Photo By Scott Sturkol | Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Amy Nobles with the Fort McCoy Religious Support Office closes the...... read more read more
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Fort McCoy held its first May 1 National Prayer Brunch at the Fort McCoy Religious Support Office fellowship space at the installation.
The event followed the presidential proclamation that established May 1 as a National Day of Prayer. In the 2025 proclamation available at the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/07/2025-08132/national-day-of-prayer-2025, it states in 1988, the Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, “called on the president to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer, ‘on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.’”
Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Amy Noble opened the event with an invocation and prayer.
Maj. Randy Downs, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy, then took the time to introduce the guest speaker.
“Good morning again and welcome to the U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy National Day of Prayer and Prayer Brunch,” Downs said. “It is my distinct honor to introduce our keynote speaker U.S. Army Col. (Retired) Raymond G. Boland. Born in Chicago … Colonel Boland enlisted in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in January 1956 in Stevens Point, Wis. In 1961, Colonel Boland mobilized during the Berlin crisis with the 32nd Infantry Division to Fort Lewis, Wash.”
Downs said Boland remained on active duty for 30 years with notable assignments that also included being a battalion commander and the Fort McCoy Garrison commander from 1988-1991.
“His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart,” Downs stated. “His professional military and civilian collegiate education includes Wood County Teachers College, a bachelor's degree in social science, Troy University, and a master’s degree in communication from Shippensburg State University. He is a graduate of the Army War College.
“His public service includes in 1991 when he was appointed as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans where he provided support to over a half-million veterans by way of loans, grants, health, and cemetery benefits,” Downs said. “He was elected by his peers to serve two terms as president of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. He was recognized as a national advocate for ending homelessness among veterans. He was also elected to serve as vice president of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans in Washington D.C.”
Downs also noted how Boland testified many times before Congress regarding veterans issues and legislation.
“He served as the governor’s delegate to the White House Conference on Aging,” Downs said. “He received the President's Award from the Wisconsin Coalition of Aging Groups. He’s a lifetime member of numerous national veterans’ organizations. And before I bring up this next award, again did a deep dive last night in preparation and my curiosity got the best of me, and I’ll provide some context behind it because it's quite prestigious to say the least. He was awarded the prestigious American Veterans and Vets Silver Helmet Award as the … National Civil Servant of the Year.”
Downs said the Silver Helmet Award is “known as the Veterans Oscar. First presented to General of the Army George C. Marshall in recognition of his contributions as a Soldier, statesman, and American. The award recognizes excellence and outstanding accomplishments in the fields of Americanism, defense, rehabilitation, Congressional, and Civil Service.
“Past recipients include President Truman, President Eisenhower, Gen. Colin Powell, and (singer) Lee Greenwood,” Downs said. “Those are just a few. He was also a candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012.”
Boland took time to discuss his career and experiences, which he referenced from his book, “When the Bugle Calls.”
“The very first day I served on active duty (was) as a member of the Illinois National Guard in 1954,” Boland said. “For those who are doing the math, that’s a long time.
“We were sent to Camp Ripley, Minn., for AT (annual training) that year. McCoy was about halfway, and we stopped here and spent the night and then continued a trip to Ripley the next day. So that's when it all started for me. My lifetime association with Fort McCoy.
“I then moved to Wisconsin, joined the Wisconsin Guard, was in the very first class held for the Wisconsin Military Academy and commissioned as a second lieutenant in ’59,” Boland said. “And as was already mentioned, in 1961 we were called to active duty. We were mobilized. And at the time it did not … I don’t think it sunk in with us … that it had only been 16 years since the end of World War II. So, you can imagine that at that time mobilization or call-up was the last thing any of us thought would ever happen.”
Boland mentioned after his unit was called up, they went away and “lots of things happened.”
“Many of which are explained in my book,” he said. “Eventually my journey brought me all the way back to Fort McCoy when I served here as the garrison commander from ‘88 to ‘91. And guess what? Mobilization happened all over again. This time it had been 30 years since we were called up.”
Boland was discussing the call-ups of units for Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm. During his tenure as garrison commander, Boland saw thousands of Soldiers from hundreds of units mobilize for the operations at Fort McCoy.
In a Sept. 7, 1990, article in The Triad newspaper at Fort McCoy, in a story written by Lou Ann Mittelstaedt, titled “McCoy supports call-up,” Boland was quoted discussing how the post was ready to take on a mobilization effort.
“Practice makes perfect,” the article states. “Fort McCoy has banked on this philosophy for many years. And, in terms of the installation’s mission as a mobilization station, the practices of the
past will place the post in an excellent position to support the needs of the reserve component soldiers processing through here when called to active duty in support of Operation Desert Shield.
“Although the installation has not been used as an actual mobilization processing site since the Korean War, it has been the site of many mobilization training exercises, according to Garrison
Commander Col. Raymond G. Boland.
“‘These exercises have allowed our staff to continually test and refine our mobilization plans and procedures in preparation for this eventuality,’ Boland said. ‘Now, when the order to serve in
this capacity has come down from headquarters, we find ourselves very prepared to complete the mission.’
During the prayer brunch further explained that time the Desert Shield mobilization started at McCoy.
“I met with the 181st last week and mentioned that we were actually doing a mobilization training exercise when the balloon went up in 1990,” Borland said. “The guys were in the ops center next to the post headquarters. One of them came in to see me and said, sir, something strange is happening. I said, ‘Oh now what?’ He said, ‘Well we think we’re getting real mobilization messages. … This ain’t April Fool’s Day. Well sure enough it was true. And lots of things started to happen really fast.’”
He added that today even that Fort McCoy remains an important training center for mobilization.
“Mobilization is very important today. And however much we think it could happen or won’t happen, it can and likely will happen,” Boland said. “So, Fort McCoy remains very important as a mobilization center.”
Attendees to the brunch were able to serve up a multi-course meal courtesy of the coordination of the Fort McCoy Religious Support Office staff and local catering.
Nobles closed out the event with another prayer and thanked everyone for attending. Boland stayed after to meet with attendees personally.
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: | 05.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.09.2025 02:38 |
| Story ID: | 497478 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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