Fort McCoy RTS-Maintenance clears snow in a big way

Mid-January storms brought more than a foot-and-a-half of snow to Fort McCoy and the surrounding areas, and with that it means having to move a lot of snow in all kinds of areas including training areas like the Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance facility at Fort McCoy.

And while shoveling a sidewalk and clearing a parking lot are the most common areas to clear snow at the facility, they’re also likely the easiest areas to clear. But the equipment lot is a different story.

The equipment lot at the RTS-Maintenance facility is filled with dozens of Army equipment and vehicles used for training in numerous courses taught at the facility. And with piles of snow on that equipment and vehicles, a member of the facility’s staff took to a big piece of equipment to move that snow.

Enter Sgt. 1st Class Shane McElderry, the maintenance noncommissioned officer at RTS-Maintenance. McElderry climbed aboard an Army D-7 bulldozer and went to moving snow.

Over the course of a few hours, McElderry had the facility’s equipment yard completely cleared and staff could get back to accessing the many items in the lot.

McElderry said it went well, plus it gave him a chance to get practice operating the dozer.

“It was good,” McElderry said. “Operating all of the different types of equipment and trucks is one of my favorite things about my job and being in the Army.”

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kevin Gabrielson with the RTS-Maintenance leadership said the D-7 is commonly used by Soldiers in the 12-series military occupational specialties (MOS) in the Army. These can include 12A engineer officer; 12B, combat engineer, 12C bridge crewmember, 12D Army diver, 12F crane operator, 12G quarrying specialist, or 12H construction engineering supervisor.

The dozers are also a main staple in the 91L construction equipment repairer MOS as well. Gabrielson said the D-7 used at their facility is for the 91L10 reclassification course, also called the 91L10 Construction Equipment Maintenance Repairer Course.

According to the Army, construction-equipment repairers are responsible for maintaining trucks, bulldozers, power shovels, and other heavy equipment needed for construction operations. At RTS-Maintenance, students complete phase one of their training — approximately 114 hours — through distance learning prior to coming to Fort McCoy to finish phase two.

During phase two training, students learn about shop operations; electrical, diesel-engine, hydraulic, and power-train systems; preventative-maintenance checks and services; and battle-damage assessment and repair. Students also learn more about using special and general mechanic tools; test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment; and more.

So as winter continues, too, it’s obvious McElderry and others at RTS-Maintenance will make sure to utilize what means necessary to keep training operations going despite the weather.

RTS-Maintenance trains hundreds of Soldiers every year in the Army’s 91-series MOS and administratively supports the training of Soldiers in the 89B MOS. The unit aligns under the 3rd Brigade (Ordnance), 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, and is centrally located in the cantonment area with an entire complex to hold training.

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 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.”