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BY WARD ZISCHKE 88th Readiness Division Historian
The U.S. Army Reserve is undergoing change and transition today. To better understand today’s changes, let’s go back several transitions ago to 1990-91 during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
The U.S. Army Reserve Command, or USARC, was in carrier status during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The Army Reserve units were divided into Armies, and each Army controlled several Army Reserve Commands, or ARCOMs, for a total of 20.
The 83rd, 86th, and 88th ARCOMS were under Fourth Army, located at Fort Sheridan, Ill., and are now inactivated. These ARCOMs wore the same shoulder patch as the 83rd Army Reserve Readiness Training Center (ARRTC), 86th Training Division, and 88th Readiness Division.
The 83rd ARCOM’s headquarters were in Columbus, Ohio, and it mobilized 19 units for Desert Shield/Desert Storm from Ohio. Of these units, six are still active today in the same state.
The 86th ARCOM’s headquarters was in Forest Park, Ill., and it mobilized 32 units from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Of these units, the 395th and 826th Ordnance companies remain in the same state today, as do seven other units.
During Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the 86th ARCOM controlled Equipment Concentration Site (ECS) 67 on Fort McCoy, which was also involved in Operation Desert Fix (see page 3) for equipment returning from the theater. Plaques commemorating Desert Fix are still on the wall at ECS 67.
The 86th ARCOM also had the 12th Special Forces Group under its control, but this unit did not go to Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
The 88th ARCOM headquarters were located at Building 506 on Fort Snelling, Minn., where the 88th commanding general resides today. It mobilized 14 units to Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
Five units mobilized from their home stations on Thanksgiving Day 1990. Of the mobilized units, only the 79th Military Police Company exists today in the same state.
The 88th also had command and control of the 205th Infantry Brigade (Arctic) (Light). Part of the obstacle course on Fort McCoy today was used by the 205th for their school — the Light Fighter Academy.
Each of the ARCOMs also had several Army Reserve Forces Schools. The 5042nd Army Reserve Forces School, 88th ARCOM, conducted emergency training for several critical military occupational specialties on Fort McCoy during Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
The 83rd, 86th, and 88th ARCOMs also had civil affairs and psychological units, as well as 105mm, 155mm, and 8-inch artillery battalions under their command and control. Examples of these artillery pieces are located at the Fort McCoy Commemorative Area and the 88th Readiness Division Headquarters at Fort McCoy.
The ARCOMs lost all these units due to the Offsite Agreement of December 1993. The 83rd, 86th, and 88th ARCOMs were inactivated in 1996, and their territories were combined to become the 88th Regional Support Command (RSC) from 1996 to 2003.
(Editor’s note: Elements of the 83rd ARRTC [Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy], 86th Training Division, and 88th Readiness Division are tenant organizations at Fort McCoy today.)
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.20.2026 13:41 |
| Story ID: | 558485 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 15 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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