Photo By Sgt. DeVante Martin | U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Jose Gonzalez, left, and Staff Sgt. Charles Williams,...... read more read more
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CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. - Soldiers with the 365th Engineer Company, 412th Theater Engineer Command, and the 428th Combat Engineer Company-Infantry (CEC-I), 416th Theater Engineer Command, spent the first week of Exercise Northern Strike 26-2 moving between water operations, CBRN training, live demolitions and preparations for urban operations at Camp Grayling.
The range of training gave Soldiers experience outside of their usual engineer tasks while showing where those skills fit alongside maneuver forces.
For Capt. Brandon Lalonde, commander of the 428th CEC-I, that connection is an important part of Northern Strike.
“The maneuver part, though, is something that generally we avoid when we plan training, and I think there's some shame in that because you don't really get to see how security is established, how people move forward on the battlefield, where the engineers fit in the mission,” Lalonde said. “We need to see the bigger picture.”
On Aug. 3, Soldiers conducted Helocast operations, exiting a hovering aircraft into the water before making their way to shore. They later moved into chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training that included protective-mask procedures, decontamination and mission-oriented protective posture operations. The next day, Soldiers trained with M18A1 Claymore mines and Selectable Lightweight Attack Munitions, or SLAM. They worked through emplacement procedures before conducting live detonations.
“This training is critical to building our unit’s readiness and combat effectiveness,” said 1st Lt. Parker Mock, officer in charge for the 365th Engineer Company during the event. “Northern Strike provides Soldiers with realistic, large-scale training in an environment, allowing them to integrate with joint and partner forces while employing emerging technologies and capabilities.”
Members of the 428th CEC-I also worked with industry partners to learn about emerging engineer technologies. Later in the week, Soldiers began planning and preparing for urban operations at the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility.
Moving from one event to another required Soldiers to apply different skills and work through changing mission requirements.
“Northern Strike prepares Soldiers for real-world missions by replicating the complexity and pace of today’s operational environment,” Mock said. “This experience develops adaptable, disciplined, and mission-ready Soldiers who are better prepared to operate and win in large-scale combat operations.”
By the end of the week, Soldiers had trained in the air and water, worked in protective equipment, conducted live demolitions and prepared for operations in an urban setting. The different events allowed the engineers to practice their technical skills while seeing how their work supports other elements on the battlefield.
Northern Strike 26-2 is an Army-sponsored, multicomponent, multinational exercise designed to build readiness and enhance interoperability to fight and win. Michigan’s largest and longest-running joint readiness exercise, Northern Strike 26-2 is held Aug. 1-15, 2026, at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center and features approximately 9,000 participants.
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2026 11:19 |
| Story ID: | 572168 |
| Location: | GRAYLING, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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