Photo By Scott Sturkol | Members of the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team oversee a prescribed burn March 13,...... read more read more
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The year 2025 was another busy time at Fort McCoy with tens of thousands of troops training at the installation along with many new construction projects taking place, plus much more.
The first half of the year meant a focus on moving five World War II-era barracks for later repurposing plus it also saw many longtime installation employees reach the end of their Army careers. All at the same time, training ramped up as the year went on with Army Reserve, Army National Guard, and other active- and reserve-component forces coming to the installation.
Here's a look at March and April 2025 historical events and news.
MARCH
— Several Fort McCoy members shared their expertise while supporting the Western Technical College Community Panel Breakfast on March 11 at the college’s campus in Tomah, Wis.
Western’s Tomah Campus Coordinator Nikki Purvis invited Fort McCoy members to attend, which included personnel from the Fort McCoy Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office (PAIO); Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office, and Fort McCoy Garrison leadership.
According to college officials, the meeting was held to assist Western in developing their next 5-year strategic plan.
Discussion topics included attendee vantage points of how their organizations and communities see challenges, changes, and opportunities in their area, and much more. Also each org representative reviewed what their connection is to the college.
In addition to Purvis, other Western attendees included Western President Roger Stanford, Director of Enrollment Services Deb Hether, and many more community members.
For Fort McCoy participation in the event, it was another example of direct efforts to support the Army community relations program from Fort McCoy with local communities.
— Members of the Fort McCoy prescribed burn team made an effort to improve safety from fire along the rail corridor on the installation March 13 by completing a prescribed burn.
The post prescribed burn team includes personnel with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services Fire Department; Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch; Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; and the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands in partnership with the post.
For this prescribed burn, the team met on near the installation border not far from family housing on South Post, then carefully started the burn in sections to be able to manage it successfully and be able to adjust to any wind conditions.
In all, the team conducted the event for approximately 4 hours to complete the area they wanted to accomplish that day.
— From March 12-14, the 181st Multi-Functional Training Brigade (MFTB) at Fort McCoy held its 2025 Brigade Best Observer-Controller/Trainer competition and on March 13 as part of the competition a pair of UH-60 Black Hawks and crews helped support the competition.
Black Hawks and crews with the Wisconsin National Guard’s 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment supported a competition event from the open field next to Rumpel Fitness Center on the installation’s cantonment area.
According to a Facebook post by 181st MFTB Public Affairs at https://www.facebook.com/181MFTB, competition on March 13 saw the competitors “take on multiple challenges that tested them both mentally and physically.”
“Day two started with the competitors taking a physical exercise challenge that began in the early morning to test their endurance,” the post states. “They then proceeded into the field to test on various lanes that ranged from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN), combat lifesaving, grenade lanes, and stress shooting drills.”
It was going out to the field where the Black Hawks played a role in ferrying Soldiers for the competition.
— Soldiers with U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy traded out the Army Materiel Command patches on their uniforms for the blue clover patch of the 88th Readiness Division during a special patching ceremony March 13 in building 905 at Fort McCoy.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi, commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division and Fort McCoy’s senior commander, presided over the ceremony. Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez served as the top leader representing the garrison.
The patching ceremony was prompted by January 2025 Execute Order 123-25 from the Secretary of the Army, “Update to U.S. Army Installation Management Structure,” which designates all uniformed personnel at the garrison as being under tactical control, or TACON, of the senior commander, who is Ricciardi at Fort McCoy. And because of the new TACON, a new patch was now needed for Fort McCoy Garrison Soldiers.
Ricciardi discussed the change during his address to the ceremony attendees.
“Ladies and gentlemen, special guests, thank you for being here today,” Ricciardi said. “This is a really special day, I believe, for both garrison, for the Army Reserve, and for the 88th Readiness Division. And I can say that because the last patch I wore was the Army Materiel Command patch. … And … I just did this about nine months ago.
“A patch ceremony? Because what is a patch? And then I was thinking about it, and, you know, a patch is a brand, it's a logo, and it only means what it means to everybody else,” Ricciardi said. “So, the Golden Arches, the Nike swoosh, the 82nd patch … they’re logos. … They derive meaning, and they invoke emotion. And where does that come from? … It comes from history. It comes from performance. And it comes from war.
“(When) I think about the 88th patch, and you just watched the history that the 88th has,” he said referring to a history video previously played for attendees. “You saw what they did. Talk about performance. And you see the performance and the respect that the enemy gave the 88th with the moniker Blue Devils.”
— Contractors took advantage of ideal sunny weather March 18 to successfully move a third World War II-era barracks at Fort McCoy.
Two World War II-era barracks buildings were already moved on Jan. 22 and Feb. 12-13. This third building was moved to the same area as the first two.
Army Corps of Engineers officials and the contractor are working to complete the movement of five 80-plus-year-old buildings while the ground is still frozen, although the contractor now has the route to move the buildings built up to better move around corners and along roadways.
Devooght Building Movers of Manitowoc, Wis., is the contractor doing the building moving with wheels and remote control powered by a generator. Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works planners have said a plan was previously worked out with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the contractor to move the five old barracks buildings to the 500 block of Fort McCoy in this move. The buildings will be temporarily set in that block until new locations are determined.
— Fort McCoy personnel took time to be a part of the March 10, 2025, meeting of the Monroe County (Wis.) Natural Resource and Extension Committee in Sparta, Wis. As part of Monroe County, Fort McCoy has a part supporting the committee. The post does so through the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB) as well as the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.
During the March meeting held March 10, NRB Endangered Species Biologist Jessup Weichelt served as one of the Fort McCoy representatives where he reviewed recent accomplishments completed by NRB and related Fort McCoy personnel.
Among those accomplishments in natural resources management Weichelt mentioned from February 2025 were:
* Monitored 10 lakes for dissolved oxygen and temperature for fisheries management. All lakes are still above average for dissolved oxygen due to minimal snow cover which lets light into the lake.
* Conducted 12 creel surveys in fisheries management. Angling pressure seems light given the good ice conditions. Some reports have indicated fish were not actively biting.
* Reported life history of 46 tagged fish to anglers.
* In endangered species management, updated the Special Status Species Fauna and Flora Database.
* Maintained trail cameras for wolf detection: two wolves detected via trail camera in training area B32 on Fort McCoy’s South Post.
* Performed wolf tracking survey in North and South Post. Documented two wolves on South Post.
* Checked eagle nests. North Flowage East and Alderwood basin areas at Fort McCoy have eagles near the nests.
* Initiated draft of the Regal Fritillary (butterfly) Biological Assessment.
* With forestry management, administered four active timber sales, and received $3,273.20 in timber sale revenue.
— Fort McCoy’s Deputy to the Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon and another installation member participated in the March 12 meeting of the Sparta (Wis.) Area Chamber of Commerce as post representatives.
During the meeting, the Fort McCoy representatives provided an update about news at the installation as well as answered questions from the chamber leaders and members.
The Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce regularly works with and supports Fort McCoy in numerous events throughout the year. The relationship between the city and the post goes back a century as Fort McCoy’s founder, Maj. Gen. Robert Bruce McCoy, was also from Sparta.
— Leaders with U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy held two forums for GS-8s and GS-9s on March 26 and for GS-10s and GS-11s on March 27 to hear from personnel in these grades and provide direct information to these workforce members.
Fort McCoy Deputy to the Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon led each session that was held in building 905 on post.
Discussion in the forums included understanding the current guidance on hiring freezes, downsizing, and more. Cantlon also discussed the need for transparency around work spaces and for everyone to raise questions to garrison leadership any time they need to get clarification.
Cantlon took questions from all attendees that covered a variety of topics, including leadership support, budget items, evaluations, and more.
“We’re always here to support you,” Cantlon said during the GS-10/GS-11 forum. “Please let us know anytime you have any questions about anything.”
Forums like these strengthen ties and communication between leadership and the workforce, officials said. It also reflects the importance of the Army Civilian Corps to the mission.
— Now that three of the five older barracks have been moved from the construction area in the 1600 block at Fort McCoy where the fiscal year 2024-funded $55.75 million Collective Training Officers Quarters Project is under way, contractors have been able to complete more work on grounds preparation.
Ken Green with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Resident Office at Fort McCoy said the project calls for the construction of two new 48,000-square-foot, four-story Collective Training Officers Quarters buildings.
In his March 28 update, Green gave the latest actions.
“Work continued for the fourth building to be relocated,” Green wrote. “Demo also continued. Clearing and grubbing continued. Over dig and fill started.”
