Fort Harrison hosts 10-nation training focused on cyberattack response

Fort Harrison was the center of a 10-country military exercise that did more than bring uniformed visitors to Helena. Regional Cooperation 2026 turned the post into a working hub for cyber defense, field tactics, and command coordination, giving Lewis and Clark County a front-row view of why the Army base remains strategically relevant.

U.S. Central Command said the 30th iteration of the exercise ran 11 days, from June 1 through June 12, with more than 350 military personnel from 10 countries and 10 U.S. National Guard units taking part. CENTCOM described Regional Cooperation as its largest training exercise with central and south Asian nations, and said the annual drill is designed to strengthen regional security, stability, and interoperability.

For Helena, the significance goes beyond ceremony. Training at Fort Harrison keeps federal activity visible in town, brings international delegations into Montana, and underscores the post’s role as a place where command staffs can practice how they would respond if a crisis crossed borders or began with a cyberattack. That matters for local agencies as well, because the same habits that improve military coordination, communication, and trust can also inform how county and state partners think about emergency response and homeland-security readiness.

The exercise mixed traditional military tasks with the digital problems that now sit at the center of modern defense planning. CENTCOM said participants worked through command-post coordination, field tactics, cyber security, M4 carbine familiarization, and tactical combat casualty care. A participant quoted in coverage said the training helped the group understand how to react to cyberattacks and cooperate as a team, a reminder that the drills were built around information sharing as much as weapons handling.

Adm. Brad Cooper said training together for three decades is a significant milestone that demonstrates longstanding trust and cooperation. Col. Lee Breard, CENTCOM’s director of exercises, put the point more bluntly: “trust has to be built before it is needed.” That theme fit an exercise that began in 1996 and has become a recurring multinational event, not a one-off visit.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Randall Phillips, identified as CENTCOM’s lead planner for Regional Cooperation 2026, took part in the opening ceremony at Fort Harrison on June 1. A senior delegate from Kazakhstan also delivered remarks that day, highlighting the level of partner-nation participation. For Helena and the rest of Lewis and Clark County, the message was clear: Fort Harrison is not just hosting drills, it is helping anchor a long-term international training role for Montana.