U.S. Army Soldiers Staff Sgt. Richard Serrels, an unmanned aircraft system trainer with the 837th Brigade Engineer Battalion, and Spc. Aleksandr Blain, a drone pilot assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, demonstrate a live-fire exercise with a first-person view of the Neros drone during Northern Strike 26-2 at Camp Grayling, Mich., on Aug. 10, 2026. Northern Strike is an Army-sponsored, multi-component, multinational exercise designed to build readiness and enhance interoperability with allied forces to fight and win. Northern Strike 26-2, Michigan’s largest and longest exercise designed to validate the readiness of the joint reserve force, is held Aug. 1 to 15, 2026, at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center. This year’s exercise will feature around 9,000 participants.

 

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  This month, we focus the AFIMSC Team Spotlight on the Total Force Combat Arms Training and Maintenance (CATM) team at the Desert Defender Readiness Training Center at Fort Bliss, Texas. As a primary engine driving USAF Security Forces AFFORGEN (Air Force Force Generation) readiness, this seamlessly integrated 16-member team—comprising the 203d GCTS, 570th CTS, and 301st SFS OL-Alpha—expertly manages over $10.5 million in weapons and munitions to train 4,800 students annually. The team also supports the Security Forces Weapons School, Large Force Exercises, and all pre-deployment training, executing over 400 deployment firing and heavy weapons courses each year. Through these efforts, the CATM team ensures Airmen are proficient, equipped, and lethal for worldwide Combatant Command operations.