Courtesy Photo | Bill Weekley with the Subsistence Supply Management Office moves rations for Soldiers...... read more read more
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Thousands of service members, most of them Army Reserve Soldiers, descended on Fort McCoy for the 78th Training Division Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 78-25-02 from Aug. 2-15, and that meant the Fort McCoy food-service team had a big task in front of them to ensure all those people had food and other supplies for their training.
The installation’s food-service team ensures that need is always met, said Food Service Specialist Jim Gouker with the Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center (LRC).
That team includes the LRC Food Program Management Office (FPMO) and the LRC Subsistence Supply Management Office (SSMO); the full food-service contractor DCT Inc.; and food suppliers, such as Sysco Foods of Baraboo, Wis.
This exercise also included related exercises Global Strike 2025 and Global Medic 2025. It was a diverse group of service members training and their needs for items stretched to all areas of the post.
Gouker said the SSMO was busy providing constant support during the entirety of the exercise.
The SSMO is one of the busiest organizations during any large training event, LRC officials said in a previous news article. The office orders, receives, and distributes all food and rations necessary for each exercise as well as for units conducting weekend, extended combat, or annual training.
They also noted that members of the SSMO oversees the installation central fuel facility, so they pull dual duty at both 490 where they unload, store, and issue rations, and they also unload fuel and maintain the Central Fuel Point at building 3010.
“The SSMO staff provides service to exercises seven days a week,” Pisney said.
By the numbers, for food-service support, the team provided a significant number of items throughout the training, Gouker said.
Gouker said for food service the SSMO supported CSTX/Global Medic/Global Strike with Class I in the following quantities: Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), 80,4242 standard meals; MREs Kosher, 192 meals; MREs Halal, 1,380 meals; Unitized Group Rations (UGRs)-As, 12,650 meals; UGRs H&S, 134,550 meals; UHT milk, 48,330 containers; bagged ice, 202,000 pounds; and additional enhancements such as fresh fruit, salad mix, salad dressings, and bread.
The Unitized Group Rations were likely the biggest items in use by the numerous Army Reserve field feeding teams participating in the training.
Unitized Group Rations require food-service capability — a food-service specialist — to prepare, previous news articles state. These rations are configured in 50-person modules and contain meat, starch, vegetables, condiments, and beverages.
“We supported this exercise with SSMO and the Food Program Office,” Gouker said. “Our SSMO personnel — Katie Olson, Nancy Brown, Bill Weekley and Kris Miner — put in a ton of work especially operating forklifts moving rations and ice around at building 490. They load out all the palletized items in the warehouse, on the dock, and outside loading the plethora of vehicles that came to receive rations.
“The Food Program Office received a certificate of appreciation and were presented a coin from the 78th Training Division,” Gouker said. “Katie Olson also received an individual coin for her outstanding support during CSTX 78-25-02.”
The recognition of the team was unexpected, yet appreciated, Gouker said. He mentioned how well Olson provided service and support to the training. He also highlighted the efforts of the other team members.
“Weekley supported the mission by tracking assets, operating forklifts both on the dock and loading out trucks on the ground,” Gouker said. “He put many hours in the seats of the forklifts we operate. He also supports the fuel point as a fuels operations technician.
“Miner supported the mission by tracking assets, operating forklifts both on the dock and loading out trucks on the ground. He also put in many hours in the seats of the forklifts we operate, and he also supports the fuel point as a fuels operations technician.
“Brown supported the mission in many facets — operating forklifts, accomplishing tracking and issuing of rations, and a multitude of other ways.
“And (Food Program Specialist) Eric Devine oversaw the issuance and return of transient training dining facilities, such as 1872, 1672, and 2674 — all 2,400-person capacity dining facilities,” Gouker said.
LRC leaders stated Gouker “accomplished scheduling, coordination of incoming and outgoing units, occasional unit requirements, and ice purchases.”
No matter what work needed to be accomplished, Gouker said the food-service team, like many of the other support areas at Fort McCoy, completed their work behind the scenes as efficiently as possible without interrupting the mission.
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: | 09.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2025 18:28 |
| Story ID: | 547703 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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