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This Month in Fort McCoy History — February 2024

Courtesy Photo | This is a news clipping from the Feb. 5, 1944, edition of The Real McCoy newspaper at...... read more read more

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

02.20.2024

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office

Fort McCoy, Wis., was established in 1909. Here is a look back at some installation history from February 2024 and back.

80 Years Ago — February 1944
FROM THE FEB. 5, 1944, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: McCoy tire conservation efforts praised by expert (By Public Information Office Staff) — Praise for the efficient tire conservation efforts of drivers came this week to Col. George M. MacMullin, camp commander, from Harry A. Gregory, one of the two 6th Service Command tire maintenance technicians now on the post promoting education and inspection.

Working out of the Camp McCoy 4th Echelon Repair Shop, La Crosse, Gregory and Carl J. Ross, the other technician, cover Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.

“Our recent inspections of tires at Camp McCoy indicate first class maintenance,” Gregory declared. He had special praise for the first echelon maintenance of WAC drivers, calling them conscientious about their “routine tire inspections which are fundamental in conservation.”

Emphasizing the importance of preserving large truck tires, Gregory revealed that carcasses made with synthetic rubber in large than six-ply truck tires, arc not holding up as well as anticipated in certain operations.

“We must be doubly careful in conserving casings of crude rubber of these large tires,” he said. “Through proper maintenance, these crude rubber casings can be recapped as many as four or five times.”

FROM THE FEB. 12, 1944, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Division’s winter training instructors best in land (By Public Information Office Staff) — The accent is on mountain fighting training in the Army today and in the Mountain Training Group detachment now stationed at Camp McCoy giving instructions to men of the 76th Infantry Division the Army has some of the men best qualified to teach the fine points of fighting and mountain combat work.

The Italian campaign and the Army's experiences in the Aleutians have taught that preparation for winter fighting and mountain maneuvers is of utmost importance, Maj. Eric E. Wikner, commander of the Mountain Training Group unit here, said.

Wikner revealed units of the Mountain Training Group were now with the Fifth Army in Italy and that many of the MTG instructors here were with the American and Canadian forces which invaded Japanese-held strongholds of Attu and Kiska.

Wikner said, “These operations have pointed out the vital need for training of this type. The Attu operation was an example. Here 80 percent of the casualties were caused by not enough preparation for that type of cold-weather operation. At Cassino, 70 percent of the casualties are due to not enough preparation for mountain fighting.”

The Mountain Training Group’s mission here, Wikner said, was to increase combat efficiency and decrease potential casualties by proper training and preparation for winter and mountain operations. Experimental work in oversnow transportation and developing machine gun mounts have been among main tasks of the detachment.

30 Years Ago — February 1994
FROM THE FEB. 11, 1994, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: Goggles aid night pilots (Story by Rob Schuette, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office) — It’s like flying a day mission during the nighttime, said members of Company B of the 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation Group about the use of night-vision goggles (NVGs).

NVGs are specially crafted optical equipment that look like a modified set of binoculars but allow aircraft pilots to see terrain objects much more clearly at night than they could with the unaided eye.

About 65 members of the 2nd-147th, an Army National Guard unit headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, used NVGs to conduct annual training (AT) at Fort McCoy from Jan. 22-Feb. 4. Training here also included operating four hot-refueling points, enabling aircraft to land, refuel and take off immediately.

Unit members trained at Fort McCoy for one week and at Davenport for the other week. Part of the unit also performed its AT at Camp Ripley, Minn. Capt. Randy Warm, the company commander and an aircraft commander, said as an air-assault battalion, the 2nd-147th’s battlefield mission is to fly UH-1 (Huey) helicopters into a landing zone, pick up troops, secure the rear areas and take off.

“It’s our goal to have as many aviators trained with night-vision goggles as possible,” he said. “Not only does Fort McCoy offer excellent terrain to conduct our missions, but its personnel go out of their way to help ensure we are successful.”

Although many people were battling the cold weather, Warm said the helicopters actually fly better in it, as long as there isn’t freezing rain building up on the aircraft.