— Although the first prescribed burn at Fort McCoy took place in late-January 2025, the main part of the 2025 prescribed burn season has been under way in early to mid-March 2025.
The post prescribed burn team includes personnel with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services Fire Department; Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB); Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; and the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands in partnership with the post.
Prescribed burns have taken place on March 3, 11-13, and 18, at several areas around the installation. Most of them were focused on range areas around the post’s impact area so they were safe for training, and more.
Prescribed burns improve wildlife habitat, control invasive plant species, restore and maintain native plant communities, and reduce wildfire potential. Prescribed burns benefit the environment in many ways and are one of the tools we can use on a large scale to improve our wild habitat, said Fort McCoy Forester Charles Mentzel in a past news article who is part of the prescribed burn team and was present with all of the burn efforts so far in 2025.
— Fort McCoy leaders and team members took time out March 25 to participate in the Monroe County Economic Development Housing Meeting in Sparta, Wis., to support the planning and discussion for addressing housing in the county.
Participating from Fort McCoy were Fort McCoy Deputy Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Mike Corkum, Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Director Liane Haun, Fort McCoy Housing Chief Zach Hynes, and other installation members.
According to the Monroe County Economic Develop Committee who spearheaded the event, topics addressed were:
* Current housing situation in Monroe County;
* Reviewing where the greatest need for housing is;
* Defining “affordable” housing;
* Looking at what other counties are doing to address a lack of housing;
* Funding opportunities for housing the committee might be missing;
* How can all the varying agencies collaborate to address housing issues in Monroe County;
* And what are some actions Monroe County can take to address housing concerns.
— Tonya Townsell gave her last presentation as the Fort McCoy public affairs officer March 27 as she gave her farewell remarks during her retirement ceremony at the Fort McCoy History Center at Fort McCoy, Wis.
Townsell started her career in Army Public Affairs in 1990 when she enlisted in the Army and completed the Defense Information School Basic Journalist Course at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind. From there her career took her to places all over the world, including assignments in the United States as well as Europe.
Her early days as a Soldier included supporting a presidential inauguration in the 1990s, and more. During 11 of her 30 years of service, Townsell served as a Soldier both on active and in the National Guard. After that, she transitioned to a career as a civil servant in Army Public Affairs.
Over the years, Townsell has been a part of a lot of professional awards too. At Fort McCoy, the number of awards received by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office staff has been significant during her leadership between 2015 and 2025.
During those 10 years, her office earned 16 Army Materiel Command public affairs awards, 40 Army Installation Management Command public affairs awards, and more than 150 monthly trophy awards on the Defense Visual Information and Distribution Service monthly recognition.
Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez, who presided over Townsell’s ceremony, discussed her career.
“Today we are celebrating Tonya’s accomplishment for over 30 years of federal service,” Baez said. “We have many things to say about Tonya. … For the last 10 years at Fort McCoy as the public affairs chief, things at Fort McCoy have taken a turn. When we look at social media, when we look at any type of … media that is out there for the Army, ort McCoy is all over the place.
— Kendra Pierce with the Fort McCoy Multimedia-Visual Information Office and members of the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office earned award placings in two categories for the 2024 Army Materiel Command (AMC) David G. Harris Public Affairs Competition that was announced in late-February.
The placings at AMC were the next level of competition for Pierce and the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office after they placed in the 2024 Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Public Affairs and Communications Awards competition in January.
Pierce earned a second-place Army Materiel Command award in Graphic Arts Category A: Layout and Design. Pierce’s entry was a special graphic created for the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.
As it also earned an award at IMCOM, the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office also earned an AMC third-place award in Category B: Community Relations Special Event for work done during the 2024 Fort McCoy Armed Forces Day Open House.
Contributors recognized for the award include now-retired Public Affairs Officer Tonya Townsell; Senior Public Affairs Specialist Scott T. Sturkol; Public Affairs Specialist Claudia Neve (now in Germany); Public Affairs Specialist Christopher Jones (now in California); Lt. Col. James Ontiveros, public affairs contributor and civil affairs officer; and Robin Michalski, Fort McCoy Commemorative Area caretaker.
— In February 1985, Tim Wilder began a 40-year journey at Fort McCoy that he admits was a labor of love from start to finish. At that time, little did he know he would make an impact on the endangered species and natural resources programs at Fort McCoy that will last for generations.
