Military training is underway in Michigan, with Army Reservists soldiers from the Essex and Kent Scottish regiment along with soldiers from Windsor and Chatham who are part of the Windsor Regiment in attendance.
It's the biggest simulated war-fighting exercise the Canadian Army Reserve has held in 10 years, and it's taking place at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan.
Soldiers arrived on August 16, and Exercise Arrowhead Guardian will run until August 25 where local soldiers participate in training in a simulated combat environment.
The training will give opportunity to refine skills, improve tactical coordination and experience challenges faced in realistic combat scenarios.
Exercise Arrowhead Guardian 24 is a significant training milestone for the 31 Canadian Brigade Group, with over 900 soldiers from across Southern Ontario participating at Camp Grayling.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jay Hancock, commanding officer of Windsor regiment says every year the Canadian Army reserves take part in training, usually in the summer time.
"Through our Full Time Summer Employment program that provides training opportunities and summer jobs to college, university and high school students. This is kind of the culminating activity where it's a simulated warfighting exercise. We basically practise and kind of craft our skills to improve what we've been training to do," he said.
He says training allows them to be better prepared to respond to domestic emergencies in Canada or deploy for operations overseas such as the current NATO mission in Latvia.
Training is usually focused on the skill level of the individual, according to Hancock, and bigger exercises like this provide an opportunity to come together.
"As you get your qualifications to be either drivers, or commanders, or gunners, or section commanders. The purpose of the summer exercise is to come together as a battle group in order to then fight together and learn how you would interoperate with the other trades in order to be successful in whatever mission you're assigned."
Hancock says they work very closely across the board with their US partners.
"The soldiers of the Windsor regiment as well as the Essex and Kent Scottish take the opportunity with our geographic positioning to participate in exercises, and training using their bases throughout the year. What I would say is unique about this exercise is that it's the first time in a number of years where the entire brigade has gone together," he said.
40 per cent of soldier's participating were apart of the reserve's Full Time Summer Employment, which allowed them to gain skills under the mentorship of more experienced soldiers.