This Month in Fort McCoy History — January 2023

Fort McCoy, Wis., was established in 1909. Here is a look back at some installation history from January 2023 and back.

38 Years Ago — January 1985

Winter at Fort McCoy means low temperatures, snow and icy weather. It’s a big job to make sure Fort McCoy operates smoothly in spite of Wisconsin’s winter conditions. But most Fort McCoy employees don’t have to worry about being cold in their offices or the safety of the roads and sidewalks due to a large group who work outside, regardless of the weather, so that the rest of us can work in comfort and travel about post safely.

This group of workers come from the directorates of facilities engineering and industrial operations. They are the ones who transport fuel – coal and wood pellets – from storage areas to offices and barracks. They maintain boilers, scrape snow from roads, sidewalks and parking lots, and spread sand at intersections. Without the efforts of these workers, who sometimes must brave the most extreme weather conditions, Fort McCoy could not operate.

10 Years Ago — January 2013

The Combined Arms Collective Training Facility (CACTF) at Fort McCoy has been completed and is ready for use. The CACTF has 25 support buildings representing multi-story residential, commercial, government, business and industrial operations. Underground tunnel/sewer training areas also provide urban combat training.

5 Years Ago — January 2018

Nearly 1,200 Marines with units associated with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing completed extreme cold-weather training at Fort McCoy from early January through early February during the Ullr Shield 2018 exercise.

The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, N.C., began coordination to hold the cold-weather training at Fort McCoy in September 2017.

Marines with the Marine Air Control Group 28, a 2nd MAW unit, came to Fort McCoy with an advance team in fall 2017 to prepare for training, said Training Coordination Branch Chief Craig Meeusen with the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS).

“They are training all around the post,” Meeusen said. “The majority of the Marines are staying and working from Improved Tactical Training Base Freedom on South Post. They are also working and training at areas such as Young Air Assault Strip, Sparta-McCoy Airfield, the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility, and various live fire ranges.”

Prior to the start of Ullr Shield, nearly 50 Marines came to Fort McCoy to train in the Cold-Weather Operations Course, or CWOC, in December. All of those same Marines returned to Fort McCoy for the Ullr Shield exercise to help train their fellow Marines.

Sgt. Luis Lopez with Marine Wing Communications Squadron 28, also at MCAS Cherry Point, said after completing CWOC training that he would carry skills he learned to train other Marines.

“I will share the knowledge on how to wear the (cold-weather) equipment, the tips and tricks to stay warm, and how to react to and treat cold-weather injuries,” Lopez said. “Also, the best parts of the course, to me, were all of the survival tips. They were all a first to me, and I learned a lot from the course.

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 the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”