Photo By Scott Sturkol | Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez presents a medal to Fort McCoy...... read more read more
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A special ceremony was held Jan. 29 at Fire Station 1 to honor Fire Chief Timothy Jorgenson with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services Fire Department as he retired from Army Civil Service with more than 32 years of service.
Jorgenson began his service as a civil servant at Fort McCoy in 1992, and has worked in various positions within the fire department. He ascended to fire chief and served in that position for many years.
Assistant Fire Chief Brady Brever opened the ceremony.
Today we honor Chief Tim Jorgensen on his retirement from the Fort McCoy Fire Department with over 32 years of distinguished federal service for Fort McCoy,” Brever said. “Thank you to everyone for being here to honor Chief Jorgenson.”
Also there to honor Jorgenson was the Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez. Also present was Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, Fort McCoy Garrison’s command sergeant major. And perhaps most appreciated by Jorgenson, dozens of firefighters and police personnel were in attendance to honor him as well.
“When we look at some of the things that he accomplished through his 32-year career, (there were many) major events that happened during those 32 years,” Baez said. “We had flood responses, we had COVID, we had Operation Allies Welcome, and more … So, when we look at the experience and everything that happened through those major events, we also have Chief Jergenson's leadership.
“We have Chief Jergenson not only guiding the fire department here, but also mentoring all those new members that are part of the fire department,” Baez said. “It takes patience and experience to do a good job. It takes patience and experience to be a good leader. … Thank you for being here with us.”
Among Jorgenson’s standout moments as fire chief includes guiding his firefighters during a serious flooding response in 2018. In late August 2018, some areas near Fort McCoy received nearly a foot of rain in less than 24 hours. That rain, in turn, caused massive flash flooding that overwhelmed several small communities near Fort McCoy.
As soon as the rain stopped, a call was made to DES Fire Department for mutual-aid support from the Sparta (Wis.) Fire Department. They responded with the personnel, boats, and vehicles to areas near Sparta, Melvina, and Leon, Wis. Afterwards eight firefighters with Fort McCoy Fire Department received the Department of the Army Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service.
The award citation described each firefighter’s contribution as “exceptional service and performance of duty.” Each firefighter “responded with the fire and emergency response staff through treacherous and hazardous conditions in response to torrential flash flooding in Melvina, Leon, and Sparta,” the citation states. Their “navigation of dangerous flash flood waters facilitated multiple rescues during recovery boat operations. The mutual aid recovery efforts for Monroe County resulted in 57 persons and 27 pets saved.”
And during his tenure with the fire department, previously as an assistant chief and then as chief, Jorgenson helped the department earn special accreditation that few Army fire departments hold. The fire department was reaccredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International for the third time earlier in 2022.
Jorgenson was among the team who traveled to Denver from Aug. 15-17, 2022, 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 in a related news article about the accredidation. 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 also discussed the accreditation process for the fire department in which Jorgenson had a significant role in managing.
“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.”
There’s also been dozens, even hundreds, of mutual aid support calls and decisions that Jorgenson has been a part of over his career. Such responses outside of Fort McCoy’s borders are possible because of mutual aid and automatic aid agreements the department has with emergency-response agencies in Monroe and La Crosse counties as well as through the Wisconsin Mutual Aid Box-Alarm System, or MABAS.
As fire chief, Jorgenson is part of the decisions on MABAS support, and more. Mutual aid agreements are signed documents that define how and when assistance might be provided between partner agencies, Those partners will then send crews out to help Fort McCoy asked, and Fort McCoy can respond to help those agencies as well. Most of the fire department’s mutual-aid support involves working with Tomah and Sparta fire districts and ambulance services.
Brever noted Jorgenson has also worked extensively with Army Reserve firefighters for many years. Being a retired Soldier himself, Jorgenson knows the importance of making sure Soldiers serving as firefighters have the best training possible, Brever said.
Annually, Army Reserve firefighters have worked with Fort McCoy firefighters to conduct truck training events, and more.
Through the partnerships, the heroic support in times of emergency, and so much more, Jorgenson said he appreciated all his years at the department.
“Yes, I started here in ‘92, and we were actually at the old fire station that was across from the (post exchange) area,” Joregenson said. “And then we moved up here, and then you look at this station to now, from the remodel, to where it is, it’s been a long journey.
“But in that is the friendships and the people who you work with,” Jorgenson said.
Jorgenson also joked that there will be “no more free chicken days” for his fellow firefighters. “But you can always come and have coffee with me at the cabin,” he said.
“It's (been) a fun time,” Jorgenson said. “It’s (been about) the relationships and that we went through of all the things together. … I appreciate everybody who came today, and let’s have some cake and enjoy it.”
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: | 02.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.06.2025 00:21 |
| Story ID: | 490216 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 246 |
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