FORT McCOY, Wis. -- A $13.364 million contract to construct a new Combined Arms Collective Training Facility (CACTF) at Fort McCoy has been awarded. Construction is scheduled to begin in June, said Roy Brewer, resident engineer for the Fort McCoy Resident Office of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The CACTF is structured as a small city, including more than 25 buildings and related infrastructure, which will train Soldiers on urban tactics.
Terry Hoff, Fort McCoy Range officer, said the facility will support required Army training and will be open to all military units, including those conducting weekend or two-week, premobilization and mobilization training.
"The CACTF will serve as the culminating (facility) event at Fort McCoy for urban training," Hoff said. "It is built to handle larger units than we can at our existing facilities."
Alacran Contracting LLC of Rockford, Ill., has been awarded the contract for the Major Construction Army Reserve project. Brewer said the Corps of Engineers will oversee the contract.
The contract allows about two years to complete the construction, which would mean a completion date of summer 2012 if work begins in June as projected.
The CACTF will include single- and multi-storied facilities in a residential area, modeled in a European style; a business area, modeled in a Middle Eastern style; and a warehouse district, modeled in an Asian style. The buildings depicted will include houses, schools, townhouses, service stations, banks, offices, a hotel, municipal facilities, police stations, jails and a power station. A tunnel and other infrastructure also will be included.
"These are the types of structures that Soldiers are encountering when they are deployed and serving in an urban environment," Hoff said.
Fort McCoy currently has urban training facilities in the Mobile Urban Training Site (MUTS)-North and MUTS-South areas. MUTS-North includes videorecording capabilities and can incorporate effects such as sound, smell, smoke, etc., to offer personnel realistic training.
The CACTF structure will take the training to another level, Hoff said. It can provide collective training for organizations as small as a squad/platoon size up to several battalions at the same time.
A Range Operations facility and an after-action review (AAR) facility will be included. Hoff said the AAR will offer theater-style seating for up to 100 personnel, with the option to divide the facility in half for AARs. Other facilities included in the complex are a covered mess area and latrines.
"Although the new facility won't have live-fire capabilities, it will allow units to use simulated weapons firing or multiple integrated laser engagement system (MILES) equipment," he said. "This will be another state-of-the art training facility that will attract units to do their training at Fort McCoy."
Social Sharing