Photo By Master Sgt. Mary Greenwood | A U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft maintenance specialist assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing, Florida Air National Guard, marshals an F-35A Lightning II aircraft for launch during Sentry North 2026 at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center, Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, June 4, 2026. Sentry North 2026 is a joint total force exercise led by the National Guard Bureau Readiness Training Program and hosted by Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center and Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mary Greenwood) see less
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Sentry North exercise focuses on joint air dominance
The Air National Guard concluded its two-week exercise, Sentry North 2026, June 11, at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin.
Sentry North is a joint, total force exercise led by the National Guard Bureau Readiness Center and hosted by the ANG CRTCs at Volk Field and Alpena, Michigan.
“Volk Field is far more than a premier training installation; it is the ultimate proving ground where air dominance is forged and our national security is operationalized,” said Col. Timothy Guy, commander of Volk Field CRTC. “Our unique airspace and world-class facilities offer an unparalleled environment where we don't just practice for the next fight, we engineer the victory.”
This year’s iteration of Sentry North consisted of counter-air operations against peer adversaries operating a simulated integrated air defense system comprised of modern, high-end threats. It focused on the joint integration of multi-domain capabilities to disrupt, degrade or destroy adversary capabilities that impede U.S. air superiority and the ability to conduct follow-on counter-land operations and logistics support.
Approximately 20 National Guard units participated in the exercise, to include over 25 aircraft and more than 1,600 service members, all working together to hone their tactical readiness and combat lethality.
“We've been able to incorporate a lot of experiences and combat lessons learned recently in [the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility] and have incorporated those into the exercise to make it more relevant to what is actually happening in the world,” said Lt. Col. Michael Cady, lead planner and exercise director for Sentry North 2026. “We're very agile in adapting our scenarios to what members are experiencing downrange right now and what we expect to experience in any kind of near-term conflict.”
Cady relayed the example that this year’s exercise incorporated the rapid aerial transportation and relocation of U.S. Army vehicle-mounted rocket systems to and from simulated austere locations. “That’s something I don’t think I’ve ever seen in my career as a fighter pilot,” he said.
Exercises like Sentry North 2026 are directly tied to mission readiness because they provide experiences that units and military personnel may not see on a daily basis but would be expected to perform in real-world situations.“I definitely make sure it is hard here because it's not going to get easier in the real world,” said Cady. “Participants, a lot of times, are surprised at how difficult it is to execute these missions in the first several iterations of training. Then they learn, and they get better, and by the end, they're doing it pretty well, and they're as prepared as they're possibly going to be to execute it in the real world.”
Cady additionally recognized the role joint exercises like Sentry North have played in the National Guard's transition from a strategic, to an operational reserve.
“I think the old idea was that the guard would just supplement the active duty and come in for relief, and we're seeing now over the last year or so that the guard is leading the fight,” said Cady. “So, we have to prepare our Guardsmen to be at that performance level to survive and win on day one of the war, not just coming in at day 30 or day 60.”
Formerly known as Northern Lightning, which began in 2003, the exercise was renamed to align the training event under a unified, nationwide NGB exercise framework. The NGB reorganized its premier, regional readiness exercises under a single brand to establish standardized, highly integrated regional exercises across the United States to prepare total-force Airmen for future worldwide deployments.
“It is vital to recognize that the operations conducted here are not mere exercises,” said Guy. “They are a critical mechanism of our national defense, forging the lethal, resilient, and adaptable force required to secure our nation and support our allies in an era of strategic competition.”
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