Airmen with multiple Air National Guard security forces units learn to build an Arctic 10-person tent Jan. 19, 2023, as part of a 16-day Cold-Weather Operations Course led by the Air Force at Fort McCoy, Wis. More than 50 Airmen were participating in the training from across the Air Force. Besides learning about using these tents in a cold-weather environment, the Airmen also learned about building improvised cold-weather shelters, survival techniques, cold-weather uniform wear, and more. Fort McCoy has a long history of supporting cold-weather training. Eighty years prior to this training, in January 1943, the installation hosted winter training for the Army's 76th Division prior to the Division deploying to Europe to fight in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office)

Soldiers with the Army Reserve’s 411th Engineer Company load railcars with military vehicles and equipment Nov. 1, 2022, at the rail yard at Fort McCoy, Wis. Overall the company loaded 128 items on to railcars over the multi-day rail movement at the installation to deploy the equipment eventually to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Five personnel with the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) assisted with the rail movement and its coordination. The 411th is the latest of many units over the last decade to hold rail movements at Fort McCoy. As a matter of fact, for the many decades of Fort McCoy’s existence, the capability to transport cargo and equipment to and from the installation by rail has always been there. And it’s a capability that will continue, Fort McCoy LRC officials said. During World War II, for example, the railroad at Fort McCoy was one of the main forms of transportation for bringing troops in for training and home after the war as well as for moving cargo and equipment in and out of the installation. The 411th is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

An Airman with an Air National Guard security forces unit takes the plunge for cold-water immersion Jan. 27, 2023, as part of a 16-day Cold-Weather Operations Course led by the Air Force at Fort McCoy, Wis. More than 50 Airmen were participating in the training from across the Air Force. Besides cold-water immersion, the Airmen also learned about cold-weather shelters, survival techniques, cold-weather uniform wear, and more. Fort McCoy has a long history of supporting cold-weather training. Eighty years prior to this training, in January 1943, the installation hosted winter training for the Army's 76th Division prior to the Division deploying to Europe to fight in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office)

An Airman with an Air National Guard security forces unit takes the plunge for cold-water immersion Jan. 27, 2023, as part of a 16-day Cold-Weather Operations Course led by the Air Force at Fort McCoy, Wis. More than 50 Airmen were participating in the training from across the Air Force. Besides cold-water immersion, the Airmen also learned about cold-weather shelters, survival techniques, cold-weather uniform wear, and more. Fort McCoy has a long history of supporting cold-weather training. Eighty years prior to this training, in January 1943, the installation hosted winter training for the Army's 76th Division prior to the Division deploying to Europe to fight in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office)

Soldiers drive a Joint-Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) as part of convoy during training operations March 3, 2023, at Fort McCoy, Wis. The JLTV family of vehicles is designed to restore payload and performance that were traded from light tactical vehicles to add protection in recent conflict, according to the Army. JLTVs give service members more options in a protected mobility solution that is also the first vehicle purpose-built for modern battlefield networks. JLTV operator training at Fort McCoy began in May 2019. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

A Wisconsin Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew with the Madison, Wis.-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment trains to drop water on wildfires April 10, 2023, using a Bambi bucket at Fort McCoy, Wis. Personnel with the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team and aircrew and Black Hawk helicopters with the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment of Madison, Wis., participated in the fire training during a prescribed burn on the South Post of the installation. 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 who work in partnership with the post’s DPW NRB team. (US. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office)

