Photo By Scott Sturkol | Personnel with U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy participate in an Integrated Protection...... read more read more
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Led by the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS), U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy held an Integrated Protection Exercise (IPE) on Sept. 11 at the installation.
According to the Army description for an IPE, an Army IPE is a scheduled event to test an installation's response to emergencies by simulating real-world threats like active shooter or hostage situations, or natural disasters. These exercises are conducted worldwide by U.S. Army garrisons to enhance community safety, strengthen partnerships with off-post agencies, and improve coordination during crises. IPEs also help refine emergency procedures, communication, and response capabilities for the safety of Soldiers, their families, and civilians.
Fort McCoy’s September IPE focused on a natural disaster event. The scenario started with an activation of the Installation Emergency Operations Center along with a call out to action officers to report to the center.
Once reported, action officers began their response to the scenario to include informing command staff and other leaders on the situation and getting course of action decisions from leadership.
The scenario continued throughout the day, and Fort McCoy personnel were able to support the exercise as well as a flurry of other activities taking place that same day in observance of Patriot Day.
By 4 p.m., the exercise was completed. DPTMS officials then followed the exercise with an after-action review (AAR) meeting later in September.
According to DPTMS, “the purpose of an integrated protection exercise AAR is to evaluate the effectiveness of the exercise, identify strengths and weaknesses, and capture lessons learned to improve future protection strategies, coordination, and response capabilities. It ensures continuous improvement in safeguarding vulnerable populations and enhances collaboration among stakeholders.”
Action officers, leaders, and other personnel reported once again to learn more about what was learned from the exercise, such as what went well and what could be improved upon.
During part of the AAR meeting, Fort McCoy DPTMS exercise planners discussed one effort that went well — action officer crosstalk.
“As the exercise progressed throughout the day, the action officers become more effective at crosstalk helping facilitate potential solutions for requests for information being actioned,” one briefing slide noted. The recommendation from this discussion was to “continue to stress the benefits of crosstalk during action officer monthly training events and build off of IPE experience to increase action officer efficiencies.”
Another positive outcome included the use of the Senior Executive Staff Annex (SESA) recently established in the IEOC.
“Using the SESA to host the briefs enabled the action officers to continue to work issues while keeping abreast of command guidance,” an AAR briefing slide states.
Fort McCoy DPTMS has been leading similar IPEs at the installation for years. Officials said lots of planning and preparation go into each exercise to make them a success where the exercise can assess the installation’s emergency response capabilities while also maintaining essential base operations.
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.”
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office and the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.)
| Date Taken: | 09.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2025 01:36 |
| Story ID: | 549796 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 219 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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