Photo By Scott Sturkol | The construction area for a new $28.08 million barracks building is shown March 6,...... read more read more
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When 2024 began, there was already a wide variety of training, new construction, and more going on. The installation had new construction projects finishing up and planned construction soon to start.
There was also lots of training was planned, and the year itself would lend itself to historic anniversaries, like 50 years since the name change from Camp McCoy to Fort McCoy.
And as the year went on, the Fort McCoy team and workforce stepped up to get many, many things accomplished successfully. No matter what challenge arose, through every month, the installation team worked with others to get big projects, events, and more completed.
JANUARY
— As January 2024 dawned, contractors were busy getting the foundation complete for a third four-story, 60,000-square-foot barracks at Fort McCoy as construction with the Army Corps of Engineers-managed project continues.
The third barracks was awarded June 28, 2023, to BlindermanPower (Construction) at just over $28 million. A notice to proceed with construction was given on Sept. 26, 2023. As of Jan. 2, 2024, a lot of infrastructure construction had been completed and work on concrete placements for footings, stem walls, and piers were getting done, said Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Office at Fort McCoy.
— An aircrew with the Wisconsin National Guard at Madison operated a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Jan. 3 at Fort McCoy, Wis., as part of annual training at the post. Members of the unit regularly complete training operations at Fort McCoy and the unit also supports numerous training events at the installation each year.
According to the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, Black Hawk crews were supporting a training event on post in early January. Weather conditions on during the training were favorable to have flight operations, officials said.
— During mid-January, Fort McCoy was hit with nearly a foot and a half of snow followed by sub-zero temperatures. That weather prompted many Soldiers at the installation to go out and get some winter training completed, including Soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy.
Nearly a dozen Soldiers with the garrison took the whole day Jan. 19 to practice a host of skills related to Army cold-weather operations.
First Sgt. Jacob Pattison with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy, said the day was filled with all things cold-weather.
“We conducted familiarization training on the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System or Extended Climate Warfighter Clothing System (ECWCS), depending on what regulation you are referencing), in the morning which enabled us to better understand what layers of the system should be worn for different weather and activities,” Pattison said.
— The first Commander for a Day program participant, Ben Meyer, had the opportunity to go through the daily routine of a garrison commander Jan. 11 at Fort McCoy.
The program allows a selected applicant to see first-hand and apply skills necessary to lead a U.S. Army garrison and experience a typical commander’s day.
Meyer, a night shift watch commander with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services, was the first person chosen for the new initiative to shadow Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger. He was able to join Messenger attending meetings and several engagements throughout the day.
The program offered a unique perspective, Messenger said, allowing the participant to witness firsthand the dedication of the men and women who serve at Fort McCoy.
“I learned how great everybody here is on Fort McCoy,” Meyer said. “I’ve always known, but coming from nights going to days, you really get to see the passion that everybody has for their jobs over here.”
— Snow-removal crews were busy between Jan. 9-13 at Fort McCoy as the installation received more than 18 inches of snow over that span, plus the snowfall was followed by below-zero temperatures.
The snowy weather also caused the installation to go to minimal staffing on Jan. 9 and 12 as driving conditions in the local areas were considered less than favorable.
The National Weather Service (NWS) described the heaviest part of the storms that took place Jan. 12-13, 2024.
“A potent winter storm brought heavy snow and strong/gusty winds to much of the region from early Friday morning, January 12th into the morning of Saturday the 13th,” the NWS stated at https://www.weather.gov/arx/jan1224. “A broad swath of a foot or more of snow ran from southern Iowa into southern and eastern Wisconsin. The bulk of the snow fell that Friday. Meanwhile, north winds were gusting 40-plus mph at times across portions of Iowa and southern/eastern Wisconsin on Friday afternoon and evening. Widespread blowing and drifting snow lead to blizzard conditions across parts of these areas.”
— Dozens of Fort McCoy community members gathered Jan. 16 to celebrate the life and ideals of Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. during Fort McCoy’s 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Observance at McCoy’s Community Center at Fort McCoy.
The 2024 observance at Fort McCoy featured opening comments by Master Sgt. Ana Guzman with the Fort McCoy Equal Opportunity Office who organized the event. It also included an opening prayer by Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Amy Noble with the Fort McCoy Religious Support Office, and Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger spoke about the legacy of MLK Jr. The 2024 theme for the observance was “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not A Day Off!”
— Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger, Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, garrison command sergeant major, and other Fort McCoy Garrison personnel visited the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center on. Jan. 26, 2024, to learn more about their support in curating and housing archaeological artifacts found at the installation.
The visit, organized by Garrison Archaeologist Ryan Howell with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch, took a couple hours at the center on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus.
Howell said Fort McCoy’s artifact collection contains more than 600,000 artifacts ranging in age from Native American artifacts more than 12,000 years old to 1942-45 World War II-era military artifacts.
“The Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center is the closest federally sanctioned curation facility to Fort McCoy and has a long history of working with the installation’s cultural resource management program,” Howell said. “Most of the Fort McCoy (archaeology) staff and others have worked or trained with the program over the years. Plus, most scientific interest in the Fort McCoy collections would most likely come from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse archaeology program or scholars visiting it to see other collections.”
Katherine Stevenson, operations manager with the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, described the center when visiting with the garrison leaders.
“Our … area here is open to the public, and (we) try to have people do a lot on social media and really try to encourage regional understanding and preservation,” Stevenson said. “And so (we have) that combined mission, and (we’re) also serving as a regional repository. We’ve been doing that since 1952. Besides our former friend collections, we also are a repository for … wildlife collections from this area, and it has I think been a nice arrangement. I know that there’s kind of a centralization trend with repositories, but it’s awfully nice for agencies that are managing collections to have them readily available for access and to have kind of that working relationship with them as a local repository.”
— Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger held a town hall session with the installation workforce Jan. 25, 2024, to provide an update on news and information in the garrison, and more.
This was the first town hall for 2024 for Messenger. “Happy Thursday. Happy New Year! Welcome back from the holidays,” Messenger said.
The garrison commander continued to open by thanking the Fort McCoy workforce for making a difference. He also discussed the Army Civilian Corps Creed and how Fort McCoy people exemplify what that creed stands for.
“So, I just wanted to walk through it with you real quick on the importance of what you do every day,” Messenger said. “(The creed) says ‘I’m an army civilian, a member of an Army team.’ And I tell you, there are not many teams that I have been with that are closer knit and fun than Fort McCoy.
“‘I am dedicated to our Army, Soldiers, and civilians.’ While we talk about the Soldier being the center of gravity, the civilian aspect is so important here,” Messenger said. “This garrison is 99 percent civilians, and (you) support each other … (and) you do it so well.
“‘I will always support the mission.’ … Last week, we had … two snow events and there are mission essential and critical personnel who have to come in even when it snows,” Messenger said. “All of the fire department, the Directorate of Emergency Services and police officers who have to show up … plus other areas. … these are mission essential things that you support in times of hardship. And I really appreciate that.”
— As of late-January 2024, the construction progress on an $11.96 million transient training brigade headquarters project at Fort McCoy reached 96 percent complete, according to an update from Ken Green with the Army Corps of Engineers Program Office at Fort McCoy.
Overall, the contract for the project, totaling nearly $12 million, was awarded June 9, 2022, and construction operations began in August 2022. The contract completion date was February 2024.
This project ws the first of three planned brigade headquarters buildings projects, said Master Planner Brian Harrie with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works. The plan is to build four barracks buildings, the three 20,000-square-foot brigade headquarters buildings, and two 160-room officer quarters.
— Students with the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy Basic Leader Course learned about land navigation Jan. 29, 2024, at the Fort McCoy Virtual Battle Space simulations facility.
The students spent a day training at the facility as part of course instruction, said Basic Leader Course Instructor Staff Sgt. Sabrina Magness.
“Our students are here receiving their block of instruction and some hands-on time for the land navigation portion of our course,” Magness said. “Currently at Fort McCoy, we're not able to put students out on the (outdoor) course … in the field. So, this is the next best thing. They’re still getting a lot of hands-on training, map reading, plotting points, and they’re using their avatar to navigate to these points.”
The training is called “Virtual Battle Space for Map Reading and Land Navigation,” and is one of the newest additions to the course, Magness said.
According to the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security concept of operations for the tactical land-navigation training the academy students underwent, the mission for the training is designed for four squads of six Soldiers. Each squad will be briefed to conduct dismounted land-nav following designated points.
“Upon reaching the second point, squads will find a vehicle with which to conduct movement to their third point,” the training document states. “Upon reaching the third point, A/B squad will link up into a section, C/D squad likewise.” And then the students continue with a specific scenario.