On March 27, 2025, Wilder retired from the Army Civil Service with dozens of coworkers, friends, and family in attendance to pay tribute to his service and accomplishments. During his career, Wilder was a biological science student trainee from February 1985 to October 1987, wildlife biologist from November 1987 to June 1994, Fort McCoy’s first endangered species biologist from June 1994 to March 2018, and chief of the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB) from March 2018 to March 2025.
APRIL
— Fort McCoy’s total economic impact for fiscal year (FY) 2024 was an estimated $1.6 billion, Fort McCoy Garrison officials announced, which is up from FY 2023’s total impact of $1.38 billion.
The data was compiled by Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis and Integration Office and announced in April 2025.
Workforce payroll, operating costs, and other expenditures totaled more than $398 million for FY 2024.
A total of 1,934 personnel worked at Fort McCoy in FY 2024 — 1,061 civilians, 495 military, and 378 contract employees.
Approximately 66 percent of the workforce lives within Monroe County. The total FY 2024 workforce payroll for civilian and military personnel was $270.4 million.
FY 2024 operating costs of $170 million included utilities, physical plant maintenance, repair and improvements, new construction projects, purchases of supplies and services, as well as salaries for civilian contract personnel working at Fort McCoy.
Other expenditures accounted for $21.2 million and covered $511,296 in payments to local governments (including land permit agreements, school district impact aid, etc.) as well as $20.7 million in discretionary spending in local communities by service members training and residing at Fort McCoy.
Other factors of economic impact for the fiscal year included more than $92.6 million in military construction on post.
— Seventy-one cadets and nearly a dozen staff members with Army ROTC units at seven universities in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan trained at Fort McCoy on April 11 in field training lanes to build their skills.
“The cadets were participating in a combined field training exercise,” said Maj. Michael Centola, associate professor of military science and executive officer for the Badger ROTC Battalion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Schools came together to train on small unit tactics, troop leading procedures, and land navigation.
“This was the last large-scale training exercise for the third-year cadets prior to their formal assessment at Fort Knox (Ky.) later this summer,” Centola said.
Cadet Grace Sandretti with the University of Wisconsin-Madison ROTC Program, who is a senior cadet, served as an opposing forces person to help train the junior cadets during the field training. She described how important this effort was.
“The field training exercise (FTX) is a great opportunity for cadets to make mistakes,” Sandretti said. “I find that in this environment we’re able to talk about any mistakes that are made and talk through the missions. That creates a really great space for cadets to learn.
The FTX is a great learning environment, and we’re all working towards the same goals to get the (third-year cadets) ready for cadet summer training,” Sandretti said.
— Fort McCoy’s Forestry Office continued to manage a significant effort during April 2025 with many activities designed to improve Fort McCoy’s thousands of acres of forest land.
During the month, forestry and related work was coordinated by Forester Charles Mentzel and Forestry Technician Tim Parry who both work within the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
As part of their monthly work, they share work completed with the personnel supporting the Monroe County (Wis.) Natural Resources Committee. Some of those completed work items include:
* The Forestry team administered six timber sales during April.
“We typically have six to nine timber sales a year, or about 600 acres worth,” Mentzel said. “Some get cut the following year.”
Timber sales are administered by the Omaha District of the Army Corps of Engineers and are sold by sealed bid, said Mentzel.
The timber harvest activities also support Fort McCoy’s strategic objective of enhancing the post’s military training value through improved area utilization and land use initiatives, Mentzel said.
— From April 11-13, Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment of the Wisconsin National Guard brought more than a dozen helicopters as well as crews and support personnel to hold a drill training at Fort McCoy.
Helicopters included UH-60 Black Hawk medivac helicopters from the battalion’s West Bend, Wis., location as well as Light Utility Helicopters (UH-72A Lakota) from the same location. Personnel and equipment also were on hand from the 147th location in Madison, Wis.
“We were doing a field training exercise to help get ready for an upcoming mobilization,” said Capt. Cole Hamilton, operations officer and more with the 147th who helped organize and conduct the drill training.
Hamilton said the training focused on a wide variety of scenarios, training lanes, and even hot and cold load training for moving patients in a medivac situation.
James L. Hubbard, airport manager with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security Airfield Division, said the 147th had people and aircraft operating from the Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport, Young Air Assault Strip, and other training locations on the installation’s South Post.
