CAMP GRUBER TRAINING CENTER, Okla. — Drones buzzed overhead as Oklahoma National Guard Soldiers and Airmen maneuvered strategically through a wooded area. They advanced slowly toward their objective – a series of enemy trenches overlooking a key position. As they prepared to assault the trench network, one thing was clear: The drones would test their ability to fight and survive on a battlefield increasingly shaped by unmanned aerial systems.
The drones were a key element of Exercise Thunderstruck 2.0, held Sept. 13 at Camp Gruber Training Center, Oklahoma.
During the exercise, troops were inserted by two CH-47 Chinook helicopters into a simulated combat zone, then moved from their landing site to a nearby tree line. The scenario culminated in an assault on a trench system defended by opposing forces — all while small drones circled overhead, allowing the opposing forces to see the advance and drop tennis balls as mock munitions on maneuvering troops.
Guard leaders said the training marked a significant step in preparing forces for a rapidly evolving battlespace where low-cost drones are reshaping the pace and character of combat, as seen on battlefields in Ukraine.
The exercise was also the culmination of years of development within the Guard’s unmanned aircraft system, or UAS, and counter-UAS program.
“We are showcasing the work we’ve done over the past couple years for the Oklahoma National Guard UAS, counter-UAS program,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Brent Hill, director of the counter-UAS and launched effects program with the Oklahoma Guard. “It’s a combined effort, a big collaboration to try to make this happen.”
For Oklahoma Guard members on the ground, the scenario provided an opportunity to adapt their small-unit tactics to a threat environment defined by aerial surveillance and precision strikes from small drones.
“Thunderstruck is a platoon attack on a trench system,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jace Burger, a weapons squad leader with the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s C Company, 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment. “We’re going to be combating drones throughout the duration of that.”
To counter that threat, Guard members used smoke grenades, terrain masking and other techniques to remain concealed and disrupt enemy targeting.
“The big thing is just remaining as covered and concealed in the tree line as possible,” Burger said, adding that his Soldiers were ready for the task.
“I think it’s actually pretty exciting. I’ve never really done an attack like this against drones,” he said. “It really looks like this is the future of warfare.”
As they advanced, Burger and his unit used their own drones to scout ahead.
That “eye in the sky” capability allowed them “to see the objective before we actually get there, [and] give us early warning signs on enemy activity,” he said.
Senior leaders said that kind of mindset—adapting to new threats while under pressure—is exactly what Thunderstruck aimed to instill.
“This is very needed because we found looking at modern warfare – for instance, in Ukraine –they’re using tens of thousands of small, first-person FPV [first-person view] drones,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Thomas Mancino, the adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard. “And I need to make sure that my Soldiers are aware of this threat and that we can develop the technologies, the techniques and the procedures to counter that threat.”
That also has spurred changes in how troops maneuver and fight.
“Because of drones’ ability to interdict movement on the battlefield, it’s really slowed everything down and we’ve gotten back to something that looks more like World War I than World War II,” Mancino said, adding that to reflect that reality, the exercise included a trench system based on schematics from systems used in Ukraine.
Thunderstruck is just the start, Hill said. Plans are underway to establish a dedicated UAS range and training complex at Camp Gruber.
The future training site includes operations centers, launch and recovery pads and fabrication labs—resources Hill said will help transform the Oklahoma National Guard into a center of gravity for counter-UAS training across the National Guard and the broader joint force.
It’s part of preparing for the modern battlefield of the future and other missions as well.
“If you can see what’s going on globally, drones and unmanned aerial systems are becoming a thing—they already are—and the future depends on us training now before we get there,” Hill said. “This is the new normal, not only for the warfight, but also for domestic operations here in the state of Oklahoma.”
During domestic missions, drones provide critical capability in tasks such as search and rescue, and damage assessments after natural disasters or restoring communications during emergencies, Hill said. Training with the technology now, he added, ensures Guard members are ready to employ it safely and effectively when called upon at home.
For Mancino, the effort is about more than new technology—it’s about giving Soldiers and Airmen every possible advantage ahead of time.
“We’re able to put together a kind of leading laboratory for some of these techniques and technologies,” he said. “That really lets us see on a simulated battlefield what works and what doesn’t before we have to put our Soldiers into harm’s way.”
Learning is the goal of both the exercise and the planned UAS range, said Mancino.
“From a leadership standpoint, this is already a success,” Mancino said. “What actually happens on the field—I actually hope we fail, because if we fail, then I’m able to figure out how to make corrections.”