Sgt. David Smith, an Army Reserve Soldier in the BLC who attended land-navigation training, said all of the training has helped him become a better Soldier.
“Being in this course, I’ve learned to become a better leader, become a better listener, and also just become a better team worker as it pertains to leadership in my unit and also in small group units as well.”
— The first Triad Night of the new year was held Jan 25, 2024, at the Whitetail Ridge Ski Area lodge hosted by Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Family and Morale Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR).
Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger began Triad Night with a leadership forum discussing how to be a leader. His talk focused on leadership influence, purpose, direction, improving the organization, accomplishing the mission, and motivation.
“Do you bring out the best in people? Why do they follow you?” Messenger asked the attendees. “I encourage you as you talk to people…are you bringing out the best in others. That is what it is all about.”
After the leadership forum, the fun and games began with cardboard sled building. Attendees were able to team up or work individually on their sleds for an hour before they would compete to see who went the farthest down the ski hill.
— The first class of Soldiers in calendar year 2024 at the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Academy’s Battle Staff NCO Course held their course finale’s combined arms rehearsal Jan. 31, 2024, at the academy at Fort McCoy.
The future enlisted leaders of the Army Reserve, National Guard, and active-component units who were in the course combined their experience from the course to hold the rehearsal.
“(This) is the culminating event for the … course,” said Master Sgt. David Shimota, course director for the Battle Staff NCO Course. “It synchronizes what the students have been doing over the last 22 days here at Fort McCoy. … One of the one of the main points of having the combined arms rehearsal is to synchronize each battalion, so that way then the brigade can understand exactly what’s going on. It also gives the picture to the other battalions on what’s going on across the entire battle space.”
As part of the rehearsal, two special guests were also present from the 3rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 340th Infantry Regiment (3-340th), 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade. This included 3-340th Commander Lt. Col. Brian Corbin, and the unit’s senior enlisted advisor, Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew Zwolinski.
FEBRUARY
— As bitter cold winter weather subsided and steel started flowing in, work on the third four-story, 60,000-square-foot barracks at Fort McCoy picked up significantly at the end of January 2024 with framing for the building starting.
A Feb. 2, 2024, update from Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Office at Fort McCoy showed that construction progress was still at 11 percent complete, but it was now back to a significant pace.
This barracks project was awarded in June 2023 to BlindermanPower (Construction) at just over $28 million to get it done. A notice to proceed with construction was given on in late September 2023. And as of Feb. 2, a lot of infrastructure construction has been completed and some work updates on concrete placements, stem walls, and piers were also being done, Green said.
And getting the structural steel in place will take a while as there will be four stories of the building to go up. As of Feb. 6, 2024, the progress showed a fairly large section of steel already erected.
— Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Program Office gave his 64th and final update on the brigade headquarters construction project at Fort McCoy on Feb. 2, 2024, where it stated the project at that time the project was 97 percent complete.
At that time in early February, workers with the contractor were busy finishing a list of small tasks and “punch out” items so the building could be turned over to Fort McCoy Garrison in time for a Feb. 8 final inspection.
The building is now furnished, has solar power capacity, it’s built with the latest energy saving materials, and much more. Additionally, exterior landscaping is still being planned and completed as weather permits, officials said.
When the new year began, the project was about 96 percent complete, and more and more furniture was arriving as this nearly $12 million project was drawing closer to completion.
— He was dressed in a vest and tie that likely would have made the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ernie Pyle proud. Sergio “Matias” Chontal-Harter showed up for his interview with Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger on Feb. 12, 2024, ready to go.
A student at Immanuel Lutheran School in La Crosse, Wis., Chontal-Harter is the son of Moriah Harter, administrative officer with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works, and Sergio Chontal. Harter said his school was doing a Social Studies Night where they presented their projects to their class, teachers, families, and families of their classmates.
“Each class was assigned a different topic for the event,” Harter said. “Matias’ first grade class was assigned the topic of ‘historical figures’ or ‘American heroes.’ Matias was clear from the beginning he wanted to do his project on a Soldier, so I started to list off some historical figures he may be interested in. He could not relate to any of them and didn’t want to do any of the suggestions that came from his teacher.
“After some reflection, Matias asked me if he could do his project on Col. Messenger,” Harter said. “It was no surprise to me that he wanted to do the project on Col. Messenger. Matias is very patriotic and absolutely loves everything involved with the military and Soldiers, but he especially admires Col. Messenger.”
