Throughout fiscal year 2020, a large number of medical and medical-support personnel are scheduled to take advantage of Fort McCoy facilities and training.
Fort McCoy’s primary medical-training facilities are Regional Training Site-Medical (RTS-Medical) and the Medical Simulation Training Center (MSTC).
RTS-Medical a tenant organization and is one of three regional training sites available to units in the Army Reserve. The staff members specialize in teaching units how to set up and run all aspects of a combat support hospital (CSH). