Photo By Scott Sturkol | Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez provides comments during a town...... read more read more
Subscribe
Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez led the first Fort McCoy Garrison town hall meeting of 2025 on Jan. 23 in building 905 at the installation to inform the post workforce about the latest news, directives, and recognize award winners.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi, 88th Readiness Division commanding general and the Fort McCoy senior commander, also provides comments during the start of the meeting. Ricciardi provided an update about some important Army changes and thanked the workforce for what they do for Fort McCoy.
“I’ve been trying to make my way around to all the agencies on the installation,” Ricciardi said. “First thing I want to say is thank you everyone for what you do. I spent two years in the G9 and a year at (Installation Management Command). I am intimately familiar with what you do, the challenges that you have in doing what you do every day, the constraints, and all the stuff that you do behind the scenes very unselfishly and that you do not get recognition all the time, which is even more impressive. Especially here, when you’re pushing training units through … they come and go.
“There’s never a ‘thank you, hey, that was fun,’” Ricciardi said. “They’re just ready to get out of here. So, thank you for what you do and for the mission that you prepare to do. We have an incredibly important mission here at Fort McCoy.”
Baez took time first to discuss the Defense Organizational Climate Survey, or DEOCS, that Fort McCoy personnel took in fall 2024. According to the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of People Analytics, the survey is a Congressionally mandated unit-level climate survey that is available to all military commanders and Department of Defense civilian organization leaders. The survey collects information on unit climate, harassment and discrimination, and other aspects of organizational climate.
“Over 1 million people take the DEOCS annually, including military members serving on active duty or in the Reserve/National Guard, service academy students, and DOD civilians,” states the survey definition at https://www.opa.mil/research-analysis/opa-surveys/defense-organizational-climate-survey. “The DEOCS has been collected continuously since it began as the Military Equal Opportunity Climate Survey in 1990. The survey has undergone a number of updates to the content and scope to reflect the needs of the department and the services.”
Baez said more than 130 workforce members took the survey.
“Thirty-six percent of the workforce participated on the DEOCS,” Baez said. “When we look at the results of the DEOCS, participation has a big impact. Because the more participation that we get, the more that we can truly see what are some of the things that are happening in the garrison.
“Thank you for all the people who took the time to provide their comments and fill out the questionnaire and provide their concerns in the DEOCS,” Baez said. “We take very seriously the things that we find out here.”
The survey definition also states the importance of the feedback that leaders receive from the survey results.
“Although massive in breadth, the survey is also incredibly localized in its impact,” the definition states. “The DEOCS is typically fielded after a change in command and annually thereafter. Within a week, results of the survey are reported directly to each commander and their supervisor, providing leaders with real-time unit-specific survey data. Because results are reported at the unit level, the impact of the data for leaders and service members is incredibly personal and is often the only mechanism for service members to provide their command with completely confidential feedback.”
Baez said the survey data gave her information that helps in making important decisions for the garrison, and more.
“I am a person who likes to analyze, and I told you when we did our very first town hall that for those first 90 days I was not changing any policy or any practice from the previous commander because I wanted to get a pulse of what was going on here in the in the areas that I felt that needed some sort of change, some sort of adjustment,” Baez said. “So, as we move along, if there are things that I am not doing for the garrison or that my (command sergeant major) is not doing for the garrison, we need to know what some of those things are so we can specifically address the issue.”
After reviewing survey results and concerns with the workforce members in attendance, Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, garrison command sergeant major, addressed the audience, stating it will be his last town hall appearance before retiring from the Army.
“We’re staying … we’re not leaving the area,” Calarco said. “The reason why we’re staying … it’s really because of the people. I know we showed the DEOCS survey, but you guys are an exceptionally high producing organization. In my 32 years … I’ve worked on great teams. Great teams that are seven to 14 people, even great squad platoons that are up to 30 people. I’ve never worked with an organization that’s thousands and thousands of people who are all rowing in the same direction. I've never done it. I’ve never been exposed to it, and I do feel privileged.
“At the end of my career, I got such an awesome opportunity to come out here and work with so many of you professionals,” Calarco said. “It’s been an honor. I truly mean it. Please take it for what it’s worth from an old Soldier. You guys are really, really great people and don't forget it. I sure won’t. I appreciate everything you guys have done for me. Thank you.”
The next Fort McCoy town hall meeting is planned for April.
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: | 01.28.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2025 18:30 |
| Story ID: | 489752 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 1,304 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort McCoy Garrison commander, command team hold first town hall meeting for workforce for 2025, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
