For two weeks, parts of Michigan will turn into a futuristic battlefield that thousands will use for training.

GRAYLING, Mich — For two weeks, portions of Michigan will become a high-tech battlefield used for the nation’s largest National Guard Bureau-sponsored military exercise.

The Department of Defense’s reserve component readiness exercise has taken place in Michigan for over a decade and is dubbed “Northern Strike.”

The training will take place from Aug. 2 through Aug. 16 and includes over 7,500 participants from 36 states and territories, and nine international partners. The participants will be based out of Michigan’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) at Camp Grayling for training focused on:

Combined Joint AllDomain Command and Control (CJADC2)Combined Arms Live-Fire Exercise (CALFEX)Cyberspace and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA)Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO)contested sustainment and logistics and expeditionary skills

The NADWC includes the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center (CGJMTC), the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center (Alpena CRTC) and their associated airspace.

“NS is unique, not only because of its integration of defense innovators and academia, but because it fully reflects the realities service members are facing on today’s modern battlefield,” said Col. Todd Fitzpatrick, land exercise director for NS. “This year’s exercise features full-scale integration with foreign participants to build ally and partner interoperability and is designed to enhance readiness across all domains of warfare with both joint and partner forces. Recent global events have shown just how devastating cruise missiles and small UAS can be to both military and civilian infrastructure. Detection, identification, intercept and destruction of these threats are no-fail missions and NS provides the operational environment to rigorously train for them.”

In addition to Camp Grayling serving as a location for the exercises, participants will also be conducting training at Lake Huron, Rogers City Quarry, Battle Creek, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airfield and K.I. Sawyer Airfield in Marquette.

The Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs says the public will likely see increased traffic on Michigan roads during the training exercises, especially as personnel are traveling in and out of Grayling. A variety of aircraft will also be seen during the exercises throughout the Lower Peninsula.

Some of the training scenarios include:

Homeland security and defense against unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including more than 30 fixed wing aircraft offering force protection, support and refueling operations.En-Route Patient Staging System (ERPSS) preparing injured patients for transport to a safe location through Aeromedical Evacuation (AE), all while specially trained medics are providing medical care.Maritime training focusing on protecting high-value assets, conducting freedom of navigation operations, integrating unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), as well as fixing, tracking and engaging targets within littoral and open water environments.Joint Personnel Recovery Agency integrate with training units to test newly developed combat search, rescue and recovery systems during the exercise.

“This year’s schedule of NS training events reflects the unique capabilities of Michigan and the NADWC to support Department of Defense objectives,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, adjutant general and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “We take pride in continuously improving exercise design by integrating innovative technologies, including the testing and evaluation of counter-UAS systems, into dynamic, multi-domain training that meets the evolving needs of commanders across the force.”

It is estimated that the training exercises bring in an average of $38 million to Michigan’s economy annually through military pay, travel and local spending.