“It’s tough moving between our building and the aircraft, but once you’re in the aircraft, it’s all right,” he said.

Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) 4 Ty Simmons, a pilot and aircraft commander, learned to fly during a 1970 tour in Vietnam.

“We flew very few night missions in Vietnam because we didn't have night vision goggles,” Simmons said. “These are fantastic — a very sound piece of equipment.”

FROM THE FEB. 25, 1994, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: New ramp upgrades post’s rail capabilities (By Public Affairs Staff) — A new multi-level loading ramp (self-propelled) will significantly upgrade Fort McCoy's railroad system, said Bill Kasten, chief of the Directorate of Logistics (DOL) Transportation Division.

The new ramp, delivered to Fort McCoy on Feb. 10, eventually will replace the ramp at Track 3. Buck Equipment of Columbus, Ohio, built and delivered the new $56,200 ramp, which has a 10-ton capacity.

Sandy Jessen, DOL Transportation Division Traffic Management specialist, said the new ramp allows the post to better accomplish today's more complicated rail missions.

Among the advantages of the new ramp are its gradual ascent and versatility.

“We easily can handle any mission (with limits of equipment up to 10 tons or 20,000 pounds) we would get with the new ramp,” Jessen said. “It can be set to load or unload bi-level and tri-level rail cars, but it still can handle the regular flatcar missions.”

Jessen said another feature of the ramp is its mobility. During a mobilization mission, for example, the ramp could be moved to a track to help handle additional operations. In addition, the new ramp will improve safety because it is easier to move equipment on and off the ramp than it was with the low-incline ramp it will replace, Jessen said.

20 Years Ago — February 2004
FROM THE FEB. 13, 2004, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: Helicopters undergo cold-weather maneuvers at McCoy (By Public Affairs Staff) — Helicopter maintenance problems found during a January cold-weather test at Fort McCoy will lead to a more efficient fleet to be used throughout the Army and on the battlefield, said Col. Dave Cripps.

Cripps, the commander of the U.S. Army Aviation Technical Test Center (ATTC) at Fort Rucker, Ala., said the Lead the Fleet cold-weather test at McCoy consisted of personnel from the ATTC flying helicopters at two to three times the normal flight operation tempo rate. The ATTC brought a military, contracted and civilian flight, maintenance, and administrative team to McCoy to conduct the testing of Apache (attack) and Black Hawk (troop and equipment movement) helicopters.

Eric Rhyner, Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport manager, said this is the first time an Apache helicopter has been flown at Fort McCoy.

“We replicate the environmental conditions that pilots face in training and combat missions the best we can during our testing,” Cripps said. “The premise of the testing is that if something is going to break, we want it to break during the testing. That way we can analyze the data and determine a fix rather than have to face fixing or repairing the problems during training or on the battlefield.”

Special data-collection systems are connected to the helicopters’ electrical and flight equipment systems to analyze flight data and determine any repair or maintenance problems, Cripps said. Discovering a problem during testing is much better than discovering it during training or on the battlefield where it could cause problems or affect pilot or crew survivability, he said.

The data about problems is sent to the appropriate Army agencies, such as engineer commands, that determine how repairs or maintenance will be accomplished. Cripps said the cold-weather testing results are especially important for pilots conducting missions in locations that experience cold weather, including Korea, Northern Afghanistan, and Northern Iraq.

The organization usually conducts the cold-weather testing at its hangar at Duluth, Minn., said Norm Watson, the test coordinator from the Westar Corporation. The Minnesota Air National Guard requested to use the ATTC hangar this winter and next winter, however. Watson said the ATTC plans to return to McCoy next winter for further cold-weather testing.

10 Years Ago — February 2014
FROM THE FEB. 14, 2014, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Housing Division makes historic move to South Post (Story by Scott T. Sturkol, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office) — It’s a culmination of years of hard work by the Fort McCoy staff. For the recipients of housing services on Fort McCoy, this is a pretty big deal.

For the first time in the post’s history, the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Housing Division offi¬ces and warehouses are centrally located for their customers in the family housing area on South Post.

