Thousands of troops participated in the 86th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 86-24-02 as well as the 2024 Global Medic exercise and among the top priorities for exercise planners was making sure those troops had the food supplies needed for meals, and more.
Enter the Fort McCoy food-service team. The installation’s food-service team ensures that need is always met, said Fort McCoy Food Program Manager Andy Pisney with the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center (LRC).
That team includes the LRC Food Program Management Office (FPMO) and the LRC Subsistence Supply Management Office (SSMO; the full food-service contractor DCT Inc.; and food suppliers, such as Sysco Foods of Baraboo, Wis.
The 86th’s CSTX and Global Medic took place from Aug. 3-17 with 6,000-plus troops participating, said 86th Training Division Public Affairs Officer Maj. Jon Dahl. With that many troops, Pisney said the SSMO was busy providing constant support.
“The SSMO is one of the busiest organizations during any large training event,” Pisney said in a previous news article. “The office orders, receives, and distributes all food and rations necessary for each exercise as well as for units conducting weekend, extended combat, or annual training.”
He also noted that members of the SSMO oversee the installation central fuel facility, so they pull dual duty at both 490 where they unload, store, and issue rations, and they also unload fuel and maintain the Central Fuel Point at building 3010.
“The SSMO staff provides service to exercises seven days a week,” Pisney said.
By the numbers, for food-service support, the team provided a significant number of items throughout the training, Pisney said.
Pisney said for food service the SSMO supported CSTX/Global Medic with Class I in the following quantities: Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), 100,992 meals; Unitized Group Rations (UGRs), 99,316 servings; UHT milk, 51,840 containers; bagged ice, 110,140 pounds; and additional enhancements such as cereal, fresh fruit, salad mix, and salad dressings.
The Unitized Group Rations were likely the biggest items in use by the numerous Army Reserve field feeding teams participating in the training.
“The Unitized Group Rations require food-service capability — a food-service specialist — to prepare,” Pisney said. “These rations are configured in 50-person modules and contain meat, starch, vegetables, condiments, and beverages.”
During the CSTX/Global Medic training, the field feeding teams preparing meals in the field were: 764th Field Feeding Team, 765th Field Feeding Team, 766th Field Feeding Team, 767th Field Feeding Team, 776th Field Feeding Team, 798th Field Feeding Team, and 799th Field Feeding Team.
It wasn’t uncommon throughout the exercise to see several M1075 Palletized Load System trucks and trailers filling up with the supplies of MREs, UGRs, and more outside of the SSMO in building 490. And aiding their loading was SSMO staff with forklifts.
No matter what work needed to be accomplished, Pisney said his team, like many of the other support areas at Fort McCoy, complete their work behind the scenes as efficiently as possible without interrupting the mission.
“We have many unsung heroes, especially when you are talking about this team,” Pisney also said in a previous news article. “Food service is a training enabler, and we don’t ever want it to be a distractor. The mission always comes first, and if we can support the mission without distracting from it — that’s perfect.”
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,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post 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: | 08.20.2024 |
Date Posted: | 08.20.2024 01:30 |
Story ID: | 478996 |
Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
Web Views: | 1,395 |
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