Northern Lightening exercises to resume through most of August

Metro Wire Staff

Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center is hosting approximately 50 aircraft and nearly 1,000 personnel from the National Guard, Air Force, Army, and Navy as part of the annual Northern Lightning Counterland training exercise, which runs August 10-21.

Units from California, Idaho, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin will all participate in the exercise, according to a news release from Volk Field.

Northern Lightning began in the early 2000s before expanding into a large-scale exercise in 2015. It became a biannual exercise in 2018 and 2019 and returned to an annual exercise in 2020.

Northern Lightning is a tactical level, joint training exercise replicating today’s air battlespace with current and future weapons platforms. A variety of the world’s most advanced aircraft including fifth-generation aircraft like the F-35 will participate in the exercise.

Northern Lightning is one of seven Air National Guard joint accredited exercises held at a Combat Readiness Training Center, and the installation’s reputation as one of the country’s finest training areas continues to grow.

Pilots and aircrews participating in Northern Lightning can expect to operate in a contested environment with adversary aircraft, electronic jamming, and simulated surface-to-air threats, and such training is critical to building readiness for the threats and missions the nation faces.

The general public can expect to see an increase in aircraft activity in and around the Camp Douglas area and in the skies over Central Wisconsin August 10-21.

Sonic booms may be audible between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. during weekdays, the news release said.