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This Month in Fort McCoy History — April 2024

Courtesy Photo | This is a news clipping from the April 15, 1944, edition of The Real McCoy newspaper...... read more read more

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

04.24.2024

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office

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

80 Years Ago — April 1944
FROM THE APRIL 8, 1944, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: 33-week radio series begins, LaX opener wins acclaim — Camp McCoy’s Soldier entertainers opened their ambitious 33-week radio program series last Monday night with a half-hour broadcast over Station WKBH, La Crosse, and won acclaim for the presentation.

The entertainers whom Badger state citizens paid $12,000,000 to see in the recent “It’s the McCoy” war bond show, will come to every home in the state through the courtesy of Col. George M. MacMullin, post commander, who offered the Middle West’s best talent for the two series of broadcasts — one over WTMJ, Milwaukee Journal, which will continue for 20 Saturdays; the other over WKBH, which has a 13-week schedule.

The WTMJ broadcasts, which will also be featured over Journal’s FM station, will emanate from McCoy’s “Theater of the Air,” Theater #3, at 3 p.m. Saturdays. The La Crosse programs are at 9:30 p.m. Mondays.

Technical direction of the programs is in the hands of Lt. Vance Schwartz, post theater officer, while material for the programs is being prepared under the direction of Capt. Allen Kohan, post public relations chief.

FROM THE APRIL 8, 1944, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Division troops witness realistic bombardment; Aircobras, Warhawks, Mitchells blast target — A realistic demonstration showing the fire power of attacking aircraft and also that of ground troops was viewed by the entire 76th Infantry Division last Saturday afternoon.

The stage for the air-ground show was a valley, ringed by hills, in the south part of the Camp McCoy reservation. The troops and officers of the division held ringside seats on Thorp Hill. The aircraft portion of the show was presented by members of the 3rd Composite Squadron flying Aircobras, Warhawks and Mitchells, and using live ammunition and bombs.

The infantry’s answer to enemy aircraft was presented by the 1st battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment, firing all weapons in the battalion which could be reasonably used to blast attacking
planes.

Among the high-ranking officers who witnessed the demonstration were Maj. Gen. William
R. Schmidt, division commander; Brig. Gen. Henry C. Evans, division artillery commander; Brig. Gen. Francis A. Woolf Icy, assistant division commander, and Col. William W. O’Connor, division chief-of-staff.

Various methods of air attack were shown, including medium altitude bombing, skip bombing,
and dive bombing. Throughout the demonstration, Maj. John Gelgel, tactical air commander, pointed out distinguishing features of the fighters and bombers as they swept low across the valley in front of the assembled troops.

A series of red panels strung along a dirt road represented a convoy of trucks. The attacking
planes swooped down with .50-caliber machine guns spitting lead into the targets. Highlight
of the bombings was the dropping of 28 250-pounders on a target.

Laying of a smoke screen lowered the curtain on the first half of the show. Along the base of Thorp Hill, the 1st Battalion, 304th Regiment was dug in and all the weapons of the battalion were trained on a white panel target approximately 350 yards to their front.

Lt. Col. Claude M. Howard, battalion commander, described the action as Capt. Amos B. Churchill, executive officer, gave the signal to the troops to commence firing. For one minute the combined fire of Browning Automatic Rifles, light and heavy machine guns, carbines, M-1s, 03s, poured lead into the target.

40 Years Ago — April 1984
FROM THE APRIL 19, 1984, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: 37,000 expected here for AT 84 (By Donald W. Affolter) — Fort McCoy expects 37,000 Reservists and National Guardsmen for Annual Training 1984. Another 45,000 will come for weekend training.

“We'll have about as many Soldiers this year as we had last year,” Maj. Stephen Robinette, director of plans, training, and security, predicted. Last year there were 37,000 here for annual training and 46,000 on weekends.

About 300 soldiers from maintenance units complete their two weeks of annual training Friday. AT 84, however, starts in earnest May 5 when 1,900 Soldiers show up.

They will be from transportation, field artillery, and engineer units. Fort McCoy will have its busiest weeks July 14-28 when the 47th “Viking” Infantry Division sends about 12,000 Soldiers to train.

