Fort McCoy CACTF, Mobile Urban Training Site-South projects in progress

By Rob Schuette, Fort McCoy Public AffairsMay 26, 2011

Fort McCoy CACTF, MUTS-South projects in progress
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Fort McCoy CACTF, MUTS-South projects in progress
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FORT McCOY, Wis. -- Fort McCoy is working to meet the installation’s future and current needs for urban training opportunities at the installation, said Terry Hoff.

Hoff, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Range officer, said work continues on the new Combined Arms Collective Training Facility (CACTF). The Mobile Urban Training Site (MUTS)-South also is receiving a number of newly designed mobile structures to support training.

Construction of the $14 million CACTF project is nearing the one-year mark. The 25 buildings are scheduled to be completed in September. Hoff said the buildings will represent multi-story residential, commercial, government, business, and industrial areas and include underground tunnel/sewer training structures. Alacran Contracting LLC of Rockford, Ill., is the general contractor for the Major Construction Army Reserve project. The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing the contract.

After the buildings are completed, the electronic instrumentation equipment will be installed. Hoff said this is scheduled to begin in the September time frame, which means the work should be done and the facility open for training by the spring/summer of 2012.

“The CACTF will support military training up to the size of a battalion task force,” Hoff said. “The training will include the use of simulated munitions and also include force on force or force on target training.”

The CACTF will be fully instrumented, including about 80 percent camera coverage of the facilities and a 100-seat after-action review (AAR) theater, where units can conduct AARs, he said. A full contracted operations and maintenance crew will be on hand to assist units with the use and operation of the CACTF. The crew also will assist units in assembling and conducting AARs. Instrumentation includes capabilities to provide sounds and smells of combat operations. The CACTF will support training for the Combined Arms Training Exercise as well as for other exercises or training units may require, he added.

Hoff said a lower-tech urban training site project is being implemented at MUTS-South. A contractor, Allied Container Systems, is delivering additional container buildings to bring the new total at MUTS-South to 138 buildings.

“These facilities are mobile,” Hoff said. “They can be reconfigured to meet unit training requirements or to meet new training scenarios/standards required by the Army.”

MUTS-South will offer a large urban environment, but no instrumentation, he said. The expanded facility can handle training up to a battalion-sized task force.

The new and expanded facilities will help the DPTMS meet its Integrated Training Environment-Strategic Vision, Hoff said. Along with MUTS-North, which is capable of training up to company-sized elements to train with instrumentation and simulated munitions capabilities, the installation will offer a variety of urban training scenarios to support unit needs. Together the CACTF, MUTS-South, and MUTS-North, will enable Fort McCoy to handle peak training loads for urban training, with MUTS-North and the CACTF capable of instrumented urban training for small to large units.

Other smaller facilities will offer rural, small village, and unimproved training areas, to complete the Integrated Training Environment capabilities. These live capabilities, along with virtual and constructive capabilities, will enable Fort McCoy to support the requirements of large exercises and small unit training, Hoff said.

For more information about scheduling ranges or training at Fort McCoy, call 608-388-3721 or for training information, visit the Range Branch website/Knowledge Network www.us.army.mil/suite/page/655536.