Fort McCoy Garrison commander: Know our history, live our culture

BY COL. STEPHEN T. MESSENGER

Commander, Fort McCoy Garrison

The best organizations stand on legacy and heritage. They’re proud of their origins, which drives them to desire more success and creates an innate desire to continue adding to their history.

As a member of the U.S. Army, I have four favorite songs: the National Anthem, the Army Song, the All-American Soldier, and the Army Transportation Song.

Each song is not only catchy, but also a history lesson of our nation, the Army, and one of my former units and branches, respectively. Hearing each one evicts memories, emotions, and pride in my organization and culture.

I’ve studied these four organizations over decades of service and love to talk about how all four have shaped my life.

For Soldiers, the history of our units and culture deeply matter to us — we’ve lived it! This knowledge of our history creates a mindset of inclusion in the unit we belong to instead of focusing on ourselves. Organizations win as a team and fight for each other.

It’s critical we speak about the history of our organizations and teach our heritage.

History matters

History is a lens to the past, helping us understand our origins, reflect on who we are, and draw a connection to the future.

It’s always with us and doesn’t go away. Having knowledge of our past enables us make sense of our current situation and move on to the next chapter.

The culture of an organization is what makes up their social behaviors, institutions, and norms. It is why they act a certain way or have specific values. Their present was shaped by their past. The founders and carriers of the cultural torch have deeply embedded certain characteristics within the group.

When new members join, it’s important to teach them the history of the organization and introduce them into the culture.

A quality onboarding process contains deeply rooted knowledge of why a company does what it does.

Those groups who know their history and live their culture develop long-lasting legacies and imbued pride in their organization.

Organizational examples

Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 on the tenets of mass production, assembly lines, and job creation, resulting in today’s culture of technical excellence, teamwork, and results.

Google started in two Stanford University dorm rooms, upgraded to a garage, and continues to innovate in many non-standard and groundbreaking ways.

NASCAR was born in Daytona Beach when race promoter Bill France saw the corruption in non-organized racing and wanted to establish a standardized competition where, decades later, the culture he developed of fairness and equity in racing equipment remains. The first race of the year continues to be held in Daytona Beach to this day.

Finally, Fort McCoy was born out of Robert Bruce McCoy’s vision in the early 20th century to have a place in Western Wisconsin for the U.S. Army to train.

During our 2024 Armed Forces Day Open Houses there will be a special History and Heritage paper that is rife with the history of Fort McCoy, so I won’t retell it here, but you should definitely see a copy of that special edition.

But we stand on the shoulder of giants. Hard working, Wisconsin natives who form the core of Fort McCoy. While 435 Soldiers are assigned here, over 500 civilian employees, most of which live in Wisconsin, form the backbone of running the garrison.

The culture is about Wisconsinites going back to Robert Bruce McCoy’s time: incredibly nice and really hard working. When you put these two qualities together, you get an organization that defines excellence every day.

The people here understand that Fort McCoy has a rich history and heritage. Moreover, they know that there is much history still to be written. Over the course of the next few decades, Fort McCoy will continue to train, mobilize, and support our nation in many different capacities.

It is an economic cornerstone and driver of the local community. It is the crown jewel of the Army Reserve installations. And it will serve the nation proudly for the foreseeable future.

These four companies above — Ford, Google, NASCAR, and Fort McCoy — understand their histories and stay true to their culture. It is what defines them and drives them forward.

Shaping operations

This type of understanding history and cementing culture does not come naturally. We must teach the beginnings of the organization to others, tell stories of the great tales of achievement, and remind others of the legacy before us. The intent is to move people from thinking about themselves to thinking collectively. It’s not about one person; it’s about us.

History matters. To generate pride in an organization, we must have a messaging plan. We have to continuously remind our people of the greatness of the organization. We must get our minds off ourselves and onto our team.

This can come in the form of emails, speeches, informal stories, newsletters, word-of-mouth, videos, or many other messaging techniques to highlight organizational beginnings, successes, and future plans. Our messaging must be overt and covert. Take every chance to educate our people on the story of our team, whatever it may be.

I just did this at our last town hall. After the open discussion period, we took the entire group on a field trip out of the building and to our commemorative area. Here, we have the history of the unit with World War II barracks filled with stories of the rich history of what we do. After walking through 100-plus display vehicles of army equipment from the early 1900s to today, we stopped at a war memorial to our Soldiers.

Here I spoke to the group about the history of our unit, how we got here, and what those before us had done. Next, I talked about the great effort everyone here has done and the progress made. Finally, I referenced the future and how we get to write the next chapter in our history–and it’s up to us to do it well.

Our job as leaders is to help others understand the past, succeed in the present, and set conditions for a fruitful future. We are responsible for telling that story.

Communicate our story

Our organization has a history — telling this story will help others understand the “why” behind what we do and help others to want to carry on that legacy. We know we’re winning when others tell the same stories without us, when they reflect fondly on the hard times and the great wins, and they use the word “we” instead of “I.”

Teaching history and developing culture is a lost art. The benefits of developing and telling our narrative creates a team others want to join.

I personally invite you to our Armed Forces Open House Day on Saturday, May 18, to talk about the past, present, and future of Fort McCoy.