The division, made up of three brigades — the 1st of Minnesota, the 33rd of Southern Illinois, and the 34th of Iowa — will train as a single unit for the first time since it was organized in 1947, said Maj. Terry Jones, public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard.

The division is the successor of the old 34th “Red Bull” Infantry Division, which fought during World Wars I and II, Jones added.

“As I understand it, the division will go directly to the field without stopping off at the barracks,” Jones said. “They will be in the field nine days.”

Another big two weeks will begin June 9 when Wisconsin’s 32nd Brigade sends 4,200 Soldiers to Fort McCoy. During the second week, two battalions will oppose each other in a defense/counterattack excerise, a brigade spokesman said.

In September, about 150 British soldiers will train here with the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, an Urbana, Ill., National Guard unit. A company from the battalion will train in England during the same period.

To support summer training, Fort McCoy already has hired about 100 temporary and seasonal employees, said Edward T. Morris, chief of recruitment, placement and services.

There will be about 1,500 civilians and 260 military, including those in tenant organizations, on post during the summer.

William Klein, director of industrial operations (DIO), said DIO already is going to ammunition depots with forecasts from the various units to assure that the ammunition is delivered shortly before the units arrive.

DIO also has defined fuel requirements for the summer, ordered food for the Soldiers and is completing “a lot of convoy clearances,” Klein added. Units also are being assigned to buildings throughout the installation.

MATES — the Wisconsin National Guard's Mobilization and Training Equipment Concentration Site — has been authorized by the National Guard Bureau to activate Guardsmen for 300-soldier days to prepare and maintain equipment for training.

30 Years Ago — April 1994
FROM THE APRIL 8, 1994, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: Earth Day to feature lots of family events — “The Time Has Come” is the theme for the fifth annual Fort McCoy Earth Day Celebration and Volksmarch Sunday, April 24, which will be held, rain or shine, at the Pine View Recreation Area.

The family-oriented day features activities from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, and the event is open to the Fort McCoy community and the general public.

A variety of special events and environmental exhibits are planned to celebrate the theme and are:
* A competitive 10K run at 7:45 a.m., which begins the formal events. Preregistration for the run is $8 through April 13 and $10 after. (Race-day registration begins at7 a.m.) Prizes will be awarded for first and second places. The first 50 people to register will receive a T-shirt.

* A 10- or 20-kilometer Volksmarch. The trail, which winds through a scenic wooded area along the La Crosse River, can be walked for free, or for a fee, IVV (International Federation of Popular Sports) credit, a medal, or both. Walkers can begin the course from 8 a.m. to noon and should plan to finish by 3 p.m.

* Various environmental displays depicting post recycling and natural resources programs, including the La Crosse River project and endangered species information.

* Safety Kleen, Inc., will accept used motor oil and filters for recycling. Costumed characters will be on hand to enhance awareness of items banned from landfills.

* Earth Day scavenger hunt and make or design your own Earth Day button events will be held.

* A live reptile display, a casting pond and musical entertainment.

* At noon, the post will receive its fifth consecutive Tree City USA award and its first Tree City USA Growth Award. An Arbor Day tree-planting ceremony also is planned.

FROM THE APRIL 22, 1994, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: 337th CS Hospital
trains to sustain (By Rob Schuette, Public Affairs Staff) — One hundred ninety-six members of the
337th Combat Support Hospital went right to work sustaining their deployable medical systems (DEPMEDS) skills at Fort McCoy.

Command Sgt. Maj. Mel Bergweiler said the 337th, an Army Reserve unit from Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., was the first reserve unit training at Regional Training Site-Medical (RTS-MED) to go directly to the field.

According to Bergweiler, the 337th used its annual training from March 26-April 8 to work on all the tasks that running a DEPMEDS setup requires: setting up the facilities; training in patient care; defending the perimeter (in conjunction. with its supporting units, which weren't here); and moving the facilities, as necessary.

A 72-hour exercise with mannequin “patients,” as well as live “patients,” also provided good training, he said.

Bergweiler said 72 hours is an important battlefield figure because, in a combat situation, the unit would have 72 hours to either treat Soldiers and return them to combat, if possible, or send them to a more advanced facility for treatment.

“We use a ‘Lanes Training’ system to give the Soldiers training and competency in the individual tasks,” he said. “Then we bring it all together to accomplish our mission."

Maj. Craig Hintz, the 337th’s executive officer, said the Soldiers of the unit gave him favorable feedback about their mission and the support of the RTS-MED at Fort McCoy.

“The RTS-MBD instructors came to our home station for several weekends to help us prepare for this training and our year-round training,” he said. “They’re professional and resourceful.”

Master Sgt. Dennis Dresseihaus, the chief ward master for the 337th, said the training gave the Soldiers an idea of what combat medicine would be like.

“The mannequins and live patients gave us very effective training,” he said. “The ‘wounds’ and ‘injuries’ our medics planned were very graphic and very realistic.”

Sgt. 1st Class John Hodel, a ward master said the training also gave hospital staff realistic training using equipment, such as respirators, defibrillation machines and intravenous (IV) apparatus.

20 Years Ago — April 2004
FROM THE APRIL 23, 2004, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: Installation’s demobilization role increases — Reserve-component Soldiers returning to Fort McCoy to demobilize from an assignment supporting the Global War on Terrorism spend five to eight days getting their records updated and beginning the process to readjust to civilian life.

About 20 media representatives came to Fort McCoy April 6 and received an overview of the Fort McCoy demobilization process. Master Sgt. David Sonntag, the NCOIC of the Mobilization Unit Inprocessing Center, and Maj. Pam Dowdy, the officer in charge of the Soldier Readiness Center, presented the overview of the process.

A number of personnel support the process as demobilizing Soldiers go through 15 stations to get their personnel, legal, and financial records and military benefits and other items in order. Military personnel processing through Fort McCoy also have the opportunity to get services, such as religious support,
counseling and family support.

Sonntag said the units and Soldiers being demobilized at Fort McCoy come directly to the installation after their return to the area.

“We begin the demobilization process within hours of them coming back to the area,” Sonntag said. “The unit is billeted and stays at Fort McCoy during this process.”

Dowdy said the units are given briefings to cover a number of topics they need to accomplish to successfully demobilize. The Soldiers, for example, are told about educational benefits, veterans home loans, reemployment rights, as well as a number of other topics, she said.

Most units returning to Fort McCoy demobilize as one unit, Dowdy said. Soldiers who are injured may be placed into a medical hold unit as they recover.

“We have not seen a lot of problems with illnesses (because of the Soldiers serving in a particular area),” Dowdy said in response to a media question. “What we have been seeing of (injured) Soldiers returning is typical of the on-the-job injuries seen in the civilian sector.”

10 Years Ago — April 2014
FROM THE APRIL 25, 2014, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Stocking, survey efforts precede May 3 Fort McCoy fishing opener (By Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Staff) — Wisconsin’s 2014 general inland fishing season opens May 3. The more than 3,800 people who fish in the lakes and streams on Fort McCoy on average every year will benefit from the stocking of fish in several bodies of water on post.

“We stock about 15,000 rainbow trout annually in six lakes and impoundments,” said John Noble, Fort McCoy Fisheries biologist from the Directorate of Public Works Natural Resources
Branch. “Typically, rainbow trout are stocked in the spring, usually a week or two prior to opening day. This year, there will be thousands of trout stocked by opening day.

“Fish are raised from eggs and take about 11 months to grow to 8 to 12 inches, depending on the feeding rates,” Noble said. “We obtain these fish through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
(FWS) Genoa National Fish Hatchery. We have an agreement with the FWS, who raise the fish and certify fish health before delivery and stocking.”

The Genoa National Fish Hatchery is located about three miles south of Genoa, Wis., and was established in 1932. The hatchery serves six Midwestern states and rears 23 species of fish to support high-priority federal management, restoration and threatened and endangered species programs, according to FWS. The certification of fish health is completed by the FWS
La Crosse Fish Health Center.

Noble said rainbow trout are the preferred fish to stock because they’re not capable of reproducing in the lake or streams if they get past a dam.

“We like rainbow trout, as there is no competition with the stream trout,” Noble said. “We have plenty of natural reproduction in our streams, and no longer have a need to stock the streams. We don’t want to stock other genetic strains of brook or brown trout into the system.”

