RTS-Maintenance at Fort McCoy looking at busy training schedule during fiscal year 2020, commandant says

Photo By Scott Sturkol | Students in the Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance Tracked Vehicle Recovery Course prepare to hook an M88A1 Medium-Tracked Recovery Vehicle to another M88A1 during course operations July 19, 2018, at a training area on North Post at Fort McCoy, Wis. The course was the last of three sessions held during fiscal year 2018. The course provides the H8 additional skill identifier for 91-series Soldiers and consists of 134 hours of classroom, field, and hands-on training. The course focuses on determining recovery methods; operating metal-cutting equipment; tracked vehicle preventive maintenance checks and services and basic issue items; driving tracked recovery vehicles and operating the various winches on those vehicles; booms, hoists, and auxiliary equipment; recovering mired and overturned tracked vehicles; towing disabled tracked vehicles; and self-recovery of tracked vehicles. Each session of the course includes approximately 12 students. RTS-Maintenance at Fort McCoy trains Soldiers from both active- and reserve-component forces. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

10.03.2019

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                        

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

During the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance will be completing eight courses of training, said Maj. Anthony Strong, the unit’s commandant.

“It’s going to be a busy year for sure, but we’re ready for it,” Strong said.

RTS-Maintenance at Fort McCoy trains Soldiers in the Army’s 91-series military occupational specialty (MOS) and as of Oct. 1, is administratively supporting the training of Soldiers in the 89B MOS. The unit aligns under the 3rd Brigade (Ordnance), 94th Division of the 80th Training Command.

“We are the largest RTS-Maintenance of the four that are in the Army Reserve,” Strong said. “I think we are also structured to compete with the largest in the National Guard, too.

“I think we put on world-class training for every ordnance Soldier who comes through the door here, whether they are from the Army Reserve, National Guard, or the active component.”

Some of the RTS-Maintenance Courses include the Career Management Field 91/94 Ordnance Senior Leader and Advanced Leader Courses, Tracked Vehicle Recovery Course, Wheeled Vehicle Recovery Course, 91L10 Construction Equipment Maintenance Repairer Course, and more. The unit is centrally located in the cantonment area with an entire complex to hold training.

“We know we have great training because we get top-notch feedback from our end-of-course critiques,” Strong said. “The training that we put these Soldiers through is superb.”

Strong also said Fort McCoy is a great place for all the training because of what the installation offers and how well their schoolhouse is supported by post personnel.

“I think anything that we have ever asked for from Fort McCoy to accommodate us, they have been there for us,” Strong said.

The post’s four-season climate also assists in providing better training, he said.

“We have students who come from all over to train here, and you never know what kind of weather you might see here,” Strong said. “That helps our students be prepared for any kind of environment.”

Earlier in 2019, Sgt. Garrett Maxwell with Detachment 1, Company E, 40th Brigade Support Battalion of San Diego, Calif., attended the 91L10 Construction Equipment Maintenance Repairer Course. He said the training helped him build better skills.

“I have grown significantly as both a noncommissioned officer and as a mechanic,” Maxwell said of his time training at RTS-Maintenance. “The hands-on experience (I received) will prove to be invaluable.”

After the first quarter’s courses are completed, Strong said his staff will have a small break between courses for the holidays. Then in January during the second quarter of fiscal year 2020, he said, his team will begin another full round of courses.

“Our training seems to be growing by about 10 percent or more each year,” Strong said. “That growth is proof of how well we continue to train Soldiers.”

As training continues, Strong said RTS-Maintenance staff appreciates all the support from the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Wisconsin Military Academy, Fort McCoy Garrison, Logistics Readiness Center, and others.

RTS-Maintenance at Fort McCoy trains Soldiers in both active and reserve components of the Army.

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 each year since 1984.

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

• Date Taken: 10.03.2019
• Date Posted: 10.03.2019 15:33
• Story ID: 345854
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US