The move includes the reopening of the renovated South Post Community Center, building 6158, which also is home to the DPW Housing Division offi¬ces. Adjacent to the community center is a new housing warehouse — building 6167 — that includes a Self-help Center for housing residents.

“This move is extremely important because it’s an improvement for our customers,” said DPW Chief of Housing Ross O’Neil. “Having the community center reopened, the housing offi¬ce here and everything else in one place is an effort that we’ve worked on for many years. And, now that we’re open in the new location, we want residents and Fort McCoy staff to come and see our renovations and improvements.”

When the South Post Community Center reopened in January, that began the final stages of the move process, said Housing Management Specialist Sherry Oslie. The center was closed for renovation from September 2012 until January.

The center, built in 1931, previously served as an instructors building and the garrison commander’s home. The inside of the center now features an open-design concept with a conference and meeting area, a fully upgraded kitchen, two reconfigured family bathrooms, and a sitting area with new furniture that includes a 64-inch flat-screen television. The Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation soon will add display monitors to advertise upcoming events for all residents. The center’s front sunroom can be used during the warmer-weather months of the year.

Thee center already has 50-plus events scheduled to be held there for 2014, to include classes, town hall meetings and family and community gatherings.

5 Years Ago — February 2019
FROM THE FEB. 8, 2019, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Improvised shelter building among important skills taught to Cold-Weather Operations Course students (Story by Scott T. Sturkol) — During each session of the Fort McCoy Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC), students spend several days in the field surviving in improvised shelters they built with materials they find and have with them.

Lead CWOC Instructor Bill Hamilton, who works for contractor Veterans Range Solutions, which supports the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, or DPTMS, students spend approximately 20 hours during their 14 days of training learning about and building improvised shelters.

“They get three days of building shelters in varying terrain during the training,” Hamilton said. “We teach them to build a two-person covered shelter with several inches of natural insulation, which we’ve seen the students build.

“We’ve also seen larger shelters that would have six or more people in them and numerous other styles,” Hamilton said. “Some work well and others not so much, but all of the students have been quite creative and help each other learn.”

Hamilton said the most important factor for each shelter is making sure it’s well insulated. Some students have used evergreen boughs combined with leaves and debris. Others have incorporated Army ponchos with natural materials.

“Some have even incorporated snow in their shelter design,” Hamilton said. “There has been some really interesting structures put together.”

CWOC Class 19-02 student Spc. Zachrey Fortune with 375th Chemical Company of St. Charles, Mo., said learning about the shelters and how to keep a fire going were especially good lessons.

“I got enough training on how to start fires and building shelters that I can teach others,” Fortune said. “It’s nice to know how to build a shelter using just what the environment around you has to offer. … I will definitely be glad to teach others how to build (shelters) and how to survive with that they have.”

Army ROTC Cadet Brock Lippiatt with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, also a class 19-02 student, said he also enjoyed shelter building.

“Being in the field and living out of what we (built) and by what we were taught was incredibly helpful,” Lippiatt said. “I also liked the way the course is taught and set up as a crawl, walk, run. The whole course is awesome.”

During CWOC Class 19-02’s field training with shelter building, the students built several lean-to-style shelters and others took advantage of already fallen trees to build shelters around.

“Building our own thermal shelters was awesome,” said Pfc. Tyrell Hess with the 173rd Brigade Engineer Battalion of Rhinelander, Wis. “Having to survive like that made me feel a lot more inclined to work hard and take care of my stuff.”

Hamilton said the weather often helps determine how the students will build their shelters and what materials they incorporate into the build.

“It’s really about adapting to the environment they have around them and then building their thermal shelters from that point on,” Hamilton said.

Each CWOC class training includes a wide range of cold-weather subjects in addition to shelter building, including skiing and snowshoe training, how to use ahkio sleds, setting up the Arctic 10-person cold-weather tent, cold-water immersion, and more. Training also focuses on terrain and weather analysis, risk management, proper wear of cold-weather clothing, developing winter fighting positions in the field, and camouflage and concealment, Hamilton said.

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.”

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