Courtesy Photo | This is a news clip from the Oct. 27, 1995, edition of The Triad newspaper at Fort...... read more read more
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Fort McCoy, Wis., was established in 1909. Here is a look back at some installation history from October 2025 and back.
80 Years Ago — October 1945
FROM THE OCT. 8, 2025, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: 7th Division vets at McCoy; 17 get walking papers (By Newspaper Staff) — Seventeen members of the famed 7th Infantry Division — men who until two months ago had made the deepest penetration into Japanese home territories on Okinawa — were among the thousands who received discharges at Camp McCoy this week.
Like the fighting mates of their division, receiving releases throughout the land, the speedy discharge of these men pointed to the Army’s desire to get combat veterans back to civilian life as soon as possible.
The men of the 7th had seen action in the cold Aleutians and the tropical south Pacific. The 7th fought at Attu and Kiska, the Marshall Islands, Leyte in the Philippines, and Okinawa.
40 Years Ago — October 1985
FROM THE OCT. 17, 1985, EDITON OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: Post’s terrain, ranges suit unit (By Lou Ann Mittelstaedt) — The 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. is the Army’s only Airborne Infantry Division.
The 2nd Battalion, 325th (Airborne) Infantry, a part of the 82nd, recently completed two weeks of training at Fort McCoy. Nearly 800 personnel, which included battalion members, D Battery,
325th Artillery, military intelligence, air defense artillery stinger teams, 82nd Division Military Police, engineers, and an Air Force Liaison team participated in the exercises.
According to Capt. Scott Walker, adjutant for the 2/325th, the focus of the training was to get the battalion. off its home base to function independently to prepare for upcoming Army Readiness
Training Evaluation Programs.
The airborne battalion’s training was scheduled to begin by parachuting battalion members and equipment into the installation, securing objectives and road marching into the cantonment area,
Walker said. However, changing weather patterns and gusty winds altered the plans.
“We didn't come in with the usual bang,” Walker said. “The cloud ceiling was too low for the planes to get under its disappointment. Jumping is what makes us different from other units; it’s how we’d go to war, and it’s really a motivator for the troops,” he said.
Planes carrying the 2/325th landed in La Crosse and battalion members were brought here by bus. Their training began with three-day company level field training exercises. Later, a two-day battalion level field training exercise was conducted.
Movement-to-contact, defense and night attacks were stressed during the training. The 2/325th concluded their two-week exercise with platoon and company live-fire exercises.
“Live-fires are really important,” said Capt. Tom Maffey, Company B, 2/325th (Airborne) Infantry commander. “No matter how many types of simulators you’ve got, nothing compares to
exposing the troops to live fire. We’d like to think we have more live-fire exercises in this battalion than any other in the 82nd or in the Army,” he said.
"Fort McCoy has good terrain for training light infantry units — it suits us very well. The ranges at Fort Bragg are flat and sandy with some scrub oak growing. The rolls and folds in the terrain at Fort McCoy are great because the troops get accustomed to moving on different ground,” he said. “Also, the ranges here are vegetated which provides good cover, but the vegetation isn’t so heavy that it creates a safety hazard.”
30 Years Ago — October 1995
FROM THE OCT. 27, 1995, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: Ground broken for $5.2 million Community Activity Center (By Newspaper Staff) — Perseverance on the part of many
people were the key to Fort McCoy getting what suits the installation’s needs best with the proposed Community Activity Center, said Nate Rinehart, the project manager.
Fort McCoy and the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center of Alexandria, Va., are combining to pay for the $5.2 million facility.
At the Oct. 18 ground-breaking, representatives of the parties involved in the process gathered at the Headquarters Road and South 10 Avenue site to celebrate the completion of the groundwork.
“The project was rehashed and slashed over the years, but it suits Fort McCoy very well, and it’s affordable,” said Rinehart, who works for the ACFSC. “I’m happy to be around for the beginning of the construction.”
The 27,000-square-foot club will have an eight-lane bowling alley with computerized scoring. Also included in the package will be two banquet rooms, a large sportsbar featuring entertainment opportunities, such as a $200,000 sound and satellite system, and state-of-the-art video games. A snack-bar operation will serve homemade pizzas and a variety of other items.
Boson Construction of Marshfield, Wis., was awarded the contract for the project, which has a projected completion date of August 1996. Installation Commander Col. Harold K. Miller Jr. said he remembered when he arrived at Fort McCoy in March 1994 the first thing that happened was the project was taken away from Fort McCoy.
“I talked to Rick (Combs, director of Personnel and Community Activities) and Forces Command, and said ‘no, we need this project,’” Miller said. “There were a lot of skeptics. But
we got the team members together, and they made the club possible.”