Members of the 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment regularly complete training operations at Fort McCoy, and the unit also supports numerous training events at the installation each year. In 2024, the unit supported training on Fort McCoy nearly every month, and it’s been similar with their training in 2025.
— Leaders with U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy took time April 24 to hold a pair of town hall meetings with the installation workforce where they took questions, provided updates about ongoing personnel programs, and discussed upcoming construction that will affect installation personnel.
Fort McCoy Deputy to the Garrison Commander Cameron Cantlon led the effort on both meetings. Cantlon gave updates on news and information within the garrison.
In discussing an ever-changing environment in the workplace currently facing the workforce, he offered some encouragement.
“Please continue to do what you do every day,” Cantlon said. “Let's focus on that. Those are the things that make us what we are here at Fort McCoy. We have a great reputation. We have a great ethic. We do good work.”
Cantlon also took numerous questions about personnel actions. One included about whether or not restructuring within the garrison is likely.
“The question is, will there be restructuring looked at before October, because clearly after October, we will be doing restructuring,” Cantlon said. “The answer is yes, we will be looking at restructuring and where we have the ability within the hiring freeze restraints for moving personnel and doing things on personnel actions, where we have flexibility and some agility, we will take action. Planning has already started.”
He added that with planning, feedback to leaders is also needed.
“If you have ideas for your sections, your organizations, feed up those ideas,” Cantlon said. “We need them. … We want to get it right. We need the feedback, and we need feedback and input from the whole workforce. So if you haven't thought about it, start thinking about the organization you work in, and if you have ideas, please share those with us.”
First Sgt. Thomas Ninkovich, first sergeant for U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy Headquarters and Headquarters Company, followed Cantlon to discuss upcoming events, and more.
“It’s an honor to be able to finally get to speak at one of these things and see this many people in here,” Ninkovich said. “So, thank you for coming out.
— Building movers doing work at Fort McCoy proved that a fourth time can be a charm, too, as they successfully moved a fourth World War II-era barracks April 16 at Fort McCoy.
Three World War II-era barracks buildings were already moved on Jan. 22, Feb. 12-13, and March 18. This fourth building was moved to the same area as the first two.
Army Corps of Engineers officials and the contractor are working to complete the movement of five 80-plus-year-old buildings, although the contractor now has the route to move the buildings built up to better move around corners and along roadways. It’s so well set up that moving the fourth building was the fastest yet.
Devooght Building Movers of Manitowoc, Wis., is the contractor doing the building moving with wheels and remote control powered by a generator. Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works planners have said a plan was previously worked out with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the contractor to move the five old barracks buildings to the 500 block of Fort McCoy in these moves. The buildings are temporarily set in that block until new locations are determined.
— Fort McCoy held a community event April 25 to plant 500 trees in a designated planting area to establish a forested area on the installation’s cantonment area. In doing so, the effort also earned the post its 36th Tree City USA designation.
Forester Charles Mentzel with the Forestry Office of the Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch unveiled the installation’s newest Tree City USA designation flag during the event, and participants in the effort also took a group photo.
The flag later found its home on a flagpole right next to Fort McCoy’s old Main Gate on the cantonment area near State Highway 21.
Tree planting is an annual effort at Fort McCoy where the Forestry Office coordinates what areas need planting, and where they will best improve lands which are also used as part of the post’s training and maneuver space.
“Fort McCoy has more than 46,000 acres of forested land managed by the Forestry Office, and it’s important to maintain those forested areas,” Mentzel said.
The 500 trees planted April 25 were the major replanting effort for 2025. In 2024, Forestry Technician Tim Parry, also with the Forestry Office, said the post planted 5,000 trees — 500 on the cantonment area and 4,500 in Training Area B-05 on Fort McCoy’s South Post.
— Fort McCoy’s prescribed burn team held a final burn for the spring season April 23 along Badger Drop Zone on the installation’s South Post covering dozens of acres to reduce wildfire risk in that area.
The post prescribed burn team includes personnel with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services Fire Department; Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB); Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; and the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands in partnership with the post.
This burn started in the center of the drop zone and covered the more well-used areas of the drop zone and went on for more than four hours. The drop zone is used consistently by Air Force air mobility forces to conduct airdrop practice as well as C-130 Hercules training operations. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft and crews have also conducted airdrop practice over this drop zone using Container Delivery System bundles in past years.
