Courtesy Photo | Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi, commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division and...... read more read more
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Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi, commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division and senior commander for Fort McCoy, took time out Oct. 30 to visit several areas of Fort McCoy Garrison and visit with garrison personnel.
Ricciardi visited the Range Management Branch with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS).
DPTMS Range Management Branch includes Range Operations, Range Safety, Range Scheduling, Range Fire Desk, and Range Maintenance. The team who works in these areas has a lot of space to manage.
Fort McCoy has 31 live-fire ranges, 17 of which are automated or instrumented; 21 artillery firing points; 12 mortar firing points; and an 8,000-acre impact area, DPTMS officials said. Ranges supporting collective live-fire training include two multipurpose training ranges, a convoy live-fire range, an infantry platoon and squad battle course, three multipurpose machine-gun ranges, two live-fire shoot houses, and a live-fire breach facility.
Ricciardi also visited Range 29 on Fort McCoy’s North Post. Range 29 is one of the 30-plus live-fire ranges on North Post, and it has also received many improvements in recent years the contributes to live-fire convoy training.
Ricciardi also visited with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services. There he met up close with police and fire personnel as well as other DES personnel.
DES personnel, especially firefighters, police officers, and dispatchers, cover operations in their areas on post 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
With the DES Fire Department, it was reaccredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International for the third time in 2022.
Fire Chief Tim Jorgensen, Assistant Fire Chief Brady Brever, Assistant Fire Chief Hunter Young, Fire Prevention Inspector/Safety Officer Curt Ladwig worked to complete the accreditation process and sit before a board.
“This is our third time receiving this accreditation,” Jorgensen said in 2022. “Our first time receiving the accreditation was in 2012.”
The accreditation process takes place every five years, Brever said. The Fort McCoy Fire Department is one of more than 200 agencies to achieve Internationally Accredited Agency status with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Brever discussed the accreditation process for the fire department.
“It’s an international accreditation from a third party,” Brever said. “They are looking at the department as a whole and all the programs and processes that are in place to conduct business as a fire department. The accreditation process allows a fire department to review their programs and identify strengths in programs that are going well and weaknesses that provide opportunities for improvement. We see accreditation as a continuous improvement plan for the fire department to be able to provide the best emergency response to the community we serve and protect.”
And like firefighters, day and night, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year — there’s always someone with the DES Police Department on duty, said Police Chief Brian Bomstein. And no matter the weather — rain in the summer or cold and snow in the winter — they are always there.
“As a police officer, you understand that you are not always going to work in optimal weather conditions, or that you may see things throughout your career that most people do not have to deal with,” Bomstein said about police working in cold in 2023. “However, the officers of the Fort McCoy DES Police Department have a sense of duty and drive to serve the Soldiers, civilians, and visitors of Fort McCoy with a professional level of service. This includes working in various weather conditions to include thunderstorms, tornados, and extreme cold when temperatures keep a lot other people indoors or seeking shelter.”
Ricciardi completed his visit with garrison personnel by returning back to Fort McCoy Garrison Headquarters and meeting more with members of the garrison command team and headquarters personnel, said Executive Officer Mike Volpe with Fort McCoy Garrison who helped coordinate the visit.
Ricciardi assumed command of the 88th Readiness Division, headquartered at Fort Snelling, Minn., and Fort McCoy, on July 20.
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.”
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)
| Date Taken: | 11.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2024 13:16 |
| Story ID: | 484458 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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