Students gain unit armorer skills in RTS-Maintenance course at Fort McCoy

Photo By Scott Sturkol | Students and instructors in the Regional Training Site-Maintenance Additional Duty Armorer Course practice completing maintenance on weapons during course operations Feb. 2, 2022, at Fort McCoy, Wis. The 45-hour course is taught throughout the year by Regional Training Site-Maintenance and provides performance-oriented training on administrative and technical tasks required of a unit armorer. Training includes inspection, disassembly, assembly, operator and organizational maintenance, parts ordering, maintenance for small arms, and turn-in procedures for direct-support maintenance. (U.S. Army Photo by Scott T. Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

02.18.2022

Story by Scott Sturkol                                                                                          

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

More than a dozen students in the Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance Additional Duty Armorer Course learned about how the different weapon systems work, about assembly and disassembly of those weapons, how to correct malfunctions, and more.

Soldiers from units Armywide participated in the five-day, 45-hour course in early February.

Students receive an in-depth look at armorer fundamentals, such as physical security; management of a combat-arms storage facility; and all the Department of Defense and Army regulations and publications related to care, storage, and maintenance of weapons, according to the RTS-Maintenance description for the course.

The course also provides performance-oriented training on administrative and technical tasks required of a unit armorer, the course description states. “Training includes inspection, assembly, disassembly, operator and organizational maintenance, ordering parts, maintenance for small arms, and turn-in procedures for direct-support maintenance.”

The course covers weapons Soldiers will typically see within their units, RTS-Maintenance staff instructors for the course said. As the students learn about the physical-security requirements that have been entrusted to them by their commander, they also understand what a big responsibility they are assuming for their unit. And they also learn about troubleshooting problems with weapons.

During the course, students also practice leadership by doing some teaching, instructors noted. This practice helps them to work better together as a group and provides some valuable leadership experience. Sgt. 1st Class Blake Parker serves as the lead RTS-Maintenance instructor for the course.

RTS-Maintenance at Fort McCoy trains Soldiers from active- and reserve-component forces.

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 the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, 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: 02.18.2022
• Date Posted: 02.18.2022 15:57
• Story ID: 414951
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WI, US