Photo By Scott Sturkol | Soldiers participating in Operation Cold Steel II prepare for training April 18, 2018,...... read more read more
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Training at Fort McCoy from January through April has included thousands of service members completing cold-weather operations training, a major Marine unit exercise, the start of Operation Cold Steel II, a Regional Medic exercise, and the completion of the 78th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise 78-18-03.
The training pace has been so steady, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Director Brad Stewart said during the recent Garrison-Tenant Staff Meeting that, as of March 31, more than 59,000 troops have trained at the installation so far in fiscal year 2018. “That’s significantly ahead of where we were a year ago at this time,” he said.
Going through the end of May will be Operation Cold Steel (OCS) II, which began in mid-February.
According to exercise planners, OCS II operations at Fort McCoy for 2018 falls under Task Force Triad. The task force, hosted by the 416th Theater Engineer Command, holds training through May 31 in which more than 3,000 Soldiers, or approximately 1,000 crews, are expected to attend the mounted crew-served weapons qualification training.
As of mid-April, 412 crews successfully completed Table VI crew qualification at Fort McCoy, according to OCS II personnel managing the training. During Cold Steel II, the crews are training on the M2, M240, M249, and MK19 weapons across a variety of vehicle platforms, including Humvees, M1078 Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, M1083 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, M1075 Palletized Load System Vehicle, and the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Crews conduct the training and qualification throughout a 13-day schedule.
Fort McCoy’s DPTMS supports this training with the Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer, Engagement Skills Trainer; Reconfigurable Vehicle Tactical Trainer; Unstabilized Gunnery Trainer — Crew; Virtual Battlespace Trainer 3 (VBS3); as well as with live-fire ranges, Range Maintenance and after-action review.
“Training and range use for Cold Steel is much like last year,” said Training Coordination Branch Chief Craig Meeusen with DPTMS. “For this training, Ranges 2, 18, 26, and 34 are mainly being used.”
Going into May and throughout May, there will also be many units coming to Fort McCoy for weekend, battle-drill, and extended-combat training. Among those scheduled are more than 600 Soldiers with the 732nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion of the Wisconsin National Guard; 400-plus Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, also of the Wisconsin National Guard; 600-plus Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Brigade Combat Team, of the Illinois National Guard; and 200-plus Soldiers with the Army Reserve’s 327th Military Police Battalion headquartered in Arlington Heights, Ill.
Training in May at Fort McCoy will also include visits by ROTC units, law-enforcement personnel, Army engineer units, Army medical personnel and units, and more.
“We’re looking at more than 13,000 people training on post in May,” Meeusen said.
For institutional training, hundreds more service members are scheduled to train with garrison and tenant organizations at the installation, including with the 13th Battalion, 100th Regiment; Regional Training Site-Maintenance; Medical Simulation Training Center; Staff Sgt. Todd R. Cornell Noncommissioned Officer Academy; and the Wisconsin Military Academy.
Once June rolls around, training will continue to stay at a high level with the start of another Combat Support Training Exercise and the military police-centric Guardian Justice exercise taking place, Meeusen said.
Fort McCoy has supported America’s armed forces since 1909. The installation’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” 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: | 04.20.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2018 16:58 |
| Story ID: | 273961 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Hometown: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 123 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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