Military

Michigan ANG to hold exercises in UP this summer

Public Radio 90, WNMU | By Nicole Walton

Published June 3, 2022 at 10:12 AM EDT

An A-10 Thunderbolt II from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan prepares to land on a public highway in Alpena, Michigan, August 5, 2021. The highway landing is part of Exercise Northern Strike 21-2, an annual multinational, large scale military training event that tests the rapid insertion of an Air Expeditionary Wing into a bare-base environment. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Scott Thompson)

MARQUETTE, MI— The Michigan Air National Guard will land an aircraft on M-28 east of Munising this summer, as part of its “Northern Agility 22-1” exercises.

The purpose is to prepare military aircrews for operations in austere—or unwelcoming—environments. The Guard is partnering with Air Force Special Operations Command, Michigan State Police, the Michigan Department of Transportation and other local agencies in the event.

Several types of aircraft will conduct agile combat employment at Sawyer International Airport and on a portion of M-28.

The exercises take place June 27-29. The landing in Alger County will occur June 28 on a closed, 9,000-foot section of highway. The landing zone, named “Hawk L-Z” in honor of F-16 pilot Major Durwood “Hawk” Jones from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115^th Fighter Wing—who lost his life in a training accident in Michigan in 2020—will operate for six hours.