Fort McCoy Garrison leaders support special 2025 dining facility holiday meal for installation team

Approximately 156 people took part in a special holiday meal served by leaders of U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy in Dining Facility 1362 on Dec. 4 at Fort McCoy.

The meal, organized by the Fort McCoy food service team aligned with the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center, included a wide variety of menu items to feed the military and civilian guests of the meal.

The menu included roast turkey, pit ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, savory dressing, corn on the cob, green beans, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, dinner rolls, coleslaw, salad bar, apple pie, pumpkin pie, variety of ice cream treats, chips, raisins, dried fruit, snack mixes, and a special decorated cake with a holiday theme.

The Fort McCoy food service team includes the Food Program Management Office and the LRC Subsistence Supply Management Office (SSMO); Southern Premier Foodservice Management; and food suppliers.

Jim Gouker with the Fort McCoy Food Program Management Office said he was happy with the attendance at the event.

“The turnout was awesome,” Gouker said. “Very glad to have so many personnel that could enjoy a special meal. The Southern Premier Foodservice Management and staff knocked it out of the park. Due to the government shutdown, we originally planned on not having a holiday meal this year. When we had a few units get on the schedule, we re-implemented the holiday meal plan.

“They had very little time to get everything together for the meal,” he said. “However, that was completely invisible to the customers. Everything went seamlessly and the foods they served was wonderful. Southern Premier Foodservices is made up of top-notch leadership and personnel.”

Serving the food was Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez; Deputy Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Chad Holder; and Command Sgt. Maj. James Riddle, garrison command sergeant major.

The work continues the strong effort by the food service team, Gouker said.

During fiscal year 2024, with support from other members of the team, the SSMO put up some impressive support numbers, Gouker said.

For food service in FY 2024, excluding three major exercises, the SSMO supported training with Class I in the following quantities: Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), 8,684 meals; Kosher meals, 38; Halal meals, 118; Sun Meadow meals, 6,580; Unitized Group Rations (UGRs), 1,450 cases; UHT milk, 2,506 cases; bagged ice, 1,238 bags; and additional enhancements such as cereal, fresh fruit, salad mix, and salad dressings.

For food service for the 86th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise 86-24-02 as well as the 2024 Global Medic exercise, the SSMO supported with Class I in the following quantities: MREs, 100,992 meals; UGRs, 99,316 servings; UHT milk, 51,840 containers; bagged ice, 110,140 pounds; and additional enhancements.

For the 87th Training Division’s Warrior Exercise 87-24-02, the SSMO supported the exercise with Class I in the following quantities: MREs, 17,964 meals; UGRs, 62,844 meals; UHT milk, 19,602 containers; bagged ice, 42,000 pounds; and additional enhancements.

For the Mobilization Support Force — Exercise ’24, the SSMO supported training with Class I in the following quantities: MREs, 1,104 meals; Kosher meals, 6; Halal meals, 8; UGRs, 942 cases; bagged ice, 90 bags; and additional enhancements.

“And in the garrison dining facilities in buildings 1362 and 50, during FY 2024, we served 201,179 meals,” Gouker said.

The meal was served the same day as the Fort McCoy Tree Lighting Ceremony, which is another holiday event coordinated by the Fort McCoy Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

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,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the My Army Post 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.”