Photo By Scott Sturkol | A student in Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) class 22-03 participates in...... read more read more
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Soldiers and Airmen participating in Fort McCoy Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) class 22-03 experienced steady bitter cold weather while building their skills to operate in winter during 14 days of training in January 2022.
“We had a really good group of students in this class who came from a wide variety of backgrounds,” said lead CWOC Instructor Hunter Heard, who coordinates CWOC training with fellow instructors Manny Ortiz, Brian Semann, and Joe Ernst. All are with contractor Veterans Range Solutions, which works with Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security (DPTMS) to complete the training.
“We had active duty, Guard, and Reserve members in this class, and some were from different military services,” Heard said. “They all worked very well together, especially during many of the training events held during the course.”
From the first day of the course where students received their cold-weather gear at the Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility to the last day of training with cold-water immersion, the course, CWOC students are trained on a variety of cold-weather subjects in the course. That training included snowshoe training and skiing and how to use ahkio sleds and other gear as well as terrain and weather analysis, risk management, cold-weather clothing, developing winter fighting positions in the field, camouflage and concealment, and more.
“I gained a lot of hands-on experience operating in a cold-weather environment,” said student Senior Master Sgt. Jeremiah Wickenhauser with the 133rd Contingency Response Flight of the Minnesota Air National Guard at Saint Paul. “From this training I’ve gained the confidents to teach others the skills we learned here.”
For Air Force Staff Sgt. Yuri Matamedi with the 123rd Contingency Response Group of the Kentucky Air National Guard at Louisville, the CWOC training was especially beneficial.
“Every aspect of this (course) is extremely valuable,” Matamedi said. “This training has added new tools … that will help myself and my unit safely complete any cold-weather operations we may get tasked with.”
For some, certain parts of the training proved the most valuable. Spc. Christopher Valenzuela with the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion at Buckeye, Ariz., the skiing day held during the training was among the best.
“My personal favorite part of the course was the ski lessons,” Valenzuela said. “As a terrible skier, the course pushed me to keep trying to get better.”
Valenzuela also said other skills he learned will be shared through the training of others in his unit.
“This course taught me that preventing cold-weather injuries is a group effort,” Valenzuela said. “I also learned that when operating in sub-zero temperatures that you must be ready for the unexpected. … I’ll definitely be training Soldiers with the knowledge and confidence I gained in this course.”
Spc. Laura Rau with the Army Reserve’s 365th Engineer Battalion that’s headquartered at the Robert E. Roeder U.S. Army Reserve Center in Schuylkill Haven, Penn., said learning to build a fire and receiving training on proper wear on the Army’s seven-layer Extended Cold-Weather Clothing System was great. She also enjoyed the cold-water immersion training.
“The lake jump was my favorite as well as being able to take in all the knowledge I received from very experienced instructors,” Rau said. “I’d do it all again.”
The Fort McCoy CWOC training is modeled after the Cold-Weather Leader Course taught by the Army Northern Warfare Training Center at Black Rapids, Alaska. For each class, students start off with classroom training in building 224 and then move into various aspects of field training over 14 days.
After class 22-03, there are three more 14-day classes of CWOC training planned for the training season that ends in March.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.11.2022 15:19 |
| Story ID: | 414535 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 342 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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