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Although more than half the fiscal year (FY) was affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the cancellation of training for months at Fort McCoy, the installation rallied in the fourth quarter of the year to bring training back.
That rally helped the installation support the training of 60,054 troops for fiscal year 2020. Considering no training at all took place on post between April and June — usually among the busiest training months on the installation — reaching more than 60,000 troops trained for FY 2020 was a remarkable achievement, officials said.
Larry Sharp, chief of the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Training Coordination Branch, said the pandemic changed everything when looking at planned training. After training halted in April, it restarted in July and grew significantly all the way through September.
“It was a herculean effort by everyone on our team to get this training back and to keep it going,” Sharp said. “After we stopped the training, we were busy getting units rescheduled and back here starting in July. We had to work with travel restrictions in mind as well as COVID-19 safety precautions.
“Our (DPTMS) scheduling people, ammunition supply people, and others all were very busy, and we had people who worked nearly full time just ensuring units were following the established COVID-19 precautionary measures,” Sharp said. “But the training came back, and units started getting their required training completed.”
Of the 60,054 troops who trained on post, 29,160 were Army Reserve Soldiers, 22,117 were National Guard service members, and 8,777 were active-duty Soldiers or troops from other services such as the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
Training statistics reflect many types of training opportunities that take place at the installation by active- and reserve-component forces and other governmental agencies, according to DPTMS.
During the year, training included several Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) sessions; battle-drill (weekend) training; annual training; mobilization; institutional training; and numerous exercises, including the Army Reserve’s Operation Ready Warrior that brought more than 1,000 troops to train at Fort McCoy.
DPTMS personnel document the training statistics each month of the fiscal year, Sharp said. This involves combining numbers of the entire transient training population, which encompasses reserve- and active-component military forces as well as other training agencies, such as law-enforcement agencies or the Wisconsin Challenge Academy.
Maj. Dan Bartlett, professor of military science at the Marquette University ROTC program in Milwaukee, said he and all of the cadre appreciated the support by Fort McCoy during their 10 days of ROTC training they held at Fort McCoy in July. The training was put together in a short time and supported dozens of ROTC cadets from the Midwest.
“We had staff from all the universities participating, and we also had support from the Army Reserve and the 104th Training Brigade,” Bartlett said. “We also had medics from U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Riley (Kansas) provide great support.
“(But) I really need to mention the support we received from Fort McCoy and the entire force here,” he said. “In particular, I want to mention the (DPTMS) and Range Control, who continuously supported us. They not only helped us before, during, and after our exercise, but they also were really supportive in getting us resources for the training we needed to do here.”
And early on in the fiscal year during December, January, February, and March, troops training in the CWOC were appreciative to train at Fort McCoy.
Sgt. Jacob Larson, a CWOC Class 20-05 student with the 950th Engineer Company at Superior, Wis., completed training in March. He said he’ll be able to share what he has learned and that Fort McCoy was the right place to be for the training.
“I feel like I have learned a lot of skills I can take back to teach the Soldiers on my team,” Larson said. “I can help teach the proper way to wear the Army’s cold-weather gear as well as fire-starting tricks. … Also, completing this training at Fort McCoy was excellent.”
Going into fiscal year 2021, training now continues at Fort McCoy under the same COVID-19 preventative measures and guidance that brought the training back in July. And, Sharp said, that guidance will stay in place as long as it needs to be.
Fort McCoy has supported the training of at least 100,000 troops nearly every year since 1984. An annual-training record of 155,975 was set in fiscal year 2017.
The post’s varied terrain, state-of-the-art ranges, new as well as renovated facilities, and extensive support infrastructure combine to provide military personnel with an environment in which to develop and sustain the skills necessary for mission success.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at www.mccoy.army.mil, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
| Date Taken: | 10.19.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.19.2020 14:56 |
| Story ID: | 381262 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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