181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade NCOs complete training at Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility

Courtesy Photo | Warehouse Specialist Ashley Birks with the Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility completes sizing training with Soldiers with the 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade on Feb. 12, 2020, at the facility at Fort McCoy, Wis. Four noncommissioned officers with the 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade completed rapid-fielding initiative sizing training so they can assist a mobilizing Army unit in Texas. (Photo by Thomas Lovgren/Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

03.11.2020

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                         

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Four noncommissioned officers (NCOs) with the 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade completed rapid-fielding initiative sizing training Feb. 12 at the Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility (CIF).

Sgts. 1st Class Daniel DeMuth, Jonathan Vanderbuilt, and Kenneth Tuelp and Staff Sgt. Enrico Arroyo participated in the training so they can assist a mobilizing unit in Texas, said CIF Property Book Officer Thomas Lovgren. The CIF is part of the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center.

“The training went well,” DeMuth said. “It allowed my team and me to get a better understanding of proper sizing and items that will be issued to a particular unit we are supporting.”

Warehouse Specialist Ashley Birks conducted the training. Lovgren said units mobilizing through Fort McCoy with fewer than 500 Soldiers receive their rapid-fielding initiative (RFI) issue from the CIF.

“The Fort McCoy CIF is required to order all of the (Army Reserve) RFI organizational clothing and individual equipment, by individual, for the specific theater of operation they are deploying to,” Lovgren said. “Units can either come to Fort McCoy to have the CIF size them individually with the RFI sizing kit, or the sizing kit can be sent to their location to complete the sizing.”

The Army Reserve unit in Texas could not make it to Fort McCoy so the decision was made to send the sizing kit to their location, Lovgren said.
“The deploying Soldiers need to be measured correctly for everything from body armor to uniforms,” Lovgren said. “The 181st took on the mission to complete the sizing of the unit, and they required specific training on the proper sizing, which is what we did here.”

“We will be traveling to San Antonio later on to ensure these items are properly fitted and to ensure all personnel have a common understanding of items to be issued and how to assemble, disassemble, and utilize them according to standard,” DeMuth said. “This will ensure proper utilization of equipment and the maintenance of that equipment, which will ultimately allow for a longer life span of that equipment. And, in the long run, this work will save the Army quite a bit of money.”

Operating out of a 62,548-square-foot facility in building 780, CIF personnel have plenty of space to store equipment and support customers. Lovgren said that since 2011, the Fort McCoy CIF has been issuing Reserve Soldiers their entire Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment needs.

The 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade, a tenant organization at Fort McCoy, partners with Army Reserve and Army National Guard units to advise, assist, and train Army formations throughout their complete sustainable readiness model cycle to achieve collective training readiness in support of worldwide requirements.

(The Fort McCoy Central Issue Facility contributed to this article.)

• Date Taken: 03.11.2020
• Date Posted: 03.11.2020 12:53
• Story ID: 364980
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US