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Soldiers with the Army Reserve’s 13th Battalion, 100th Regiment held slingload training at Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport on May 22 at Fort McCoy with the support of two UH-60 Black Hawks and crews from the Wisconsin National Guard.
Leading the preparations for the training was Sgt. 1st Class Colter Lee Kincaid with the 13th Battalion, 100th Regiment. Kincaid, who said the slingload training they were completing best could be described as “cross-level” training for unit personnel who aren’t associated with the 89B military occupational specialty (MOS) of ammunition supply specialist.
“I'm here … to present to some different MOS’ to do some cross-level training and also try to share our experience and our knowledge base with what we do and why we do it,” said Kincaid, who regularly serves as an 89B instructor, during the training. “So that way, not just our MOS gets it, but other MOS’ understand why we do what we do, and how we put it together. So, it’s kind of a knowledge sharing experience.
Kincaid said they started the training operation’s planning process several months in advance. That included working out having the correct equipment in places as well as working with the Wisconsin National Guard to have the Black Hawks and crews participate.
Kincaid also explained why knowing how to complete a slingload is an important thing for a Soldier to have the skills to complete.
“So, getting bullets to the fight keeps Soldiers alive,” Kincaid said. “Bottom line, that’s what’s important. Experience, we’ve gotten to the stagnation where we don’t think about slingload a lot but for those areas like Afghanistan, Vietnam … areas in which we do not have the ability to transport assets in a fast, effective manner, has led us to forget about this option, this very effective option to get something that is needed to the Soldiers on the front line in a fast, rapid deployment process.”
Kincaid added that the slingloads adds an important capability to get ammunition where it needs to be.
“That’s why slingload is very crucial to how we continue our effectiveness towards making ordnance a legal aspect of the Army’s operations holistically and throughout our contingency operations around the world,” Kincaid said.
“This training is, for us, was to knock the rust off a lot of skills,” he said. “That’s going to be what's going to make us so much more effective, so much more knowledgeable, and that way we can relate those experiences to these new Soldiers so that we're sharing and creating that stewardship. I'm a wholehearted believer in reprocessing, redoing, and reworking the training so that you’re always bringing back and not losing knowledge.”
Both officer and enlisted members of the 13th, 100th completed the training. Many members also received a ride on the Black Hawks after the training was completed.
Lt. Col. John Venner, commander of the 13th, 100th, discussed the importance of the training as well, stating his unit’s Soldiers “are some of the most technically skilled professionals in the U.S. Army today.”
“Most of these Soldiers are certified instructors in their MOS craft with multiple deployments and active-duty experience that accentuates their effectiveness on the podium teaching the next generation of Soldiers’ important concepts and ideals to maintain and expand our edge on the battlefield,” Venner said. “High value training events like partnering with the Wisconsin National Guard UH-60 unit to execute live slingload operations simulating pushing logistics packs to forward areas are aligned with current doctrine and emphasize the very real understanding for each of these Soldiers that it may be them in the near future who is the senior Soldier on the ground orchestrating these types of movements in an austere environment. These perishable skills must be regularly practiced with different airframes and under variant conditions to hone skills and protect capabilities on the battlefield.”
Venner also noted how these training events build camaraderie with unit members.
“As an instructor unit, it is very common for my Soldiers to be spread across multiple states, so coordinating mass training events for the entire battalion is critical to develop team cohesion, identity and improve our soldiering culture,” Venner said. “The facilities at Fort McCoy facilitate these critical needs for my unit; completing weapon’s qualification, spending extra time on the ranges to improve technique and allow mentoring opportunities for senior NCO’s to teach others is extremely important to passing on knowledge in the Army Reserve where engagements are limited by time.
“Spending a week at Fort McCoy is a great way to execute the Army fitness test, weapons training, slingload operations, and have newer Soldiers spend quality time on the podium under the mentorship of senior instructors,” Venner said. “The battalion is already making plans for next cycle to include vehicle recovery and ammunition demolition range operations, which are also highly perishable skills that bring tremendous value to the combatant commander which Fort McCoy also has quality ranges available.”
The 13th, 100th is aligned under the 3rd Brigade, 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, and has been at Fort McCoy since about 1995.
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: | 06.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2025 12:42 |
| Story ID: | 499635 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 59 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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