Selection comes after Roth letter urging Secretary of War to choose Michigan as training site

State Rep. John Roth today joined the Department of War in announcing that Michigan’s National All Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) has been selected as a key training facility for advanced uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as drones.

“Michigan stands ready to partner with Secretary Hegseth and the entire Department of War as we embrace this next generation of warfighting technologies,” said Roth, R-Interlochen. “This decision ensures the long-term viability of our local bases and puts Michigan at the forefront of safeguarding our national defense. As warfighting continues to evolve at an accelerated pace, I’m proud to have ensured that Michigan will continue to be the leader in training our Armed Forces with the tools they need to confront threats on any battlefield. This is great news for our community and great news for the future of the American military.”

In June 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling on the federal government to “Unleash American Drone Dominance.” In carrying out that order, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth along with the Army and National Guard Bureau selected Michigan’s NADWC for consistently demonstrating “its critical role in supporting the nation’s UAS and counter-UAS initiatives.”

In a November 2025 letter signed by a bipartisan coalition of Michigan lawmakers, Roth outlined Michigan’s strategic advantages, writing that the state is “uniquely positioned to advance the Pentagon’s drone capabilities and revitalize America’s drone infrastructure.”

Roth urged Hegseth to select NADWC – anchored by Camp Grayling and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center – for a multitude of reasons including:

• Expansive Training Grounds: Nearly 148,000 acres of four-season terrain and 17,000 square miles of special use military airspace, including over Lake Huron, supporting large-scale, multi-domain exercises year-round.
• All-Domain Testing: NADWC enables integrated training and testing across land, air, maritime, cyber, and space domains. Facilities support live-fire artillery, tank, and mortar ranges, air-to-air maneuvers, maritime and littoral operations, cyber defense and electronic warfare, and space-based ISR integration.
• Advanced Drone Infrastructure: NADWC features a dedicated sixty-mile-long drone corridor, emerging counter-UAV technologies, and a Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLOS) system for autonomous drone operations. The region’s clean electromagnetic spectrum and up to 6,000 available frequencies provide an ideal environment for advanced UAS testing.
• Industry and Innovation Partnerships: The Kelly Johnson Joint All-Domain Innovation Center and partnerships with academia and private sector innovators foster rapid prototyping and deployment. NADWC regularly hosts major exercises like Northern Strike and technology events such as Silent Swarm, where dozens of companies test and refine emerging systems in real-world conditions.
• Permissive, Cost-Effective Access: As a National Guard facility, NADWC allows public and private stakeholders to rent space and access ranges at a fraction of the cost and wait time of other sites. Its proximity to manufacturing centers and venture capital networks accelerates the transition from prototype to fielded capability.

###