20 Years Ago — October 2005
FROM THE OCT. 14, 2005, EDITION OF THE TRIAD NEWSPAPER: RTS-Maintenance supports mobilization (By Rob Schuette) — Regional Training Site-Maintenance (RTS-Maintenance) personnel are supporting the needs of mobilizing Soldiers at Fort McCoy who will have maintenance duties or responsibilities during their future deployments.
Maj. Sam Cook, RTS-Maintenance commandant, said more than 120 Soldiers have taken the training, which includes refresher and specialized maintenance training.
“These personnel have answered their call to duty and asked for this training,” Cook said. “This training will build their confidence and help them to succeed in their mission.”
During their phone calls and other contact with family members and friends back home, Cook said the Soldiers have been telling of how the training has helped increase their confidence to accomplish their missions. This, in turn, reassures their family members and increases their confidence that the Soldiers are ready to be deployed, do their jobs and return home safely.
The training is especially valuable because many unit members are fillers or cross-leveled from other units, he said.
“Many of them haven’t seen or touched the equipment that they’re expected to be proficient on during their upcoming deployment.”
In addition, many of the units taking the training already have had their equipment packed and prepared for deployment so they don’t have access to it, he said.
Sgt. Maj. Richard Neely, RTS Maintenance sergeant major, said the organization is offering the training in coordination with the installation’s 2nd Brigade, 85th Division (Training Support) Mobilization Assistance Team unit.
“We get input from the unit leadership about the skills they think the units could use more of,” Neely said. “The Soldiers have given us a lot of great feedback on the classes. They have a greater sense of urgency and attention because they’re getting ready to go down range.”
The courses, to date, have covered such topics as forklifts, trucks, water purification equipment and generators, among others, he said.
Neely said the RTS-Maintenance instructors had been providing support to the training while keeping their original training schedule going.
“It makes their (instructors’) lives a little harder,” he said. “Our Soldiers feel it’s important
to support the war fighters however they can.”
Sgt. 1st Class Gerald Kjornes, an RTS-Maintenance instructor, said training gives the Soldiers familiarity with the equipment they will see in theater. The instructors have stayed in touch with
several of the Soldiers in theater. The instructors can use their knowledge and access to the Internet to answer Soldiers’ questions as quickly as possible and help them accomplish their deployment missions.
“It has kept us very busy,” Kjornes said, estimating that he has spent as much as 50 percent of his teaching time supporting the training. “It’s worth it to me if we have to stay late to support the deployed Soldiers.
The Soldiers have the hard jobs.” Sgt. 1st Class Jon Saunders, an RTS-Maintenance instructor, said the training is filling in a gap for reserve-component maintenance-type Soldiers who often do only routine maintenance work during their monthly training. The instructors have kept a line of communications open to the Soldiers who appreciate getting answers to their questions in a timely manner, he said.
“We will take the lessons learned or the impact they have from the field and incorporate it into our training,” Saunders said. “We also are very responsive to the Soldiers in the class and can change our training at a moment’s notice to give them what they need. The Soldiers come first. We get a great satisfaction out of helping the Soldiers.”
10 Years Ago — October 2015
FROM THE OCT. 23, 2015, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Fiscal year 2015 training total sets record (By Scott T. Sturkol) — A record 155,237 personnel trained at Fort McCoy in fiscal year (FY) 2015 — up more than 10,000 from FY 2014 and more than
30,000 from FY 2013.
The previous record number of people to train at the installation was 149,432 people during FY 2000. The first time more than 100,000 people trained on post during a fiscal year (October to September) was FY 1985.
“The Army is becoming more aware of Fort McCoy’s training capabilities,” said Directorate
of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) Training Division Chief Ed Carns. “The growth (in training numbers) is across the board. It comes from the exercises, which have grown in number. It also comes from the participation of active-component units training here, such as the 10th Mountain Division and the 1st Infantry Division.”
DPTMS personnel document the training statistics each month of the fi scal year. This involves combining numbers of the entire training population, which encompasses joint reserve- and active-component military forces as well as other training agencies, such as law enforcement
agencies or the Wisconsin Challenge Academy.
The FY 15 training statistics were split between extended combat training (ECT) and battle drills. The ECT total for the fiscal year was 101,425, which includes participation in the Warrior Exercise and two Combat Support Training Exercises. The battle drill (weekend training) total
for FY 2015 was 53,812.
Carns said the annual training statistics continuously have increased since the mobilization mission ended at Fort McCoy.
