FORT MCCOY, Wis. -- Army Reserve combat service support units now have hands-on training available for their Soldiers on the family of medium tactical vehicles, armored security vehicles, and much more.
The 88th Regional Support Command's Hands-On Training Program has made courses available through the Army Training Requirements and Resources System, or ATRRS.
Lt. Col. Timothy K. Norton, the command's hands-on training chief, said Soldiers may not get adequate opportunities to conduct maintenance on vehicles and equipment at their units, so the hands-on training is beneficial to the Soldiers and their units because they are better prepared for any mission, anywhere.
"It is a golden opportunity for Soldiers to do their individual (military occupational specialty) skills," Norton said. "They get to pull (an engine), change out assemblies, troubleshoot equipment--they basically get to do a lot of things they don't normally get a chance to do."
The Army's military occupational specialty producing schools only train about 30-45 percent of the total skills required for Soldiers to be proficient in their occupation, Norton said. It is the unit's responsibility to complete the Soldier's training and to ensure the Soldiers are proficient at their jobs, he added.
"That's where the sustainment (hands-on training) can fill that void," he said. "Because the unit can specifically ask the (training facility) to hold specific equipment or conduct maintenance tasks they want their Soldiers to work on."
The command uses two maintenance centers of excellence for newer equipment hands-on training located at Fort McCoy, Wis., and Ogden, Utah.
David H. Teelon, the hands-on training coordinator at Fort McCoy, said specific equipment training for units or Soldiers is available at area maintenance support activities and equipment concentration sites throughout the United States.
"If units need their Soldiers trained on a particular piece of equipment that's only available at a certain facility," he said, "then we can build a class in ATRRS for a specific location and the units can send their Soldiers for training."
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