the situation and relay a follow-on fire mission.

“It gives the observer the option and the ability to see what’s on the ground and to then call in an effective fire [mission],” he said.

For the mortar teams, that means adjusting quickly to a changing situation. It may mean firing illumination rounds first, and then moments later following up with high explosive rounds on specific target areas. Making those adjustments can be taxing.

“The stress in the scenario is knowing that lives depend on your fire missions. Every second counts,” said Sgt. Michael Smith, a mortar team leader with HHC, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment.

Taking part in exercises like Northern Strike helps strengthen the mortar team’s capabilities.

“The proficiency behind it is we train as we fight,” said Smith, adding that planning is a key element to being able to execute a fire mission.

“What do we have to do to mitigate and make it as safe as possible for our elements at the end of the day but be as deadly as possible to the opposition?” said Smith.

Planning is also key for the OPFOR, said Teuling.

“We have to plan months in advance how much blank ammunition we need and how much pyro we need, how many [opposing forces] uniforms we need,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of planning that goes into it, starts almost a year out before the exercise.”

Just as much planning goes into each OPFOR mission once the exercise starts, with the opposing forces team often basing their plans off those of the training unit.

“We build off from what they have to help plan ours so we know where to attack them or where we need to set up so we can ambush them, depending on what the mission or the objectives are,” he said. The OPFOR Soldiers then take those mission planning and tactical skills back to their home units.

But it’s executing those missions that are one of Teuling’s favorite parts of the exercise.

“I like getting out in the field and being part of the injects, you know, doing the attacks and just seeing how everything plays out and seeing how the RTUs and the Soldiers are reacting,” he said. “Even though it’s simulated, it’s training, you still get a bit of adrenaline going.”

By SFC Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau

CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. – A frigid winter wind fluttered past the snow-covered landscape as Sgt. Shane Vanderhoek, an indirect fire infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, Michigan Army National Guard, adjusted his team’s 81 mm mortar.

Hunched over the mortar’s sights, the sun lit up his breath steamy and bright each time he exhaled while painstakingly making the needed adjustments. Though seemingly minor in their movement, each change took longer to make than expected.

“Everything is just cold,” he said. “A lot of our equipment takes longer to start to work, or it just doesn’t really like working.”

Learning to navigate those cold weather issues is one of the goals of exercise Northern Strike 24-1, a weeklong winter warfare training exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard. Vanderhoek and his unit supported friendly elements while squaring off against both opposing forces and Arctic-like conditions.

“This just offers that extreme weather and the ability to test your ability to maneuver and to test your unit’s ability to function and plan in a totally different environment,” said Army Col. Todd Fitzpatrick, the officer in charge of the exercise’s ground elements. “With the temperatures we have, it closely replicates a near-Arctic environment.”

Held at Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Training Center — which together comprise the Michigan Guard’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center — the exercise’s location and terrain make it and the National Guard key elements of the Department of Defense’s Arctic strategy, said Fitzpatrick.

“Obviously, Alaska is an ideal [cold weather] environment to train in,” he said, adding that getting units and their equipment to Alaska for training can be both difficult and expensive. “So, this offers a very similar climate, very similar complex terrain and just is cost-effective for units to do that near-Arctic training.”

Northern Strike 24-1 focused on integrated air and ground operations. Elements of the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group operated with close air support from Air Force and Michigan Air National Guard units while Michigan Army Guard units provided mortar and helicopter support.

The joint focus is another key element of the exercise, said Fitzpatrick.

“It’s really integral to Northern Strike because this is such a valuable training area for the joint force — air, maritime, land component — and, more importantly, across all domains of warfare,” he said. “The jointness and the all-domain nature of the exercise are really what separates it from others.”

Northern Strike began in 2011, typically taking place each August and often including participants from all U.S. military services and components as well as international partners. It was expanded to include a winter portion in 2020 after feedback, specifically from special operations forces, indicated a need for cold weather training.

“It was actually a demand from rotational units,” said Fitzpatrick. “SOF-oriented units wanted a place to train the way we do in a near-Arctic or winter setting with a complex maneuver space like we have here.”

While the winter portion of the exercise is typically smaller — this year’s iteration included about 200 participants while the summer exercise often includes more than 7,000 — its challenges are no less complex.

For Fitzpatrick, those challenges include ensuring the exercise meets or exceeds the training needs of participating units.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter exercise,” he said. “We like to say that every unit is the main event. So, it’s challenging deconflicting all that training, integrating those joint, multinational, multicomponent partners.”

Planning starts about a year ahead of the exercise rotation.

“Because we have two exercises, we have two [planning] cycles running,” he said. “And, of course, we’re looking into the future. We’re already scheduling units for 2025 and beyond.”

For Vanderhoek and many other units on the ground, the challenges are often more immediate, such as ensuring the mortar’s baseplate is emplaced properly.

“We like to dig little holes if we’re operating in a place just so the base plate can settle down easier,” he said. “Obviously, it takes longer when the ground’s frozen to do that.”

The frozen ground also makes it more difficult to ensure the mortar’s bipod support legs are dug in. Simply placing them on the ground means the mortar may move.

“Then we’re running the risk of the legs sliding out when we’re firing, which will cause a round to go somewhere completely different [than intended].”

None of those were challenges faced by the unit during its recent deployment to the Middle East, but the winter iteration of Northern Strike prompted them to find solutions to those challenges.

Though it took longer than expected, Vanderhoek dialed in the needed adjustments to the mortar.

“Gun 1 is up,” he called out. Shortly after, another Soldier came out of the tent that served as the fire direction center.

“Fire mission!” he shouted, as Vanderhoek and his team scrambled into position to execute.

By SFC Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCHORD, Wash. — Washington and Oregon National Guard Soldiers with the 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team and 96th Troop Command started the new year with a bang by conducting new weapons training and fielding on Camp Murray and Joint Base Lewis-McChord Jan. 16-17.

The training began with classroom instruction on Camp Murray. The weapons being introduced were the M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, MK22 Precision Sniper Rifle and the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System.

Soldiers focused on the weapons systems’ functions, safety and maintenance. The next day, they brought their weapons to the rainy ranges of JBLM for some hands-on training.

The M110A1 SDMR enables infantry, scout and engineer squads to engage enemies as far as 600 meters away.

“One thing I have done with the M110A1 in my platoon is assigned it as a primary weapon system for my weapons squad leader,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tylor Anderson, an infantry platoon sergeant with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Washington National Guard. “This means that he is utilizing the same caliber as his machine gun teams, forcing him to ‘think’ in 7.62 more consistently when planning for enemy engagements.”

The MK22 PSR, set to replace the Army’s existing M2010 and M107 sniper rifles, is outfitted with a modular, multi-barrel design, providing sniper teams with more diversity than its predecessors.

“It definitely improves our versatility when it comes to bringing the right tool for the job when we’re preparing for a mission,” explained Sgt. Remi Milslagle, a sniper with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “We need to out-range enemy snipers, and we need ammunition that’s going to put holes through newer and stronger armor at those ranges.”

The M3E1 MAAWS, sometimes referred to as the “Carl Gustaf,” is an 84 mm lightweight, man-portable, direct-fire recoilless rifle, which is an upgrade from the AT4. It can fire a wide range of munitions effective against light and medium armor, personnel in open bunkers, and structural targets up to 1,300 meters.

“The AT4 with its ‘one-and-done’ loadout is not as adaptable as the M3,” said Staff Sgt. Dustin Davis, a section sergeant with Bravo Company, 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Oregon National Guard. “The variety of munitions the M3 has proves it to be a very adaptable weapon.”

Fielding new weapons allows team leaders to gain knowledge and experience. It enables them to develop as weapons experts and take their newly honed skills back to their organization to train other Soldiers on operating and maintaining their new weapons systems effectively and safely.

As they become more familiar with the new weapons, they can develop and implement standard operating procedures for the additions to their arsenal.

“Soldiers can look forward to getting experience with these platforms and developing unit-level SOPs on how they are employed,” said Anderson. “Training is paramount when it comes to staying ahead of potential adversaries in combat. By adding newer and more capable tools to our arsenal, we allow technology to help us consistently maintain that edge on the battlefield.”

By SFC Nicolas A. Cloward, 122nd Theater Public Affairs Support Element