Army Reserve's 204th Army Band performed during 2023 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House

The 204th Army Band of Fort Snelling, Minn., performed for event-goers on May 20, 2023, during the 2023 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House at Fort McCoy, Wis.

The band played to thousands of people who visited the open house throughout the day at Fort McCoy's historic Commemorative Area.

The band last played at the Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House in 2019.

The event was considered a great success by installation officials as nearly 3,000 people visited the installation to see numerous vehicle and equipment displays, interactive and information displays in tents, and much more.

The day’s activities were centered on the Commemorative Area, which features the History Center; five World War II-era buildings filled with historical equipment and displays, the outdoor Equipment Park, and Veterans Memorial Plaza.

Visitors were treated to sunny day and temperatures in the 70s as well.

One of the open house attendees, Stephen Dressel, said he enjoyed the event.

“Was my first time going and won’t be the last,” Dressel said. “Everyone did an amazing job that helped facilitate it. I was impressed and most importantly my kids loved it.”

Another event-goer, Jan Pensinger, also added about the event, “This was a fantastic event! Thanks to everyone who made this possible.”

“We had a great day to hold the event, and we had a steady flow of people throughout the day,” said Fort McCoy Public Affairs Officer Tonya Townsell. “Within the Commemorative Area, we had more than displays set up under tents. We also had guided installation bus tours, a sandbag-filling station, personalized ID tags, military equipment displays, marksmanship galleries, and more.”

The free event ran from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and people appeared to enjoy everything that was available, Townsell said. The Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office even put together a special four-page history and heritage edition of The Real McCoy newspaper to support the event where more than 2,000 copies were distributed.

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.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.