UH-60 Black Hawks operated by Wisconsin National Guard crews conduct training May 5, 2023, near the Medical Simulation Training Center at Fort McCoy, Wis. The operations were part of a medical exercise called Operation Ouija. The Black Hawks were performing simulated tail-to-tail transfers with C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Air Force Reserve’s 934th Airlift Wing of Minnesota and the 452nd Air Mobility Wing of March Air Reserve Base, Calif. Wisconsin UH-60 Black Hawk crews regularly train at Fort McCoy throughout the year. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Soldiers at Fort McCoy, Wis., for training in the Fort McCoy Regional Training Site-Maintenance Wheeled-Vehicle Recovery Operations Course work together during training July 25, 2023, at the installation Vehicle Recovery Site on North Post. The 17-day course covers operation and maintenance of recovery vehicles and use of standard procedures to rig and recover wheeled vehicles. Related training tasks include oxygen and acetylene gas welding; boom and hoist operations; winch operations; and recovery of mired, overturned, and disabled vehicles. RTS-Maintenance holds several sessions of the Wheeled-Vehicle Operations Course each year and trains Soldiers from both active- and reserve-component forces. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Soldiers at Fort McCoy, Wis., for training in the Fort McCoy Regional Training Site-Maintenance Wheeled-Vehicle Recovery Operations Course work together during training July 24, 2023, at the installation Vehicle Recovery Site on North Post. The 17-day course covers operation and maintenance of recovery vehicles and use of standard procedures to rig and recover wheeled vehicles. Related training tasks include oxygen and acetylene gas welding; boom and hoist operations; winch operations; and recovery of mired, overturned, and disabled vehicles. RTS-Maintenance holds several sessions of the Wheeled-Vehicle Operations Course each year and trains Soldiers from both active- and reserve-component forces. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Training operations for the 86th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise 86-23-02 are shown Aug. 24, 2023, at Fort McCoy, Wis. CSTX 86-23-02 is a functional training exercise to achieve training proficiencies of U.S. Army Reserve rotational training units. The 86th Training Division is a tenant organization at Fort McCoy. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Training operations with troop projects by the 996th Engineer Company of Milwaukee for the 86th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise 86-23-02 are shown Aug. 21, 2023, at Fort McCoy, Wis. CSTX 86-23-02 is a functional training exercise to achieve training proficiencies of U.S. Army Reserve rotational training units. The 86th Training Division is a tenant organization at Fort McCoy. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

An Air Force pilot guides an A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft to a landing at Fort McCoy, Wis., on Sept. 14, 2023, as part of training operations at installation. Several A-10s completed taking off and landing at Young Air Assault Strip on South Post and flying routes over the installation. According to the Air Force fact sheet for the A-10C, the Thunderbolt II is the first Air Force aircraft specially designed for close air support of ground forces. They are simple, effective and survivable twin-engine jet aircraft that can be used against light maritime attack aircraft and all ground targets, including tanks and other armored vehicles. The A-10C offers excellent maneuverability at low airspeeds and altitude while maintaining a highly accurate weapons-delivery platform. They can loiter near battle areas for extended periods of time, are capable of austere landings and operate under 1,000-foot ceilings (303.3 meters) with 1.5-mile (2.4 kilometers) visibility. Additionally, with the capability of carrying precision guided munitions and unguided munitions, they can employ above, below and in the weather. A-10C pilots can also conduct their missions during darkness. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Soldiers with the 153rd Engineer Battalion and 211th Engineer Company participate in a breach-of-a-complex-obstacle training event July 17, 2023, at Warrens Drop Zone on North Post at Fort McCoy, Wis. The 153rd is an engineer unit with the South Dakota Army National Guard as well as the 211th. The training event was the culmination training event for the 153rd and its associated units during their annual training in July 2023 at Fort McCoy. The large-scale training event included opposing forces, obstacles, simulated explosive actions, and more. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Soldiers with the 153rd Engineer Battalion and 211th Engineer Company participate in a breach-of-a-complex-obstacle training event July 17, 2023, at Warrens Drop Zone on North Post at Fort McCoy, Wis. The 153rd is an engineer unit with the South Dakota Army National Guard as well as the 211th. The training event was the culmination training event for the 153rd and its associated units during their annual training in July 2023 at Fort McCoy. The large-scale training event included opposing forces, obstacles, simulated explosive actions, and more. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)

Seeing an increase of more than 8,600 troops training on post in fiscal year (FY) 2023, Fort McCoy supported the training of 86,090 troops on post during FY 2023 — a boost from the 77,411 troops who trained at Fort McCoy in FY 2022.

Larry Sharp, chief of the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Training Coordination Branch, said the training numbers include Army Reserve Soldiers; National Guard service members; and active-duty troops from not just the Army but also other services, such as the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.

Training statistics reflect many types of training opportunities that take place at the installation by active- and reserve-component forces and other governmental agencies, according to DPTMS.