— Fort McCoy held its 2024 Black History Month observance Feb. 20, 2024, at McCoy’s Community Center with guest speaker Shaundel Washington-Spivey.
Spivey, the co-founder and executive director of Black Leaders Acquiring Collective Knowledge Inc., brought a wealth of experience and passion to the event. With roots in the La Crosse, Wis., community since 2007, Spivey’s commitment to community organizing shows through in his every venture.
During his address, Spivey shared insights from his extensive involvement in community-based discussions, action planning, and advocacy efforts while leading interactive discussions with those who attended the observance. His dedication to fostering a more equitable and collective community resonated with attendees, who were inspired by his commitment to social change.
One of the activities encouraged individuals to reflect on how they represent themselves to others by writing down words to describe their identities.
“This is you.” Spivey said, “What do you classify as most important?” Attendees got up and discussed with each other and shared what words represented themselves. Later some volunteers shared with the room stating what represents them such as mother, Christian, soldier and more.
— Fort McCoy’s artifact collection contains more than 600,000 artifacts ranging in age from Native American artifacts that are more than 12,000 years old to World War II-era military artifacts from the 1940s, and nearly all are stored with the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Those artifacts are the result of nearly 40 years of archaeological work and documentation at the installation, and their helping tell the story of Southwest Wisconsin’s recent and distant history in the Driftless Area of North America, said Fort McCoy Archaeologist Ryan Howell with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
Howell is part of the team that leads the effort to oversee the large collection of artifacts, and said the center at the university is a perfect place to house the artifacts.
“The Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center is the closest federally sanctioned curation facility to Fort McCoy and has a long history of working with the installation’s cultural resource management program,” Howell said. “Most of the Fort McCoy (archaeology) staff and others have worked or trained with the program over the years. Plus, most scientific interest in the Fort McCoy collections would most likely come from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse archaeology program or scholars visiting it to see other collections.”
— Several members of Fort McCoy Garrison learned at the end of January they earned major command-level awards as part of the 2023 Army IMCOM Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware Communications Awards Competition.
First, Photographer Amanda Clark with the Fort McCoy Multimedia-Visual Information Office earned the 2023 Installation Management Command Civilian Photographer of the Year.
In addition to Clark winning from the Multimedia-Visual Information Office, Audiovisual Production Specialist Greg Mason also earned a first-place finish. Mason led Broadcast Category B, Feature Video.
And sticking with the video winners, Public Affairs Specialist Claudia Neve with the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office earned a first place as well. Neve led Broadcast Category A, News Video.
For this category, the “entry must be a news story, event-/mission-oriented, and would be significant enough to place at or near the top of a news cast.”
Also earning a first place in the competition from the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office was Public Affairs Specialist Scott T. Sturkol, the editor of The Real McCoy newspaper. Sturkol placed first in Photography Category A, Feature Photograph.
— Fort McCoy’s total economic impact for fiscal year (FY) 2023 was an estimated $1.38 billion, Fort McCoy Garrison officials announced in February 2024.
The data was compiled by Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis and Integration Office.
Workforce payroll, operating costs, and other expenditures totaled more than $346 million for FY 2023.
A total of 2,113 personnel worked at Fort McCoy in FY 2023 — 1,279 civilians, 411 military, and 499 contract employees.
Approximately 69 percent of the workforce lives within Monroe County. The total FY 2023 workforce payroll for civilian and military personnel was $190.5 million.
FY 2023 operating costs of $346 million included utilities, physical plant maintenance, repair and improvements, new construction projects, purchases of supplies and services, as well as salaries for civilian contract personnel working at Fort McCoy.
Other expenditures accounted for $22.5 million and covered $435,850 in payments to local governments (including land permit agreements, school district impact aid, etc.) as well as $22.1 million in discretionary spending in local communities by service members training and residing at Fort McCoy.
— Fort McCoy began its support for the 82nd Army Emergency Relief (AER) Campaign on Feb. 28, 2024, with a campaign kick-off breakfast at McCoy’s Community Center at the installation.
The AER campaign runs annually from March 1 to May 15, according to the AER webpage, www.armyemergencyrelief.org. AER helps provide emergency financial funds for food, rent, funeral expenses, emergency medical expenses, and other needs.
