Fort McCoy training shifts into high gear during August 2020

Photo By Scott Sturkol | Soldiers with the 123rd Engineer Battalion of the Illinois National Guard operate at a tactical training area Aug. 4, 2020, on North Post at Fort McCoy, Wis. The battalion’s Soldiers were among approximately 4,000 service members training at Fort McCoy during the first week of August 2020. Transient troop training like this resumed at Fort McCoy in July 2020 after being stopped for several months because of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Over months of planning, however, Fort McCoy training officials were able to reopen the training with COVID-19 safety measures built in. Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

08.12.2020

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                         

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

For Larry Sharp, the chief of the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Training Coordination Branch, planning for training on post since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March has not been easy.

After training halted in April, it restarted in July and has grown significantly since.

“It’s been a herculean effort by everyone on our team to get this training back and to keep it going,” Sharp said. “After we stopped the training, we were busy getting units rescheduled and back here starting in July. We’ve had to work with travel restrictions in mind as well as COVID-19 safety precautions.

“Our (DPTMS) scheduling people have been working and working, our ammunition supply people have been very busy, and we have people who have been working nearly full time just ensuring units are following the established COVID-19 precautionary measures,” Sharp said. “But the training is back, and units are getting their required training completed.”

The last week of July and the first week of August saw more than 4,000 troops training on the installation each week, and that number is expected to grow to more than 6,000 troops per week during the last two weeks of August.

“We have Operation Ready Warrior exercise training going on as well as ROTC summer training planned for mid-August and beyond,” Sharp said. “Plus we have weekend training and battle drill training going on throughout the month.”

In early August, units completing training at Fort McCoy have included the 123rd Engineer Battalion of the Illinois National Guard; 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines (2nd, 24th) of the Marine Corps Reserve, and the 33rd Military Police Battalion of the Army Reserve.

Soldiers with the 123rd operated remotely at a tactical training base on North Post for extended training with their heavy equipment and more. The 2nd, 24th Marines also completed numerous kinds of training near Range 18, also on North Post. And the 33rd Soldiers completed training from tactical training areas on South Post.

“There also have been more than 200 Soldiers with the 86th Training Division completing their Mission Rehearsal Exercise in early August,” Sharp said. This exercise, according to the 86th, tests systems and procedures to ensure the Army Reserve’s ability to provide training in a COVID-19 environment.

As September approaches, Sharp said the training operations tempo on post will remain high.

“September looks to be pretty busy here, too,” Sharp said. “With that in mind, we’ll keep pressing forward to ensure everyone has the training support they need while they are here.

DPTMS Acting Director David Cochran said he’s proud to see how everyone in the directorate and across the installation has stepped up to bring the training back and to keep it going with the best support possible.

“At Fort McCoy, we have an amazing team of people here who know their mission and know their customers very well,” Cochran said. “The COVID-19 pandemic brought some difficult challenges to our team, but through hard work and a team effort, everyone supporting the training here has done an excellent job. We know the service members need to get their training completed, and we are all working to ensure they can get that training done and completed safely.”

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: 08.12.2020
• Date Posted: 08.12.2020 16:35
• Story ID: 375842
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US