During fiscal year 2023, training included battle-drill (weekend) training; annual training; mobilization; institutional training; and numerous exercises, including an Exportable Combat Training Capability exercise, Combat Support Training Exercise, Global Medic, Spartan Warrior III military police exercise, and numerous other training events.

Training in fiscal year 2023 started right away when engineer troops took time to work on a Fort McCoy troop project in early October 2022.

The ongoing troop project at the Fort McCoy Central Receiving Shipping Point (CRSP) parking lot received work Oct. 14, 2022, as nearly a dozen Soldiers with Alpha Company of Wisconsin National Guard’s 173rd Engineer Company worked on the project.

The 173rd Soldiers serve out of Rhinelander and Tomahawk, Wis. The company is comprised of one horizontal engineer platoon and two combat engineer platoons, said 2nd Lt. Frank Mueller, 1st Platoon leader for the 173rd.

“The Soldiers with the 1st Platoon hauled, spread, and compacted 1,077 tons of new gravel to resurface the CRSP yard after a different troop project of installing new concrete light pillars were installed,” Mueller said.

Spc. Nicholas Coetcher with the 1st Platoon said he appreciated supporting the troop project. “It’s real-life projects like this that matter,” Coetcher said. “Troop projects put your Army training to use and help in the real world.”

That same month, on Oct. 20, 2022, Soldiers with the 461st Engineer Company, 367th Engineer Battalion, 372nd Engineer Brigade, 416th Theater Engineer Command, worked on a troop project to build office buildings at Logistical Support Area Liberty on North Post at Fort McCoy.

In November 2022, Members of the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) Transportation Division team and Soldiers with the 411th Engineer Company, an Army Reserve unit based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, worked together in early November to load 52 railcars with equipment for deployment at Fort McCoy. Soldiers with the 411th first trained to do the loading.

The railcars were loaded with 128 pieces of equipment the 411th was deploying eventually to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, said Dean. R. Muller, unit movement coordinator/traffic management specialist with Fort McCoy LRC.

“This rail movement included five LRC staff members supporting the 411th,” Muller said. “The 411th Soldiers did complete the Multimedia Rail Safety Course prior to completing their work on loading the railcars. Our staff members served as safety support staff for the movement.”

In January, 50 Airmen with multiple Air National Guard security forces units completed a 16-day Cold-Weather Operations Course at Fort McCoy in a training effort led by Air Force security forces instructors.

Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Harvey, security forces manager with the 164th Mission Support Group, 164th Airlift Wing, at Memphis Air National Guard Base, Tenn., helped get the training organized. Harvey had previously trained in Fort McCoy’s version of the Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC).

He said holding an all-Air Force version of CWOC at Fort McCoy in 2023 made sense. The 16-day course his team of instructors is teaching is reflective of the former Fort McCoy CWOC course that ended in the spring 2022.

“We actually had to turn away people for this session because there was so much interest,” Harvey said. “We’re glad to come here and hold this course.”

Tech. Sgt. Michael Samsa, one of the instructors supporting the training who’s with the 164th Security Forces Squadron at Memphis, said their goal was to teach a wide range of cold-weather skills and tactics during the course.

“We (were) teaching how to use an ahkio sled, how to use thermal shelters, how to traverse rugged terrain with snowshoes and ski poles and be able to sustain operations in these types of cold-weather environments,” Samsa said.

Samsa also said coming to Fort McCoy in January to get this specialized training was good for Air Force security forces Airmen.

“It’s given us a chance to get in contact and rub elbows with the wings all the way across the United States,” Samsa said. “And McCoy just has really been really receptive to all the training and letting us pick up this course and build camaraderie across the wings in the Air National Guard.”

DPTMS personnel document the training statistics each month of the fiscal year, Sharp said. This involves combining numbers of the entire transient training population, which encompasses reserve- and active-component military forces as well as other training agencies, such as law-enforcement agencies or the Wisconsin Challenge Academy.

In February, more than 40 teams of Army ROTC cadets under U.S. Army Cadet Command descended on Fort McCoy for competition in the 2023 Northern Warfare Challenge, which is hosted by University of Wisconsin–La Crosse’s Eagle Battalion and 3rd Brigade Army ROTC.

