Photo By Lt. Col. James Ontiveros | Soldiers with U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy conduct cold-weather training Jan. 19,...... read more read more
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During mid-January, Fort McCoy was hit with nearly a foot and a half of snow followed by sub-zero temperatures. That weather prompted many Soldiers at the installation to go out and get some winter training completed, including Soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy.
Nearly a dozen Soldiers with the garrison took the whole day Jan. 19 to practice a host of skills related to Army cold-weather operations.
First Sgt. Jacob Pattison with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy, said the day was filled with all things cold-weather.
“We conducted familiarization training on the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System or Extended Climate Warfighter Clothing System (ECWCS), depending on what regulation you are referencing), in the morning which enabled us to better understand what layers of the system should be worn for different weather and activities,” Pattison said.
“In the afternoon, we did a practical exercise at Whitetail (Ridge Ski Area) with an ahkio sled and snowshoes using the recommended layers of the ECWCS for the current weather conditions.”
The day they conducted the training, Jan. 19, was one of the coldest days of January with temperatures as cold as -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
“It was eye-opening for most of the Soldiers to see how well the ECWCS keeps you warm and dry even when performing heavy activity,” Pattison said.
Fort McCoy’s Central Issue Facility is one place that issues the Army ECWCS equipment and clothing.
“Here, Reserve Soldiers can be permanently issued their cold-weather gear and learn how to use it in training at the same time, … which is one reason why Fort McCoy is so well suited to support the cold-weather training,” said CIF Property Book Officer Thomas Lovgren in a past news article. Other students can sign out equipment that is required for course participation.
More than a dozen items make up the Army ECWCS, Lovgren said. The system includes a lightweight undershirt and underwear, midweight shirt and underwear, fleece jacket, wind jacket, soft shell jacket and trousers, extreme cold/wet-weather jacket and trousers, and extreme cold-weather parka and trousers.
“It’s a layered system that allows for protection in a variety of climate elements and temperatures,” Lovgren said. Each piece in the ECWCS fits and functions either alone or together as a system, which enables seamless integration with load-carrying equipment and body armor.
Also, historically, Fort McCoy has long been a home for winter training for Soldiers and service members overall.
For example, in January 1944, Soldiers with the 562nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion went out on then-Camp McCoy to hold their own cold-weather training.
In an article from the Jan. 15, 1944, edition of The Real McCoy newspaper, it stated, “562nd learns ‘anti-freeze;’ two-day bivouac test mastered successfully by battalion.”
In the article, written by the camp’s Public Information Office at that time, states, “A definite ‘break’ in the weather last week brought a successful climax to two weeks of rugged winter training for personnel of the 562nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion. The break came when the temperature dropped to -20 below zero while the unit, under command of Lt. Lee E. Isreall, was experiencing the two-day and night winter maneuver bivouac in the southwest sector of the post.
“Troops of the battalion met the rigid test successfully, putting into use the subjects learned the previous two weeks on rigors of winter bivouacking,” the article states. “The severe change in weather also afforded troops opportunity to put their winter equipment and clothing to full use.”
Pattison and the Fort McCoy Garrison Soldiers were repeating, almost to the day, the work the the 562nd Soldiers completed 80 years ago. And Pattison said it was all worth it.
“Overall, it was a beneficial training that boosted our confidence in using Army-issued equipment in harsh winter conditions,” Pattison said.
Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security holds a wide variety of Army winter equipment too, including the ahkio sleds, Arctic 10-person tents, stoves, skis, snowshoes, and more.
Soldiers with the 88th Readiness Division also held winter training around the same time.
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 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. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2024 17:15 |
| Story ID: | 462761 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 673 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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