“When we lost the mobilization mission, it allowed for the increase in numbers,” Carns said. “It
added more predictability in the schedule for units to schedule training, and there have been more units that need to train because the Army has drawn down (forces) in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The FY 15 statistics show more than 63 percent of the people who trained at Fort McCoy during the year did so between May and September — the busiest training time on post. The increase in training between October and April in recent years had the largest effect on the training-number
increase, Carns said.
“Even small numbers of people training outside the (traditional training-season) window
can have a huge impact,” Carns said. “Those numbers are significant because they represent
a different type of training and the potential for even more growth. If we get to where we
have 1,000 troops training each week or month between October and April, whether it’s for
winter warfare or related training, it could provide (another) significant increase (in training numbers).”
Training during FY 2015 also showed significant involvement by service members in other services, including 2,959 Marines, 447 Airmen, and 179 Sailors. “We’ve seen continuous growth with other services training here as well,” Carns said.
Gunnery Sgt. Marshall Cleveland, an instructor with the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center of Bridgeport, Calif., led cold-weather training for Reserve Marines in late February. He, like many others, said the post is an ideal place to train because of the options available.
“The staff and facilities here were very accommodating and very helpful,” Cleveland said. “I would recommend to other instructors at the Mountain Warfare Training Center to come (to Fort McCoy) to do this same type of training in the future.”
Carns said more people are seeing what Fort McCoy has to offer in capability and support,
and are returning every year to train.
5 Years Ago — October 2020
FROM THE OCT. 23, 2020, EDITION OF THE REAL MCCOY NEWSPAPER: Community leaders participate in special visit to Fort McCoy (By Newspaper Staff) — More than a dozen civic leaders from Tomah and Sparta, Wis., participated in a community leader engagement Oct. 6 at Fort McCoy.
The event included involvement from the Fort McCoy Garrison command team, including Garrison Commander Col. Michael D. Poss; Garrison Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Alexander L. Carter; Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Mantha, garrison command sergeant major; Deputy to the Garrison Commander Brad Stewart; Directorate of Public Works Director Liane Haun; Directorate Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security Director Mike Todd; Directorate of Emergency Services Director Mark Fritsche; and many more.
The 13 civic leaders included acting Tomah Veterans Administration Medical Center Director Karen Long; Tomah Mayor Mike Murray; Tomah Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Tina Thompson; Tomah business leaders Philip Stuart, Jeffery Cram, and Christian Dawley; Tomah Police Chief Mark Nicholson; Tomah School Superintendent Dr. Mike Hanson; Sparta Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Heidi Prestwood; Sparta Chamber business leaders Suzanne Hoffman, Shannon Davis, and Vincent Norris, and Sparta School Superintendent Amy Van Deuren.
The visitors received a driving tour around the installation as well as a visit to the Mission Training Complex for simulation training in the 200 block at Fort McCoy.
They also participated in a luncheon at McCoy’s Community Center and flew on a helicopter for an aerial tour of the installation.
Two UH-60 Black Hawks and aircrews with the Wisconsin National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment took the visitors over areas of the cantonment area as well as along the entire borders of North Post and South Post.
During the aerial tour, the visitors received the most updated information about construction, training ranges, and training at the installation as narrated by Fort McCoy personnel.
At the end of the visit, Stewart told the visitors more about the installation.
“I hope you got a great appreciation for Fort McCoy today,” Stewart said. “We’re here to stay and we’re growing. You were able to see a lot of the training capabilities we have here. The word is that if you (the Army) want to go train somewhere, go train at Fort McCoy. … From the air … with the view of all the construction and training ranges … you were better able to see and appreciate how Fort McCoy creates that annual billion-dollar economic impact on our local area.”
Prestwood said she was thankful to attend.
“I wanted to extend my gratitude to you and everyone involved in (the) event,” Prestwood said. “Even though I have been on base for numerous occasions, this one was truly something special. I have a newfound appreciation for what you all do on a day-to-day basis. Thank you so much — which probably isn’t even enough to cover all what we did — and I will cherish the memories til the end of my time. Thank you.”
Thompson also provided feedback about the visit.
“On behalf of my guests from Tomah, I wanted to thank you for an absolutely amazing day,” Thompson said. “Having lived here for almost my entire life, I can say I have never experienced Fort McCoy like that before. Thank you for sharing the installation with us in this way. We recognize this was a large commitment of your senior leadership’s time and resources. We look forward to furthering our relationship with Fort McCoy, your staff, and Soldiers. Thank you again for all of the work and thought in putting this together for us!”
Fort McCoy hosts community leader engagements to inform community business leaders and elected officials of Fort McCoy’s mission and economic impact in the region.
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: | 10.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.26.2025 12:16 |
| Story ID: | 552495 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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