Photo By Scott Sturkol | Soldiers with the 824th Engineer Detachment (Concrete), a Wisconsin National Guard...... read more read more
Subscribe
Soldiers with the 824th Engineer Detachment (Concrete) set up to work in early June on the cantonment area to replace a 100-foot section of sidewalk, and within days had the troop project completed.
Staff Sgt. Jesse Flores, construction supervisor for the project with the 824th, which is a Wisconsin National Guard unit based in Baraboo, said the first part of the project, and likely the most difficult, was dealing with muddy conditions following some recent steady rain.
“I know it had been raining quite a bit over the past month because I normally live in Sparta,” Flores said. “So, we knew we could encounter some of that with this project.”
Flores’ team dug out all of the 100 feet old sidewalk, put in new aggregate on the base, and set in forms to pour concrete for the new stretch of sidewalk.
“This portion of sidewalk … took about 8 yards of concrete,” Flores said.
When all was said and done, Flores said the team had more than 20 hours of work into the project. He added the work is good training for all members of the unit, but is especially useful for newer members of the engineer detachment.
“Well, we are a concrete detachment, so starting off (training) with little projects like this are good,” Flores said. “Some of these guys … don’t know a lot about it. So, the more practice they can get at smaller projects like this, the better it is for when we get into bigger projects.”
Flores added his unit has mostly Soldiers with the 12N military occupational specialty (MOS), which is the horizontal construction engineer. He said there’s also Soldiers who are in the 12W MOS — carpentry and masonry specialist.
According to the Army job description for the MOS of 12N, as a horizontal construction engineer, “you’ll operate heavy construction equipment like bulldozers, tractors, backhoes, cranes, excavators, and road graders to help pave the way for fellow Soldiers and to make room for construction projects. Without safe roads to travel, it’s hard for Soldiers to move around, especially in unfamiliar territory. You’ll also assist Army engineers to analyze construction site needs and transport heavy construction equipment from one site to another.”
And according to the Army job description for the MOS of 12W, as a carpentry and masonry specialist, “you'll have the skills needed to handle a variety of carpentry and masonry duties, building important structures for the Army using hand and power tools, lumber, concrete, stones, and bricks. You’ll also help combat engineers build structures to respond to rough terrain and environmental hazards.”
Learn more about this career and related engineer jobs by visiting https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/career-match/mechanics-engineering/design-develop/12n-horizontal-construction-engineer.html and https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/mechanics-engineering/test-repair/12w-carpentry-masonry-specialist.
Flores said the 824th team is also happy to support troop projects for Fort McCoy.
“It’s a wonderful being able to come out here,” Flores said. “We love coming to Fort McCoy. It’s nice and close to home. And we get to make Fort McCoy look great.”
Fort McCoy Troop Projects Coordinator Larry Morrow with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works has said in past news articles that any continuing support he receives to improve Fort McCoy through troop projects is always appreciated.
“If we didn’t have these projects, many of these engineer troops wouldn’t get the training they need, and the installation wouldn’t benefit from the work they do to improve Fort McCoy training ranges and quality-of-life programs,” he said.
The sidewalk projects was just one of several projects Wisconsin National Guard engineer units were supporting during their annual training at Fort McCoy in June 2024.
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. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 06.07.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2024 23:54 |
| Story ID: | 473692 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 323 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Wisconsin National Guard’s 824th Engineers complete sidewalk troop project during 2024 Fort McCoy training, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
