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Training at Fort McCoy during fiscal year 2021 has been much busier than fiscal year 2020, and it will continue to be busy through the rest of the year, said Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Chief of Training Coordination Larry Sharp.
Fiscal year 2020 had a little more than 60,000 troops train at the installation, mainly because a lot of training was canceled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Sharp said numbers will be much higher for fiscal year 2021.
“We should be well over 100,000 be the end of this fiscal year,” Sharp said.
The pandemic has still not been eliminated, but Fort McCoy adjusted its training support strategy in 2020, when COVID-19 mitigation and safety measures were implemented so training could return. Sharp said those measures have carried into fiscal year 2021’s training operations.
“We have still have those COVID mitigations built into the training here,” Sharp said. “It’s helped everyone get the training done to the level that we haven’t seen here in a couple of years.”
During the summer months of 2021 alone, training numbers on post have been significant.
During June, thousands trained on post as the installation hosted the 86th Training Division’s Warrior Exercise (WAREX) 86-21-02. WAREX brought back “full-spectrum operations” for the 86th’s training operations, states an article about the exercise by Sgt. 1st Class Debralee Best with 86th Training Division Public Affairs.
“When we were doing the planning for this summer for the exercises that the 86th would be conducting, the feedback from the units was that they wanted something somewhat challenging, but a little more basic that would get after some of the Soldier skills,” said Brig. Gen. Stacy M. Babcock, then-commanding general of the 86th, in the article.
Also in June, the post supported the Patriot ’21 exercise. Patriot ’21 was a joint, interagency exercise sponsored by the National Guard Bureau. It took place at Volk Field, Wis., Combat Readiness Training Center and Fort McCoy from June 14-17.
Approximately 1,000 civilians, volunteers and National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from 26 states supported this year’s exercise, a news release about the exercise states. It also included participating National Guard units from neighboring states, volunteer organizations, and county emergency-management agencies.
During July, Fort McCoy supported the level III mobilization exercise Pershing Strike ’21.
The exercise included an Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise, two units preparing for deployment, and additional units completing training to “stress” Mobilization Force Generation Installation (MFGI) capabilities, said DPTMS Director Mike Todd.
“This exercise enables Army Forces Command to prepare their system for a unit to deploy,” Todd said, noting it helps the command and units make sure everything such as personnel and equipment are ready for a deployment while at the same time helping refine the MFGI capabilities.
In August, the Fort McCoy team supported a wide range of training and history being made during one training exercise. Exercise support included support for the 78th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise 78-21-04, Global Medic 2021, the Air Force Reserve’s Patriot Warrior ’21, and Northern Lightning 2021.
During Northern Lightning, an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon dropped a 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition in a designated area of Fort McCoy’s impact area on North Post for the first time in post history. Also during August, for the first time in recent history, the 40th Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville visited Fort McCoy, where he toured the ongoing training and met with many members of the workforce.
“In July, we had more than 10,000 troops scheduled to train here, and for August, that number was well over 12,000,” Sharp said. “Numbers-wise, we are almost back to where we were two to three years ago. It’s actually been kind of fun to get back to almost normal here when looking at how busy it has been.”
As the year continues, Sharp said it looks favorable for many units coming to the installation for weekend and extended combat training time in the fall. Those units will complete marksmanship training and other Soldier tasks.
“Our winter training is shaping up, too, as we expect a Marine logistics group sending Marines here to get training done before they head off to an exercise in Norway,” Sharp said. That effort, he said, will include training in the Fort McCoy Cold-Weather Operations Course.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” 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 nearly every 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.” Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2021 16:46 |
| Story ID: | 403986 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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