Stocking fish once a year in the spring — in addition to having benefits for anglers — allows for better survivability for the trout with cooler water temperatures, and saves money from multiple fish-stocking efforts, Noble said.

Noble encourages anglers to also report tagged fish information.

“Usually, we are looking to get the date of catch, lake or stream location, the tag number and fish length information which can be submitted to our Permit Sales Office,” Noble said. “Many anglers already do this, and we send them information specific to the fish they caught. Giving us fish length to the nearest quarter inch is best. Some anglers even provide fish weight.”

5 Years Ago — April 2019
FROM THE APRIL 12, 2019, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Fort McCoy CWOC training for 2018-19 finishes with hundreds trained (By Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Staff) — More than 220 students who were part of six, 14-day training sessions graduated from the Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) during the 2018-19 winter training season at Fort McCoy.

Overall, nearly 400 service members — including Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers — received some type of cold-weather operations training from CWOC instructors.

Students included a Total Force aspect with mix of Guard, Reserve, and active-duty service members participating in the course. A contingent of Army Rangers participated in class 19-05.

It was also a season with multiservice involvement with Marines as well as Navy personnel participating in several classes.

“I think this season went really well,” said Hunter Heard, CWOC instructor who works for contractor Veterans Range Solutions, which supports the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, or DPTMS. “This season was great for the students because of the weather we had throughout the season, so the students got the full exposure of cold-weather and snow.”

The CWOC is modeled after the Cold-Weather Leader Course taught by the Army Northern Warfare Training Center (NWTC) at Black Rapids, Alaska. During training, students learned about a wide range of cold-weather subjects, including skiing and snowshoe training as well as how to use ahkio sleds and the Arctic 10-person cold-weather tent, and how to build improvised shelters.

“This course demonstrated through crawl, walk, and run phases the vital tasks of cold-weather operations,” said Capt. Christopher Scott Peterman with the 349th Tactical Psychological Operations Company of Aurora, Colo., who was a student in CWOC Class 19-06. “I will take the knowledge I learned here and share it with my detachment and company. Directly, this course taught me to manage uncomfortable situations and how to better work in a team with others.”

For each class, students would start off with classroom training and then move into various aspects of field training utilizing many types of equipment. CWOC Instructor Joe Ernst said some came to the course having never been on skis or snowshoes.

“We would have many students who couldn’t ski when they got here, and then when they leave two weeks later, they are pretty good at it,” Ernst said. “We are fortunate to have a place like Whitetail Ridge Ski Area for them to train on as well. It’s a great facility that always has what’s needed to teach the skiing portion of our training.”

Students also completed miles and miles of ruck marching in the snow and cold during the season. Sometimes the students were marching in snowshoes and skis, and they covered dozens of miles.

“The training is by no means easy,” said CWOC Instructor Manny Ortiz. “They have to work hard and work as a team to complete this course and graduate.”

During field training, students also completed terrain and weather analysis, camouflage and concealment, and risk management; learned to properly wear cold-weather clothing and prevent cold-weather injuries; developed winter fighting positions and improvised shelters in the field; and built teamwork skills, Ernst said.

More students may sign up for training because of the successes already achieved in the course.

“Fort McCoy is always a good place for any kind of training I have done since joining the military,” said Class 19-06 student Sgt. Joshua Harvey with the 323rd Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Company of Sioux Falls, S.D. “I will definitely be encouraging Soldiers from my unit to attend this course because it is good training, and the instructors are full of endless knowledge.”

CWOC classes resume again in December, Heard said, and they expect to train the same amount of students or more.

Additionally, Fort McCoy can tailor the classes to support the unit commander’s training objectives during extreme weather, said DPTMS Director Brad Stewart.

“We have held 4- to 8-hour courses with Operation Cold Steel sustainment gunnery crews and two- to four-day courses with units from the 181st Multifunctional Training Brigade,” Stewart said. “Our job is to train as many Soldiers to operate in cold weather and see it as a combat enabler, rather than an inhibitor. Our focus is on junior leaders because they will be the ones training their junior Soldiers how to operate, fight, and win in extreme weather conditions. Exposure and training prior to combat increases readiness and builds muscle memory for success on today’s battlefields.”

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.)