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For the February 2021 history look-back, the focus is on what took place on post 30 years ago during the Gulf War. Fort McCoy was instrumental is preparing service members for involvement in the conflict and more.
30 Years Ago — February 1991
Morale remained high among Soldiers completing processing and training at Fort McCoy for deployment to the Operation Desert Storm theater of operations, said Garrison Commander Col. Raymond Boland in February 1991.
Boland said that although the post was in a winding down stage for deployment, it is awaiting word of further missions. The short-term mission will include processing and training about 840 additional Soldiers for deployment.
More than 90 percent of these troops were with the 224th Engineer Battalion, an Iowa National Guard unit that has its headquarters in Fairfield. The 224th has subordinate units in Mount Pleasant, Burlington, Ottumwa, Muscatine, Centerville, and Keokuk.
The remainder of the Soldiers were from two small military police detachments, the 34th, and the 146th. The 34th is an Iowa National Guard unit from Camp Dodge, and the 146th, is a Michigan Army National Guard unit from Owosso. Each unit has about 30 personnel.
Beyond that, the post has had no further word of possible activations, Boland said. Fort McCoy is prepared to handle any future activations, he added, and preparations are being made for processing and returning re-deployed soldiers to their reserve units.
30 Years Ago — February 1991
Five units deployed from Fort McCoy in early February 1991 and one additional unit reported to the post after being activated, which left a total of about 350 soldiers on the installation who were preparing for deployment to the Desert Storm theater of operations.
The unit most recently activated, the 892nd Transportation Company, an Army Reserve unit from Belleville, Ill., arrived with about 220 soldiers. The unit had about 170 pieces of equipment that were painted a desert sand color and shipped by rail to the east coast. About 125 soldiers of the 822nd Military Police Company from Rosemont, Ill., were preparing for Desert Storm deployment as of Feb. 8, 1991. Up until that time, the post had processed and trained a total of 64 units with more than 8,000 Soldiers for deployment.
Fort McCoy also had not received word of possible future activations as of early February 1991, according to post Executive Officer Al Fournier. Any activations were depending on world events. Fournier said post personnel remained busy planning for the annual training season, a test of a Regional Training Center concept, and the opening of a new interim Commissary in March 1991, among many other things.
30 Years Ago — February 1991
After Feb. 8, 1991, one more Army Reserve unit had deployed from Fort McCoy, while six small detachments were activated and had reported to the post to process, train, and await re-stationing in the continental United States.
The 822nd Military Police Company, an Army Reserve unit from Rosemont, Ill., was deployed Feb. 15 to the Desert Storm theater of operations. There six U.S. Army Reserve detachments activated are from Wisconsin and Illinois. From Wisconsin, the detachment personnel are all from West Allis, and are in the 757th Transportation Company, Detachment 1; the 1150th Transportation Company, Detachment 1; the 1151st Transportation Company, Detachments 1 and 2; and the 1152nd Transportation Company, Detachment 1.
Also activated were the 226th Transportation Company, Detachment 1, from Granite City, Ill. Approximately 65 Soldiers are in the six detachments, and all specialize in railroad operations and maintenance. Additionally, 165 soldiers from the 892nd Transportation Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Belleville, Ill., continued to process and train at Fort McCoy for deployment.
Post Executive Officer Al Fournier said in late February 1991 a total of 65 units with about 8,200 personnel deployed from Fort McCoy since August 1990. In total, 3,076 pieces of equipment were shipped from Fort McCoy on 1,150 rail cars. Placed end to end, these rail cars would form a line more than 19 miles long. Of the equipment shipped, post personnel painted 2,995 pieces in the desert sand color.
The post also worked closely with Volk Field to make the deployments a success, Fournier said. More than 100 air missions were flown to move equipment and Soldiers. Aircraft used to accomplish the mission included C-141 Starlifter and C-5A Galaxy aircraft as well as several chartered commercial planes.
30 Years Ago — March 2, 1991
Following is the text of a message of thanks broadcast by President George H.W. Bush to the Service members of Operation Desert Storm March 2:
"Never have I been more proud of our troops, or more proud to be your commander in chief, for today, amid prayers of thanks and hope, the Kuwaiti flag once again flies high above Kuwait City. And it’s there because you and your coalition allies put it there. Kuwait is liberated, and soon hometowns across America will be welcoming back home the finest combat force ever assembled — Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force — the brave men and women of the United States of America.
Saddam Hussein’s dreams of dominating the Middle East by the terror of nuclear arsenal and an army of a million men, threatened the future of our children and the entire world, and the world was faced with the simple choice — if international law and sanctions could not remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, then we had to free Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. And that’s exactly what you did.
Throughout seven long and arduous months, the troops of the 28 nations stood with you, shoulder to shoulder, in an unprecedented partnership for peace. Today, we thank you, for the victory in Kuwait was born in your courage and resolve.
The stunning success of our troops was a result of superb training, superb planning, superb execution and incredible acts of bravery. The Iraqi Army was defeated. Forty-two divisions were put out of action. They lost 3,000 tanks — almost 2,000 armored vehicles — more than 2,000 artillery pieces, and over half a million Iraqi soldiers were captured, defeated or disarmed. You were as good as advertised. You were indeed, ‘good to go.’
This is a war we did not seek and did not want. But Saddam Hussein turned a deaf ear to the voices of peace and reason, and when he began burning Kuwait to the ground and intensifying the murder of his people, the coalition faced a moral imperative to put a stop to the atrocities in Kuwait once and for all. Boldly, bravely, you did just that, and when the rubber met the road, you did it in just six weeks, and 100 decisive hours.
The evil Saddam has done can never be forgotten. But his power to attack his neighbors and threaten the peace of the region is today grievously reduced. He has been stripped of his capacity to project offensive military power. His regime is totally discredited, and as a threat to peace, the day of this dictator is over. And the bottom line is this: Kuwait’s night of terror has ended. Thomas Jefferson said that the price for freedom is eternal vigilance. We must remain vigilant to make absolutely sure that the Iraqi dictator is never, ever allowed to stoke the ashes of defeat into the burning embers of aggression.
The sacrifice you’ve already made demands nothing less. The sacrifice of those who gave their lives will never be forgotten. Saddam made many mistakes. But one of the biggest was to underestimate the determination of the American people and the daring of our troops. We saw in the desert what Americans have learned through 215 years of history about the difference between democracy and dictatorship.
Soldiers who fight for freedom are more committed than Soldiers who fight because they are enslaved. Americans today are confident of our country, confident of our future, and most of all, confident about you. We promised you’d be given the means to fight. We promised not to look over your shoulder. We promised this would not be another Vietnam, and we kept that promise. The specter of Vietnam has been buried forever in the desert sands of the Arabian peninsula.
Today, the promise of spring is almost upon us, the promise of regrowth and renewal. Renewed life in Kuwait. Renewed prospects for real peace throughout the Middle East, and a renewed sense of pride and confidence here at home. And we’re committed to seeing every American Soldier and every allied POW home soon, home to the thanks and the respect and the love of a grateful nation, and a very grateful president.
Yes, there remain vital and difficult tests ahead, both here and abroad, but nothing the American people can’t handle. America has always accepted the challenge, paid the price, and passed the test. On this day, our spirits are high as our flag, and our future, as bright as liberty’s torch.
Tomorrow, we dedicate ourselves anew, as Americans always have, and as Americans always will. The first test of the new world order has been passed. The hard work of freedom awaits. Thank you, congratulations and God bless the United States of America.
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 02.26.2021 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 390094 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 268 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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