TRAVERSE CITY — The National All Domain Warfighting Center, based in northern Michigan, has been designated an official drone-testing site by the Pentagon.
The Feb. 2 decision comes as the Department of War embarks on a major push to “unleash American drone dominance” in keeping with an executive order last June by President Donald Trump and followed up on by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Directives outlined by Hegseth’s Department of War have called for boosting the United States’ ability to manufacture its own drones, arming combat units with hundreds of thousands of new drones beginning this spring, and the development of new training programs to increase the number of qualified drone operators.
Drones, formally known as uncrewed aerial systems, have increasingly demonstrated their importance on the battlefields of Ukraine and elsewhere, underscoring the importance of keeping pace with adversaries in terms of technology and improving both attack and counterattack capabilities.
Michigan lawmakers celebrated the Department of War’s selection of the NADWC as a key training facility for the “drone dominance” effort, which followed multiple bipartisan efforts to sell the Pentagon on the state.
State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, was among a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who signed a letter in November touting the state’s strategic advantages “to advance the Pentagon’s drone capabilities and revitalize America’s drone infrastructure.”
Roth said in a Feb. 2 statement that the NADWC was chosen by Secretary of War Hegseth, as well as the Army and National Guard Bureau. Roth said the center was singled out for consistently demonstrating its “critical role in supporting the nation’s UAS and counter-UAS initiatives.”
“This decision ensures the long-term viability of our local bases and puts Michigan at the forefront of safeguarding our national defense,” Roth said, calling it “great news for our community and great news for the future of the American military.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, whose district includes Grayling, and Democratic U.S. Senators Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters were among the signatories to a bipartisan letter sent to Hegseth in July to convince him to choose the NADWC after he called in July for the establishment of three designated drone-testing sites.
It is not clear whether the two other facilities have been named.
The lawmakers said in a joint Feb. 3 statement that the NADWC’s designation as a drone-training range further established “Michigan as America’s defense innovation hub.”
“I’m proud that northern Michigan’s defense assets will play a key role in ensuring our servicemembers can test and refine the most advanced unmanned aerial technologies,” Bergman said. “The unique geography and unparalleled capabilities of the National All Domain Warfighting Center are truly world-class, and it is encouraging to see the Department of War fully recognize the potential of NADWC and the surrounding region.”
Slotkin highlighted Michigan’s defense-manufacturing capabilities to help shape the “next chapter of American defense innovation.”
“From the assembly line to advanced manufacturing, our state has always stepped up,” Slotkin said. “Today, as drones reshape our national security, Michigan’s selection as a national drone testing site further solidifies our state as the center of this transformation.”
Among the NADWC’s unique attributes are its massive size. The training center includes the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, providing nearly 148,000 acres of terrain and 17,000 square miles of military airspace, including over Lake Huron, for year-round training.
The NADWC conducts annual “Northern Strike” military exercises, which include both winter and summer maneuvers.
Last week, the NADWC hosted about 500 troops from the U.S. Army National Guard, Air National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, and U.S. Army for the cold-weather military exercises. In August, some 8,000 U.S. and allied soldiers are expected to participate in the summer war games.
Both the winter and summer exercises feature training for mock adversaries employing cutting-edge weaponry and warfare tactics, including drones.
Speaking to the Record-Eagle, Northern Strike director Army Colonel Todd Fitzpatrick said that the Jan. 26-29 exercises were to be followed by a conference this week in Grayling to plan for the summer war games.
Fitzpatrick said the planning sessions provide industry partners an opportunity to weigh in on what emerging technologies, threats, and tactics should be introduced to the war-game scenarios.
Their input, Fitzpatrick said, helps Northern Strike “get new and innovative things in the hands of the warfighter before they have to use it when it counts.”