— Fort McCoy celebrated the Army Reserve’s 117th birthday April 23 with a special celebration at McCoy’s Community Center that included free food, cake, and games and fun for all attendees.
Fort McCoy’s Senior Commander, Maj. Gen. Joseph Ricciardi, commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division, led the Army Reserve birthday observance.
Ricciardi discussed the importance of the Army Reserve’s contribution to America and more as the celebration got started.
“Since its inception, the Army Reserve has played a pivotal in enhancing strength, flexibility, and effectiveness of the United States Army,” Ricciardi said. “We have served as a force multiplier … Throughout history, the Army Reserve has proven essential in adapting to the nation’s evolving needs.
— Students and staff with the Air Force’s Air Mobility Liaison Officer (AMLO) Qualification Course traveled to Fort McCoy to train April 15-18 at the installation’s Young Air Assault Strip.
Lt. Col. Andrew Baker, course director with the 435th Training Squadron at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., said the class previously conducted this training in Colorado, but for the first time brought the AMLO students to Fort McCoy because of the capabilities found on the post.
“What we found at Fort McCoy was the type of runway that we were going to be operating on, the dirt runway,” Baker said. “The runway — it was great. It was better for training because … it gave us a lot of opportunity for students to see the impact of landing operations. It was significantly better than (training) on a very hard, compacted dirt runway.”
The students also utilized Badger Drop Zone to complete specific training events. “The drop zone was much bigger and much better for our students to kind of see that,” Baker said.
Baker described the types of training the AMLO students focused on during their week at McCoy.
“During the week, we focused on … drop zone control and also landing zone safety officer (training),” Baker said. “The drop zone control was essentially just calling airdrops in, directing the aircraft to a point of release, and then they threw out a 15-pound sandbag. That would score how well the student directed that aircraft to a release point. It's called verbally initiated release system, or VIRS.”
— Fort McCoy team members took time to support the April 2025 meeting of the Monroe County (Wis.) Natural Resource and Extension Committee in Sparta, Wis.
As part of Monroe County, Fort McCoy has a part is supporting the committee. The post does so through the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB) as well as the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.
During the meeting held April 14, NRB Fisheries Biologist Steve Rood served as one of the Fort McCoy representatives where he reviewed recent accomplishments completed by NRB and related Fort McCoy personnel.
Among those accomplishments in natural resources management Rood mentioned from March 2025 were:
* In fisheries, personnel collected temperature and oxygen profiles on all 10 lakes at Fort McCoy.
* Fisheries personnel installed batteries and fuses in aerators at Stillwell and Swamp Pond.
* Fisheries personnel also retrieved data from 11 thermographs placed in streams throughout the winter and deployed 37 thermographs for summer temperature monitoring.
* Fisheries management conducted seven creel surveys. Few anglers were found, which is common in March since eight of 10 lakes are closed. Early catch and release trout season was open.
* Rood said they also began fish population assessments on North Flowage, Sparta Pond, and Stillwell Lake at the installation. Surveys will continue into April and May.
* NRB personnel led “go/no go” burn meetings mornings of possible prescribed burns. Also, conducted prescribe burns on eight days in March on 22 units completing 7,196 acres. This included Ranges 6, 18, 32, 33, 100, 101, 102, 105, and all of the North Impact Area.
* Forestry personnel administered six timber sales on post taking in $23,583.20.
* With invasive species management, the NRB team provided comments to the NEPA coordinator on two proposed projects in April.
* Natural resources invasives staff conducted preliminary planning for updating biocontrol monitoring/assessments on Fort McCoy.
— Just in time once again for the 2025 fishing season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Genoa National Fish Hatchery of Genoa, Wis., stocked more than 15,000 rainbow trout in several waterways throughout the post.
USFWS personnel delivered the trout April 23 and 25, said Fort McCoy Fisheries Biologist Steve Rood who works with the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB). Trout were stocked in Suukjak Sep, Sandy, Stillwell, and Big Sandy lakes and Sparta and Swamp ponds.
“Each year we purchase and stock the same number of rainbow trout into each lake,” Rood said in a past news article about the same process. “The average length of the rainbow trout that were stocked this year were just under 11 inches. These quality fish will provide an exciting opportunity for all anglers to pursue.”
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: | 01.07.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2026 14:55 |
| Story ID: | 555824 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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