Operation Northern Strike pour millions into local economy

ALPENA – Over 6,000 military men and women pour 2-million dollars into the local economy from Operation Northern Strike–alone–every year.

Senator Debbie Stabenow visited  the base for an hour on Monday to speak with military leaders on the program’s continual growth and economic impact in the greater Alpena area.

Local communities have cashed in about $14-million dollars over the past seven years due to the large number of service people visiting town. This year, eight military units from  the U.S., U.K., Germany, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia joined forces.

“We’ve got the snow, we’ve got the beautiful sunshine and we got the water,” said Stabenow, “we’ve got all kinds of terrain. So this is a year–round training facility.”

Operation Northern Strike is a two-week program at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center. CRTC is one of four training facilities in the country preparing soldiers in all five military branches combative techniques in the air and off the field.

Thousands of Northern Strike trainees will depart from the base Saturday, August 18.