Courtesy Photo | Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery of the Wisconsin National Guard...... read more read more
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Soldiers in Wisconsin National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery brought more than 180 unit members to Fort McCoy from Jan. 21-31 to not only complete important individual Soldier/Warrior tasks but also to get training in on their M777 and M119 Howitzers in cold weather.
Command Sergeant. Major. Nicholas Kletzien, Battalion Command Sergeant Major, said this January training was meant to mirror, in some ways, the training the unit has completed in previous years at Camp Grayling, Mich.
“Those were good training opportunities during their exercise at Grayling called Northern Strike,” Kletzien said. “What we wanted to do here was do some training to be similar to that exercise but in a smaller scale.”
Kletzien said just over half of the battalion was able to complete this January training because many members are either supporting deployments or completing institutional training that’s typically done this time of year.
“So, because our unit would be training with a smaller number of troops, we decided to set up this training at McCoy, and it worked out great,” Kletzien said.
Lt. Col. Rustin Billings, Battalion Commander, and Kletzien stated their training plan was built on several operational goals to help improve the unit in a number of ways.
These included:
— Train in all environments — cold is a genuine environment to prepare for.
— Test skills and equipment — challenging conditions reveal gaps in skills, training, and equipment that can be masked in “regular” temps/environments.
— Build real-life skills — these Soldiers live in Wisconsin and can use this knowledge in real life and when called on for state active-duty community emergencies.
— Natural challenge vs artificial simulation. Extreme conditions are a natural challenge which drives resilience in Soldiers that artificial simulations can’t replicate. “We find this resonates with Soldiers better than when we make training artificially hard,” Kletzien said.
Many times, during this training while training outdoors, the unit set up Arctic 10-person tents with heaters to keep troops warm while they operated at firing points with the Howitzers and also during the sling-load training event on Jan. 28.
Kletzien said practicing those cold-weather operations skills as well as when all the Soldiers practice wearing their Army Extreme Cold-Weather Clothing System, or ECWCS, items, helps fill that capability of “training in all environments.”
Last October, Kletzien said his unit was visited by former Fort McCoy Cold-Weather Operations Course Instructor Joe Ernst, who now is an officer with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Emergency Services. Ernst, he said, helped show the unit Soldiers a variety of skills-building ways to operate and use cold-weather equipment, and more.
“When Joe came to talk with our unit, he showed us how to use that equipment and in turn it really helped us to be prepared for the training at McCoy,” Kletzien said.
Throughout their entire training experience at McCoy, the 1-120th Soldiers experienced some of the more challenging weather a Wisconsin winter can throw at them, including snow showers and multiple days with below-zero or near below-zero temperatures.
“Our goal was to do some testing with the equipment,” Kletzien said. “Individual tasks and training were also our focus. … And that was accomplished.”
Kletzien also said Fort McCoy serves as an ideal place for his unit to complete extended combat training, weekend training, and annual training.
“Fort McCoy, besides its location being close for everyone, offers a wide array of firing points for our unit to choose from,” Kletzien said. “This flexibility helps us build scenarios and realistic training for our Soldiers. … Plus, all the support we get here, the Wisconsin Military Academy has training for artillery specialties, our Soldiers attend the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy, we store equipment here, and more. McCoy just works out great for us consistently.”
Kletzien said plans are already under way to look at collective training in 2027. It could include training with their sister unit, the 121st Field Artillery.
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: | 02.03.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2026 12:36 |
| Story ID: | 557361 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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