Soldiers from three Army Reserve commands are working together to support airborne operations at Exercise Northern Strike 2023 in northern Michigan.

About 70 Soldiers from the three units – 824th Quartermaster, 421st Quartermaster and 470th Quartermaster companies – are working together to pack and load parachutes and conduct a series of personnel and equipment drops at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Alpena, Michigan. The 824th and 470th are based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina; the 421st is based in Fort Valley, Georgia.

“One of the things that this exercise allows us to do is to bring together Soldiers from different units and give them an opportunity to work together, operating just as they would in a deployed environment,” said 1st Sgt. Jack Wilson, 824th.

During the exercise, the Soldiers are packing parachutes for personnel use, as well as cargo delivery system (CDS) parachutes for heavy equipment drops.

“This is great practice for our Military Occupational Specialty,” said Sgt. Brian Burch, 421st. “To be able to affect the larger mission, we need to get in here and get hands-on. We’re conducting multiple drops per day, which gives everyone a chance to work each position in the line.”

Exercise Northern Strike 2023 is a premier reserve component training event that integrates both U.S. and partner nation readiness training to build interoperability and strengthen partnerships in an all-domain environment. Over a two-week period in August, military units from around the country to practice their individual skills and work together to support larger mission scenarios.