The ROTC teams came to the installation from across the Midwest, Arizona, and Vermont, said Lt. Col. Brian R. Knutson with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. At Fort McCoy on Feb. 24, teams competed in rifle marksmanship, cold weather first aid, knot tying, and fire-starting, Knutson said.

In April, Wisconsin Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew members with the Madison, Wis.-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment trained to drop water on wildfires April 10 using a Bambi bucket at Fort McCoy while the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team completed a prescribed burn.

Personnel with the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team helped coordinate with the Black Hawk helicopter and crew to complete water drops on specific areas during a prescribed burn at Training Area B-18 near Badger Drop Zone on South Post.

Fort McCoy Forester Charles Mentzel with the Forestry Office of the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch said the training with the Wisconsin National Guard crews went well.

“It went very well,” Mentzel said. “Our feedback from them was that it went great, too. There were six drops that were accomplished by them. They told us they got two or three pilots trained. And the prescribed burn accomplished our goal of setting back that area to an oak savannah.”

In May, UH-60 Black Hawks operated by a Wisconsin National Guard crews conducted training May 5 near the Medical Simulation Training Center at Fort McCoy to support an operation that was part of a medical exercise called Operation Ouija.

The Black Hawks were performing a simulated tail-to-tail transfer with C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Air Force Reserve’s 934th Airlift Wing of Minnesota and the 452nd Air Mobility Wing of March Air Reserve Base, Calif., Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs officials said.

“Three Wisconsin Army National Guard units, one Air National Guard unit, one Air Force Reserve unit, and one Army Reserve unit (were) all coming together to train last Friday in a medical exercise called Operation Ouija,” stated a Wisconsin National Guard Facebook post on May 12. “For this exercise, pilots and medics with West Bend Aviation picked up patients from who had simulated injuries like lumbar spine fracture, traumatic brain injury, fractured arm, etc. They took them to a simulated Role III medical support area staffed by medics of the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 1-105th Cavalry Regiment Medical Squadron at Fort McCoy's Medical Simulation Training Center. These medics were running point of injury and prolonged casualty-care, medical evacuation scenarios out of multiple locations. There, they also had a forward support surgical team (U.S. Army Reserve’s 911th Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment out of Madison).”

All the training during the fiscal year also plays a role in the economic impact the installation has on local economies. According to the Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis and Integration Office, in fiscal year 2022, Fort McCoy’s total economic impact for that fiscal year was an estimated $2.52 billion.

“FY 2022 operating costs of $391.46 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,” states a story about the economic impact prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office in March 2023. “Other expenditures accounted for $52.25 million and covered $339,994 in payments to local governments (including land permit agreements, school district impact aid, etc.) as well as $51.91 million in discretionary spending in local communities by service members training and residing at Fort McCoy.”

All throughout the training year, the institutional training taking place at Fort McCoy is significant, too, at places such as the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Regional Training Site (RTS)-Medical, RTS-Maintenance, the Wisconsin Military Academy, and more.

Students in the Fort McCoy RTS-Maintenance Wheeled Vehicle Recovery Operations Course were at the North Post Vehicle Recovery Site on July 24 and 25 practicing their skills recovering military vehicles with military wrecker vehicles — and it wasn’t easy, students said.

That field training was a big part of the course, instructors say, because it gets them the experience, they need to do the same kind of work at their own units and home stations. And, according to senior instructor Staff Sgt. Alicia Curtis, helps them earn an additional skill identifier.

During training July 24, Curtis discussed what students were learning, and more.

“They apply the techniques they learned in class on how to recover a mired vehicle,” Curtis said. And during a deployment or in-garrison, knowing these skills are important for these specialists.

“Obviously, this would be very important … because you (just) never know,” Curtis said. “Vehicles, whether in garrison (or deployed) has a tendency of getting stuck.”

Spc. Ashley Noe, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 366th Military Police Company at Stillwater, Okla., said she was appreciative of the course training.

“I've enjoyed every bit of it,” Noe said. “Every aspect. I especially like the hands-on training. I can learn in the classroom, but hands-on is usually better for me, especially doing the vehicle recovery in the field.”

DPTMS officials project similar training numbers or higher at the installation in fiscal year 2024.

Fort McCoy was established in 1909 and its 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 for 35 of 38 years since 1984.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison 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.”