GRAYLING, Mich. – Artillerymen with the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 160th Field Artillery Regiment, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, tested their mettle at Northern Strike 2024 at Camp Grayling Aug. 3-17.
The annual event is a National Guard Bureau-sponsored exercise that brings together units from multiple states and partner countries. It enhances joint and combined warfighting capabilities in a multi-domain environment.
Members of the 1-160th FA played a key role in this year’s exercise, conducting critical training to hone their speed and accuracy on the M199 105 mm howitzer and M777 towed 155 mm howitzer. The regiment executed near-constant fire missions, sending over 3,400 rounds downrange throughout the exercise.
“These readiness exercises are crucial and vital to our success and readiness in order to provide direct support (and) build artillery to the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in any type of environment, anywhere in the world,” said Lt. Col. Brent Hill, battalion commander for the 1-160 FA.
NS 24-2 also allows U.S. military units from all branches to work with international partners. The 1-160th FA trained alongside the British Armed Forces.
“It’s a collaboration of different forces, whether it be different regiments or different countries, to see how they can work together on different exercises for future reference,” said Gnr. Alex Bell, assigned to 212nd Battery, 105th Regiment, Royal Artillery, British Army. “If we were to ever be deployed together, we can see that we can work together as a single unit. We’d be able to integrate really well. It builds relationships between the different countries and the different units.”
Artillerymen from both countries found many similarities in their operations, with only a small communication obstacle to overcome.
“One of the guys that’s come up with us, he’s from Northern Ireland, so he’s got a very broad Irish accent and he’s actually had to slow himself down a little bit just so people can understand him a little better,” Bell said. “It’s about learning the different relationships between the different countries and different forces, and we’ve kind of been practicing each other’s words and phrases, which has been a lot of fun, actually.”
Oklahoma Guardsmen said troops from both countries worked smoothly and efficiently together, each learning and improving techniques from the other.
“I think it’s been fantastic,” said Staff Sgt. Justin Zacharias, a cannon crewmember assigned to Bravo Battery, 1-160th FA. “These guys have been working super hard for us. As soon as they came in, they melted right in. Really and truly, they’ve been awesome for us.”
These joint and multinational training exercises enable the OKNG’s junior leaders to flex their leadership skills in a simulated, large-scale combat environment.
“We’ve seen a lot of crew chiefs really going the extra mile to train their crews,” Hill said. “Leadership at the lowest level is what we have to have. That’s why the NCO’s are an absolute integral part, an important part of the Army — they are the backbone, and we showed that here.”
Exercises like Northern Strike ensure that the Oklahoma National Guard remains a trained and ready force.
“In this exercise, we have a little bit more urgency to stay tactical, make sure we’re joint, try to stay pretty light on the ground, having quickness and getting data and delivering rounds down range,” Zacharias said. “It’s about getting proficient with the shooting. We stay safe while we’re making other people safe.”
Through the challenges and opportunities of NS 24-2, Oklahoma artillerymen gained critical real-world experience in combat operations while working alongside allied partners to build and maintain a ready force for today’s battlefield.
“I think our Soldiers take away a lot of leadership experience,” Hill said. “They got a lot of sets of reps. They built their confidence and we were able to come through and successfully complete the mission here at Camp Grayling.”