Fort McCoy Garrison commander: Reviewing McCoy’s progress

Commander, Fort McCoy Garrison

On Jan. 25, we conducted our quarterly town hall with the garrison employees. I wanted to share a little about what we talked about for those that weren’t there and our community partners.

First, I sincerely thanked our workforce for being such a professional, impressive, and winning team.

Make no mistake, there are many challenges that Fort McCoy faces, yet this incredible group of people tackle each one head-on and without complaint. My sincere thanks go out to all of you!

Second, I wanted everyone to either understand, be reminded of, or affirm the importance of Fort McCoy for the military and the community.

We say “The Soldier” is the Center of Gravity — on which everything depends. By proxy, that includes our veterans, joint service members, families, and civilians who are customers of our installation.

Every time a customer walks in to receive assistance, they become the Center of Gravity, and all focus should be on them.

What I enjoy about the employees of Fort McCoy is that they are truly here for others. Of the over 500 positions in the garrison, they know that it is about supporting the warfighter: past, present, and future.

Third, we spoke about our recent Command Climate Survey. The feedback from our team was that we’re doing a lot of things right.

And as every learning organization has, we see some opportunities in which to improve. I want to highlight one of each.

Our highest score was in transformational leadership. This is a quality in an organization which prioritizes communicating future vision,

challenging status quos, empowering others to act, modelling the way, and encouraging the heart.

In this same town hall, we also laid out the vision for Fort McCoy in the next one, five, 10, and 15 years.

In this vision we see Fort McCoy sustaining and improving as the Army Reserve Center of Excellence bringing more and diverse training to Wisconsin across the regular Army, National Guard, Army Reserve, joint and international partners, intergovernmental agencies, and local communities such as fire and police partners.

It includes adding units and training opportunities to the installation, ensuring our World War II buildings, which are 80 years old, last another 80 years — expanding range capability and simulated training, and adding holistic health and fitness as the foundation to every employee.

For our biggest opportunity, it is hiring the right people for the right jobs. There are a number of vacancies on Fort McCoy with incredible opportunities for a career in civil service.

As part of this organization for 24 years, I see civilians with amazing benefits, retirements, and quality of life to include longevity here at Fort McCoy. One of my greatest thrills is retiring people with decades of service and thanking them for their work to support our Soldiers.

If you’re looking for a positive work environment with exceptional employees, Fort McCoy is it. The job is important, vital to our nation’s military might, value added, highly competitive pay and benefits, and the people are all top notch — plus all have a security clearance!

For example, we just started hiring for security guard positions requiring no previous experience where in a few short years you’re on a path to a fully certified police officer you can take with you anywhere.

Fourth, I reiterated the importance of goal setting and challenged everyone to set goals this year and hunt them down. I laid out my 20 personal goals for the year and highlighted two of them: sleep and nutrition. These are two areas I’ve neglected my entire career. This is the year where I get seven or more hours of sleep every night and eat healthier. One month into this exercise, it’s a game changer!

Finally, we recognized some people, and I closed where I always start: Thank you! I am amazingly blessed by the men and women who work tirelessly to support our nation’s service members. You are all making a difference and have made my job a complete joy!

Moreover, you have made Fort McCoy a well-respected member of the community by your words and deeds.

Fort McCoy remains ready to support the nation in our three core missions of training, mobilizing, and supporting the United States of America when called upon.

I’m honored to be a part of a small piece of the legacy that is Fort McCoy created by this great group of people here and those who went before us.