Contributions to AER help active-duty Soldiers (single and married) and their families, retirees and their family members, and surviving spouses or orphans of Soldiers who died while on active duty or after they retired.
The breakfast included dozens of Fort McCoy community members. The breakfast was organized by the Fort McCoy Army Community Service (ACS) Office with the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. Fort McCoy Garrison Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Mike Corkum and Fort McCoy Deputy to the Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon provided opening remarks at the event. ACS Director Sylvia Lopez also provided opening and welcoming remarks to breakfast attendees.
— After a whirlwind competition, the 2024 Northern Warfare Challenge ended after competing Feb. 23-24 at Fort McCoy and in La Crosse, Wis.
There were 48 teams from five Army ROTC brigade and one team from West Point — the U.S. Military Academy that also stepped up to try their hand at the “hardest race in ROTC,” according to U.S. Army Cadet Command.
Teams first met on Feb. 23 at Fort McCoy to compete in winter survival events before preparing for a 14-mile ruck on Feb. 24 in the bluffs of La Crosse.
— Fort McCoy Deputy to Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon held an open discussion for garrison civilian employees in grades GS-8 and GS-9 on Feb. 22, 2024, aimed at providing those employees with an avenue to openly share their perspectives on the workplace environment.
During the session, some of the topics employees discussed were workplace mindset, supervisors and their roles, and what they most appreciate about working at Fort McCoy.
One notable discussion revolved around the distinction between viewing one’s employment as merely a job versus a career. Attendees engaged in a thoughtful exchange, ultimately agreeing that this perception hinges on mindset.
Many stated this realization opens doors for individuals to approach their work with a long-term perspective, recognizing it as an opportunity for growth and development.
— Members of the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team coordinated a prescribed burn Feb. 29 — the first of 2024 — along the railroad tracks on South Post at Fort McCoy.
The post prescribed burn team includes personnel with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services Fire Department; Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB); Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; and the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, under contract with the post.
The entire burn began at approximately 10 a.m. and was completed in the afternoon.
MARCH
— Framing on the third four-story, 60,000-square-foot barracks at Fort McCoy started Jan. 31 and by March 6, 2024, the shape of the entire building was nearly in place.
A March 4 update from Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Office at Fort McCoy showed that construction progress was at 12 percent complete, but it was significantly growing and taking shape on site.
Overall, the statement of work for the project states the contractor will make the building be made of “permanent construction with reinforced concrete foundations; concrete floor slabs; structural steel frames; steel stud infill; masonry veneer walls; prefinished standing seam metal roofing; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning capabilities; plumbing; mechanical systems; and electrical systems. Supporting facilities include land clearing, concrete sidewalk paving, general site improvements, and utility connections.”
— In 2023, a special kind of history was made at Fort McCoy when four World War II-era barracks were moved from the 1600-block to other areas of the cantonment area in an effort to save the buildings for reuse in spaces in other blocks.
In a way, this recycling of buildings was another way to not only save the 80-plus-year-old buildings but also fill in areas on blocks where buildings were lost in years past.
Right away, contractor JMJ Construction of New Lisbon, Wis., and Heritage Movers of Blue River, Wis., successfully moved the first two of the four barracks on Feb. 24 and March 2, 2023. Then they moved the last two buildings from the 1600 block to the 1800 block and 2800 block on April 4 and April 6, 2023, respectively.
Once the buildings were moved, they were set on blocks and fenced off until further work could be completed in their new areas, which was in August 2023. Slowly and methodically, new foundations were built and by the end of December 2023, the last building was moved on to a new foundation in the new locations.
Construction Inspector Tim Peterson with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works said the contractors continued working on the buildings through the winter, getting interior work completed and other work done so the building can be ready for reuse.
The original contract amount to do the move of the four buildings and complete all the work was approximately $1.7 million, DPW officials said.
— Since fiscal year (FY) 2019, tens of millions of dollars in construction funds have been counted by the Fort McCoy Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office as a key factor and contributor to the installation’s annual economic impact each fiscal year.
In fact, in those five years combined, more than $217 million has been calculated in new construction of buildings and ranges alone, reports show. Over that same time, more than $1.3 billion has also been applied to operating costs that included utilities, physical plant maintenance, repair and improvements, other new construction projects, purchases of supplies and services, and salaries for civilian contract personnel working at Fort McCoy.
That combined investment shows the commitment the Army and the Department of Defense has to the installation, according to many leaders who have discussed this investment in recent years.
