Courtesy Photo | Work on a troop project at Whitetail Ridge Ski Area by the 702nd Engineer Company is...... read more read more
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Soldiers with the Army Reserve’s 702nd Engineer Company, which is based in Johnson City, Tenn., spent six days in early to mid-August working on a troop project that officials say has significantly improved the snowtubing hill at Whitetail Ridge Ski Area.
Whitetail Ridge is unique in that it’s one of only a few like it in the Army in use. Maintenance Supervisor/Facility Manager Alex Karis with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation said the work the Army engineers completed reshaped the tubing hill in a way that will save time and effort by ski area staff.
“They brought in a lot of dirt and completed some significant excavating,” Karis said. “They helped reshape the hill and make it a little less steep.”
Karis said there was a section of the hill that needed more dirt and was an issue when it came to snowmaking.
“There was spot where we had to fill in with between 10 to 25 feet of manmade snow on that hill,” Karis said. “But they fixed that. Now it will only need 5 to 10 feet of manmade snow.
“They also straightened the lanes we’ll have for snowtubing,” he said. “They did a great job. We’ll definitely put it to the test this winter. But overall, we’ll reduce snowmaking time on that hill. … We could save up to four to five days of snowmaking.”
Sgt. Haylee Smith with the 702nd said the unit was working steadily on the project and hauled many, many loads of dirt to get the job done. The unit was completing its annual training at Fort McCoy as part of the 86th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 86-24-02.
“CSTX 2024 at Fort McCoy was nothing short of interesting for the 702nd,” Smith said. “The company did a phenomenal job with making the best out of some crazy situations. Operations included range day, commo classes, improvised explosive device education, tubing slope improvements, building fighting positions, convoy missions, reacting to direct and indirect fire, night operations, and so much more.”
The troop project by the 702nd was one of several being completed on Fort McCoy while CSTX was taking place Aug. 3-17. Other engineer units were completing an entire list of projects throughout the post, said Fort McCoy Troop Projects Coordinator Larry Morrow with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works.
Morrow has said in past news articles that any continuing support he receives to improve Fort McCoy through troop projects is always appreciated.
“If we didn’t have these projects, many of these engineer troops wouldn’t get the training they need, and the installation wouldn’t benefit from the work they do to improve Fort McCoy training ranges and quality-of-life programs,” he said.
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,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the My Army Post 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: | 08.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.16.2024 17:10 |
| Story ID: | 478880 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 496 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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