Barrett Joins Colleagues in Requesting Army to Conduct Critical Equipment Test in Michigan

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Tom Barrett (MI-07) and his colleagues in the Michigan congressional delegation today encouraged the U.S. Army to conduct experiments for Project Convergence Capstone 6 (PCC6) — the Army’s next annual operation for testing weapons and other equipment in combat scenarios — at Michigan’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC) this summer.

Today, the lawmakers sent letters to Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll and General Randy A. George, the Army chief of staff, highlighting the capacity for a wide variety of testing at NADWC, which encompasses Michigan and includes Camp Grayling and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

“NADWC is an ideal location to test new technologies at scale and experiment with a wide range of joint training scenarios and capabilities, including contested logistics and Next Generation Command and Control,” the lawmakers wrote. “NADWC’s all-domain capability, large size, expansive special use airspace, and all-weather training environment offers warfighters the ability to test military tech under a wide range of battlefield conditions, including for live fire, combined arms, and swarm testing.”

They continued, “The Army can utilize NADWC in support of Project Convergence training events at a fraction of the cost of doing so at other comparable locations without sacrificing any of the size, capability, and range of training scenarios available. NADWC's permissive dual-use drone testing policies, abundant spectrum availability, partnerships with cutting edge defense tech startups, and openness to on-site industry presence as a National Guard base make it a cost-effective, readily available hot bed for military tech testing.”

NADWC currently hosts equipment testing, competitions, and military training, including during the annual Exercise Northern Strike. The Army and National Guard Bureau recently selected NADWC as a national drone testing site, following the recommendation of Barrett and his colleagues.

Click here to read the delegation’s letter to Secretary Driscoll.

Click here to read the delegation’s letter to General George.