Maj. Gen. Darrell Guthrie, former Fort McCoy senior commander and commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division at Fort McCoy, discussed the opening of the first $20.6 million four-story transient troop training barracks that was completed in April 2022.
— Among the thousands of students the Fort McCoy Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance facility trains every year, many are Soldiers training to the 91L military occupational specialty of construction equipment repairer.
By description by the Army at goarmy.com, a construction equipment repairer has a significant role in Army operations.
“As a construction equipment repairer, you'll keep the Army’s engineer equipment safe and operational by repairing and maintaining trucks, bulldozers, power shovels, and other heavy equipment that is needed for construction,” the description states. “You’ll replace and perform tune-ups on brakes, motors, engines, drive pumps, water pumps, transmissions, and high-pressure hydraulic systems.”
At RTS-Maintenance at Fort McCoy, the 91L10 Construction Equipment Repairer Course trains both active- and reserve-component Soldiers into the career field in two phases, said Master Sgt. William Parker, chief instructor for RTS-Maintenance.
The course has two phases of training, Parker said. Phase one of training is 120 hours and consists of 40 hours of shop operations, 40 hours of basic electrical systems training, and 40 hours of hydraulic systems training.
Phase two training is 179 hours and consists of 80 hours of diesel systems training, 40 hours of power train systems training, 40 hours of brake systems training, and 19 hours of preventive maintenance checks and services training.
— Numerous Soldiers with the Army Reserve’s 204th Army Band of Fort Snelling, Minn., were at Fort McCoy on March 5, 2024, to exchange and turn in thousands of dollars worth of equipment to the Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility (CIF).
The equipment exchange itself wasn’t unique, but it was another opportunity for the facility to test its capability, said CIF Property Book Officer Thomas Lovgren.
“We have exchanges like this regularly with units like this from all over our region,” Lovgren said. “We support a large number of units every year — especially from the Army Reserve — and this was another example of that effort.”
Members of the 204th were at the Fort McCoy CIF for less than two hours to get their equipment exchange completed.
Master Sgt. Karsten Finseth, band detachment noncommissioned officer in charge, described her unit’s experience at the CIF.
“We experienced superb customer service with immediate attention to our needs, including several third-person turn-ins,” Finseth said. “The staff was ready to rock and processed us quickly. The facility was immaculate. The space to navigate the turn-in and issue process also lended to a seamless experience.
“During our two-hour visit, several thousand dollars of materiel was returned and issued efficiently,” Finseth said. “Many thanks to the team at CIF.”
— Betty Christiansen, publisher and owner of the Coulee Region Women Magazine in La Crosse, Wis., served as the featured guest speaker for the 2024 Fort McCoy Women’s History Month observance March 19, 2024 at Fort McCoy.
The observance was held at McCoy’s Community Center where dozens of Fort McCoy community members attended the event that was organized by the Fort McCoy Equal Opportunity Office.
Each year, the Department of Defense honors the women who have shaped U.S. history, and through their contributions paved the way forward for future female pioneers, according to the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), which is headquartered at Patrick Space Force Base, Fla.
The 2024 theme for Women’s History Month was “Women Who Have Made Great Achievements,” according to DEOMI. It celebrates the women who have left an impact on the United States through their sacrifices, public service, and inspirational work.
According to her biographical information at the magazine’s website at https://www.crwmagazine.com, Christiansen “is a longtime writer and editor who has lived and worked in the Twin Cities, New York, and La Crosse, where she was editor of the magazine for 10 years before taking the helm as publisher. She loves to knit and dreams of a life structured around writing and travel.”
And during her presentation, Christiansen discussed how in the magazine they like to tell the stories of women. She described how all women have a story to tell, and in the magazine they try to express many of those special stories.
“I believe these stories provide inspiration to other women, and even hope to other women,” Christiansen said. “We can read stories about a woman doing something, achieving something, overcoming something. … You entered her life for just a moment. You put yourself in her shoes. So, there’s really deep and valuable connection being made. And at the same time, you might read that story and say, ‘If she did that, maybe I could do something too.’”
— For the many years that Fort McCoy Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance facility has been in operation at the installation, thousands of Soldiers have trained into the “91-Lima” career field as part of the facility’s 91L10 Construction Equipment Repairer Course and other related 91L training.
