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This Month in Fort McCoy History — June 2023

Courtesy Photo | This screen shot shows a part of the front page of the June 19, 1943, edtion of The...... read more read more

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

06.21.2023

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office

Fort McCoy, Wis., was established in 1909. Here is a look back at some installation history from June 2023 and back.

80 Years Ago — June 1943
FROM THE JUNE 19, 1943, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Division engineers destroy one bridge, build another in practical training lessons before rapt spectators — Two practical problems, one in construction and the other in demolition, were part of the training of the Second Engineers Battalion during the past week.

A pontoon bridge was built in Chicago as an example of how this type of bridge may be laid rapidly. A concrete bridge in Black River Falls, Wis., was completely destroyed in a demolition project (by the engineers).

It took about 45 minutes for the members of the battalion to erect and dismantle a 250-foot pontoon bridge across the Chicago River (for the bridge demonstration). The engineers began their work Wednesday morning at 7 o’clock, and the river was cleared long before noon.

Twelve pontoons, wooden flooring, and side rails were taken to Chicago on trailers Tuesday. Some 150 men made the trip.

Need engineers: The bridge was thrown across the river as part of a program to recruit construction engineers for general service, sponsored by the Chicago Engineering District.

FROM THE JUNE 19, 1943, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: McCoy’s safety record best in 6th Corps area (By Pvt. Neuman Fell) — Two little words — safety first — are playing an important part in Camp McCoy’s efforts to save precious work hours lost by avoidable work accidents.

Six months ago, Camp McCoy was on the bottom of the Sixth Service Command Safety Record Standings. Today, due to the untiring effort of the Post Safety Engineer Raymond J. Weibel, Camp McCoy heads the list with an almost perfect record.

Although Mr. Weibel’s job is to watch over the welfare of the 1,370 civil service employees on the post, he is working with post officers on safety for the Army personnel, including Capt. Reid Cameron, assistant post engineer.

60 Years Ago — June 1963
FROM THE JUNE 28, 1963, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Zip Code — Troops at Camp McCoy may now use the new five-digit ZIP-Code numbers mailing system that will speed up mail throughout the United States.

Postal Officer Capt. John C. Hoover announced this week that the number designated for Camp McCoy is the same as the one to be used by Sparta. That number is 54656. All personnel living at Camp McCoy or in Sparta will use that number. The number for those personnel who reside in Tomah is 54660.

This new code plan, which will eliminate the old Zone System, will be the most modern mailing system ever devised. The possibility of mail being missent will be greatly reduced and the time between dispatch and delivery cut by as much as 24 hours. The ZIP-Code System becomes operational on July 1st, but persons are urged to start using it right away.

All persons receiving mail at Camp McCoy are urged to learn the code. It should become a part of the return address on all out-going mail. When answering mail, ZIP-Codes taken from return addresses on incoming mail should be used.

50 Years Ago — June 1973
FROM THE JUNE 21, 1973, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Where have all the Soldiers gone…junior ROTC cadets — If you have seen some very young looking “men” running around post in Army uniforms, don’t despair; the Army isn’t enlisting or drafting 16-year-olds. They are high school student Junior ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadets here for two weeks of camp.

This optional phase is the Junior ROTC summer camp where skills that were learned in the classroom are put to use in the field. Such things as map and compass reading, tactics, drill and ceremony, military history, and the firing and familiarity of weapons. All of them volunteered to come here and shelled out $37 apiece for their transportation, quarters, and meals.

This year's 170 cadets find themselves getting up at 5:30 a.m. to prepare for a full day in the field. In short, they are undergoing two weeks that are quite similar to the regular Army basic training.

The schools participating this year are Marmion Military Academy (Aurora, Ill.), Waukegan High School (Waukegan, Ill.), and Rockford, Ill.’s East, West, Auborn, Gilford and Jefferson High Schools. In these schools the purpose of the one hour ROTC course is to prepare the individual for either the Army, Navy, Air Force or college ROTC programs.

10 Years Ago — June 2013
FROM THE JUNE 14, 2013, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Aviation unit conducts fi¬re-suppression training (By Rob Schuette) — Fire-suppression training conducted by a Wisconsin National Guard unit at Fort McCoy in May helped to hone its military mission and positions the unit to support ¬recontrol efforts statewide.

Jim Kerkman, Fort McCoy forester, said members of the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment of Madison, Wis., provided water bucket support of a prescribed burn on South Post.

The unit conducted similar training here in April 2012. Kerkman said this year’s prescribed-burn scenario helped the installation to manage the Oak Savanna Natural Area by removing small trees and brush.

Charles Mentzel, the Fort McCoy forestry technician, said the ¬first water-bucket drops of this year’s scenario helped the installation extinguish burning snags and brush piles. The training also built coordination between Fort McCoy personnel — both Natural Resources Branch and Fire Department, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the Wisconsin National Members of the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment conduct a water-bucket drop at Fort McCoy.

5 Years Ago — June 2018
FROM THE JUNE 22, 2018, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Thousands train at Fort McCoy for Combat Support Training Exercise 86-18-04 (By Scott T. Sturkol) — More than 6,000 troops from across the United States trained at Fort McCoy for the 86th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 86-18-04.

The 86th conducted the exercise, which began June 9, as part of the 84th Training Command. During training year 2018, the 84th is hosting four CSTXs and a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear response exercise. CSTX 86-18-04 is the first of two CSTXs that will take place at Fort McCoy this year.

According to the 84th, a CSTX is part of its Combat Support Training Program (CSTP). CSTP exercises are large-scale training exercises where units-of-action experience tactical training scenarios specifically designed to replicate real-world missions.

“CSTP exercises prepare … Army Reserve units to be combat-ready by immersing them in realistic scenarios where they train as they would fight,” an 84th document about the exercises states. “CSTP exercises are an important step in building the most capable, combat-ready and lethal … Reserve force in history. These exercises are developed to improve each units’ training readiness and to assess how they perform in a dynamic operational environment.”

For CSTX 86-18-04, troops are operating all over the installation, including at multiple live-fire ranges as well as other training areas, said Training Coordination Branch Chief Craig Meeusen with the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS). Improved Tactical Training Bases (TTBs) Liberty and Freedom and TTBs Independence, Justice, and Valor are all serving as hubs of operation for training scenarios as well.

“The presence of troops is noticeable throughout the installation,” Meeusen said. “We’ve also got troops operating from Cranberry, Warrens, and Badger training areas as well as smaller areas.”

At Big Sandy Lake on South Post, quartermaster troops are also operating Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPU) to provide water for the exercise.

A ROWPU can provide potable water from any water source and can process up to 3,000 gallons an hour, according to Army specifications. A ROWPU can not only draw water from a lake, but also from rivers, oceans, or even holes in the ice. The system is built on to an Army trailer and includes its own generator and essentially a lab to operate the system from inside a covered enclosure. The system uses a variety of chemicals and membranes to filter and purify the water.

And, in addition to hundreds of quartermaster troops participating, there’s also medical, military police, engineer, transportation, fuels, and other service members in the exercise.

“Coordination for this exercise has been months in the planning, and we have the facilities, training areas, and support functions to help make this exercise a success,” Meeusen said.

Fort McCoy was established in 1909 and its 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.

(Article compiled by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)