The 203D Military Intelligence Battalion (Technical Intelligence) conducted an external mission essential task evaluation exercise and participated in Northern Strike 24-2, August 6-13, 2024.

The combined joint exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard at Camp Grayling, boasted participants representing various organizations and foreign partners. Northern Strike is one of the Department of Defense's largest reserve component readiness exercises.

The 203D Military Intelligence Battalion received support from the Military Intelligence Readiness Command’s Southeastern Army Reserve Intelligence Support Center (ARISC) and the North Central ARISC. These two organizations provided evaluators and helped plan and resource training.

Evaluators leveraged live-environment, scenario-based training, to assess soldiers’ ability to perform mission essential tasks. This was the battalion’s first time participating in Northern Strike and the unit’s planning, coordination, and training spanned more than a year.

Participating 203D Military intelligence Battalion soldiers specialize in on-site foreign materiel and collecting captured enemy materiel. During the exercise they successfully exploited equipment across eight technical intelligence (TECHINT) based collection lanes. They did this in varied environments that included maritime, air, and tracked vehicle-based scenarios.

During Northern Strike, the unit integrated seamlessly with other units from across the force and worked with international partners while training in challenging environments.

Some scenarios leveraged a training vessel belonging to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy that played the role of a smuggling ship.

Another highlight included removing a U.S. Army owned German Wiesel armored fighting vehicle via sling load by UH-60 helicopter.

Battalion soldiers also collected various types of captured enemy materiel from a simulated explosive ordinance device factory and exploited a Soviet origin T-72 tank. These realistic training aides allowed soldiers to prepare to interact with captured enemy materiel.

As the U.S. Army’s only technical intelligence unit, the 203D Military Intelligence Battalion represents a keystone capability in the TECHINT and foreign materiel community.