Regularly, Soldiers come to the Fort McCoy facility to go through hundreds of hours of training to earn the construction equipment repairer military occupational specialty (MOS).
Master Sgt. William Parker, chief instructor for RTS-Maintenance, said 91L is one of the main MOS’ to the Army and Army Reserve that provides special abilities to not only keep engineer units in the fight, but also much more.
Parker said when students come to Fort McCoy to train in the 91L course, they have the latest items available to complete their training.
“So, each course that is written is required to have certain equipment to run that course,” Parker said. “It is very essential that Soldiers who are coming to train have the most up-to-date equipment to train on because that's the equipment they're going to see when they get back to their units. We have that here.”
In past years, the facility has also hosted 91L Advanced Leader Course in addition to other levels of training. That course had two phases of instruction and combined was more than 240 hours of instruction.
— They opened the doors to the new Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility in September 2015 after months of construction, setup, and hard work, said the facility’s Property Book Officer Thomas Lovgren, who was there when the doors were opened.
“This Central Issue Facility (CIF) is a newer one that was built … at a cost of approximately $9 million, and it’s 62,548 square feet,” Lovgren said. “We typically do about between $30 and $40 million worth of CIF transactions annually, which equates to about 400,000 to 500,000 pieces of equipment being issued out and turned in each year.
In the years since the new CIF has been open, tens of thousands of transactions have taken place there, Lovgren said. He said customers have plenty of space to process through and receive equipment, and more.
“We have two waiting areas near the entry and exit areas and a streamlined setup that helps create a smooth flow for CIF operations,” he said. “Our facility makes the issuing process a nice experience for Soldiers as they visit here to receive their equipment, especially at busy times.”
Lovgren also stated that Reserve Soldiers make up approximately 98 percent of all CIF transactions.
“As a matter of fact, this CIF was built with Reserve funding,” Lovgren said.
— Fifteen Soldiers who were students in the Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance Unit Armorer Course in early March 2024 learned about how the different weapon systems work, about assembly and disassembly of those weapons, how to correct malfunctions, inspection, and more.
The course, taught by instructors Sgts. 1st Class Carlos Vazquez and Shane Bender, provides performance-oriented training on administrative and technical tasks required of a unit armorer, according to the course description.
Training includes arms inspection, disassembly, assembly, required operator and organizational maintenance, parts ordering, prescribed load list maintenance for small arms, and turn-in procedures for direct-support maintenance. The course also covers physical security and security inspections conducted by an installation provost marshal office.
The students came from units from across the Army and from a variety of career fields. The course covers weapons Soldiers will typically see within their units, instructors said.
As the students learn about the physical-security requirements that have been entrusted to them by their commander, they also understand what a big responsibility they are assuming for their unit. And they also learn about troubleshooting problems with weapons.
— Results from the Army Materiel Command’s 2023 David G. Harris Public Affairs Competition were announced in March, and three winners from Fort McCoy were announced.
The three who placed were in video, photo, and community relations categories, and it follows the same people also previously winning in the same categories at Army’s Installation Management Command 2023 Public Affairs Competition.
First, Public Affairs Officer Tonya Townsell with the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office earned a second place for Category L: Kathy Canham-Ross Award of Distinction. The Kathy Canham-Ross Award recognizes the products that best exemplify excellence in community engagement contributions. The award is named for Kathy Canham-Ross, a distinguished director of OCPA-Los Angeles, who set an outstanding example to emulate throughout her 30 years as a public affairs officer.
Townsell said even though the award has her name listed, it is more of a unit award for Fort McCoy as it recognizes the work of the 2023 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House and the contributors to that event.
Next, Greg Mason with the Fort McCoy Multimedia-Visual Information Office, which falls under the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, earned third place in Category B: Feature Video. Mason earned the award for his 2023 Month of the Military Child at Fort McCoy video, which is available at https://www.dvidshub.net/video/879195/2023-month-military-child-fort-mccoy-wi.
And the third winner at the awards was Scott T. Sturkol with the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office who earned first place in Category A: Feature Photograph with his photo entitled, “Rainbow and new barracks at Fort McCoy.” That photo can be found at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8019024/rainbow-and-new-barracks-fort-mccoy.
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, on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy,” on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fortmccoywi, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@fortmccoy.
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: | 01.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2025 00:00 |
| Story ID: | 488731 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 1,115 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort McCoy 2024 year in review: First half of year brought new construction, historical feats (January-March), by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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