Photo By Scott Sturkol | Soldiers in the Regional Training Site-Maintenance’s Construction Equipment Repairer...... read more read more
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For the many years that Fort McCoy Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance facility has been in operation at the installation, thousands of Soldiers have trained into the “91-Lima” career field as part of the facility’s 91L10 Construction Equipment Repairer Course and other related 91L training.
Regularly, Soldiers come to the Fort McCoy facility to go through hundreds of hours of training to earn the construction equipment repairer military occupational specialty (MOS).
Master Sgt. William Parker, chief instructor for RTS-Maintenance, said 91L is one of the main MOS’ to the Army and Army Reserve that provides special abilities to not only keep engineer units in the fight, but also much more.
Parker said when students come to Fort McCoy to train in the 91L course, they have the latest items available to complete their training.
“So, each course that is written is required to have certain equipment to run that course,” Partker said. “It is very essential that Soldiers who are coming to train have the most up-to-date equipment to train on because that's the equipment they're going to see when they get back to their units. We have that here.”
In past years, the facility has also hosted 91L Advanced Leader Course in addition to other levels of training. That course had two phases of instruction and combined was more than 240 hours of instruction.
Former instructor Sgt. 1st Class Charles K. Abert said in 2017 the course helped students learn subjects such as shop safety and management of operational, maintenance, and historical records and forms on construction-related equipment, and more.
Sgt. Robert Kurka, a 91L Soldier with the 262nd Engineer Company of Westbrook, Maine, said his 2017 training at the Fort McCoy RTS-Maintenance helped him build skills the better helped him support his unit.
“I learned a lot about running a maintenance section and working together as a team with people you don’t know,” Kurka said.
Sgt. Justin Taylor, a 2024 student in the 91L10 Construction Equipment Repairer Course from the 197th Regional Training Institute of the West Virginia National Guard in Kingwood, said he was appreciative to be in the career field, and he was appreciative of the staff and leadership at RTS-Maintenance.
“Really great instructors, really great environment,” Taylor said. “Leadership is really great up here. They take care of it. If we have any troubles or anything, they won’t leave us behind. They’ll set us down, and they’ll talk to us about it. They’ll take time out their schedule after class and explain (a subject) to you more if you need it.”
In 2017, 91L student Staff Sgt. Anthony Frost of the 411th Engineer Company at Iowa City, Iowa, said understanding as many aspects as possible of the career field, especially maintenance management, can be critical to success.
“Maintenance management like this is crucial to learn and was an awesome experience here,” said Frost. “I know that if I can grasp this training, my (Soldiers) can grasp it. So, in turn, I can go back and help my Soldiers. … Simply getting this training will help make our unit more productive and efficient.”
Spc. Evan Olson, a 2024 student in the 91L10 Construction Equipment Repairer Course from the 661st Engineer Company of the Illinois National Guard, said he appreciates everything he learned while at Fort McCoy.
“The training is really good here,” Olson said. “It’s a really good class, and it’s very hands on, very informative, and a great experience.”
Similarly, in 2017, student Staff Sgt. Jonathan Belton with the 881st Engineer Support Company at Rockingham, N.C., also said the overall course curriculum are a good foundation for building leaders.
“This (training) will help me better work with our leadership, our motor sergeant, and provided me with what I need to know to become a senior (noncommissioned officer),” Belton said.
Parker said their RTS-Maintenance facility aligns under the 3rd Brigade (Ordnance), 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, and is centrally located in the cantonment area with an entire complex to hold training. And he said they are one of the busiest facilities in the 94th.
“We have one of the highest throughputs of students in the entire brigade,” Parker said.
Learn more about the 80th Training Command by visiting https://www.usar.army.mil/80thTC.
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. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.13.2024 17:54 |
| Story ID: | 466126 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 678 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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