Fort McCoy LRC team completes successful rail operations, training

Photo By Scott Sturkol | Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 271 load equipment on railcars Jan. 30, 2018, at Fort McCoy, Wis. The Marines were training at Fort McCoy as part of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing's Ullr Shield exercise. The unit was loading equipment to take back to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. The work also was part of cold-weather rail training for the MWSS 271 Marines and everything was coordinated with the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center's Transportation Division. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

03.08.2018

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                         

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

In late January and early February, many members of the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) team successfully supported the training and management of rail operations for hundreds of Marines and Soldiers for large rail movements on post.

Movements Branch Chief Terry Altman with the LRC Transportation Division said everything went very well. “Everything was loaded correctly, and there were no accidents or incidents,” he said.

The effort first required completing a rail movement for Marine Wing Support Squadron 271, a unit from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., that trained at Fort McCoy during the Ullr Shield exercise in January.

“They were just returning to home station and wanted to do some cold-weather rail operations,” said Fort McCoy Transportation Officer D.J. Eckland with the LRC Transportation Division. “They got what they asked for.”

During the training, the Marines dealt with frigid below-zero temperatures and several inches of fresh snow while loading 34 railcars with 77 pieces of equipment and more than 50 containers. During the operation, temperatures dipped as low as minus 15 degrees, and snow fell on several different days.

The Marines rail movement was followed by a four-day cold-weather rail operations exercise and real-world deployment of equipment by two Army units for two separate overseas operations.

The exercise, held Feb. 5-8, was an opportunity to take a regular rail-loading operation and turn it into training for Soldiers with the 397th Engineer Battalion at Eau Claire, Wis., and the 983rd Engineer Battalion of Monclova, Ohio, Eckland said.

A classroom session began the training Feb. 5 with 89 people attending. The classroom portion was taught by a Marine Corps mobile training team from Barstow, Calif.

Then, with lots of support from the LRC team, service members with each unit took turns loading their equipment on railcars. The 397th loaded 36 railcars with 65 pieces of equipment and nine 20-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) containers. The 983rd loaded 30 railcars with more than 80 pieces of equipment and four TEU containers.

In addition to Altman, Eckland said a lot of LRC personnel had a hand in making the largest rail movement at Fort McCoy in two years a success. They included Freight Rate Specialists Dean Muller and Leslie Koenig; Traffic Management Specialist Marcel Vanie, Unit Movement Coordinator Anthony Reeves, Transportation Intern Derrick Dawson, Transportation Assistant Dennis Diercks from the Motor Pool, and Chris Brown and other members of the locomotive support team with contractor Accent Controls Inc.

Eckland also said Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Rail Inspector Don Peterson, police officers with the Directorate of Emergency Services, and members of Fort McCoy snow-removal contractor Kaiyuh Services LLC provided critical support as well.

“Everyone came together and did an outstanding job,” Eckland said.
Some of the equipment loaded as part of the training will return to the installation later in the year as part of the equipment’s redeployment.

The next railcar-loading/movement operation at Fort McCoy is expected sometime this summer.

Fort McCoy has supported America’s armed forces since 1909. The post’s varied terrain, state-of-the-art ranges, new as well as renovated facilities, and extensive support infrastructure combine to provide military personnel with an environment in which to develop and sustain the skills necessary for mission success.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at www.mccoy.army.mil, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

• Date Taken: 03.08.2018
• Date Posted: 03.08.2018 10:14
• Story ID: 268565
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US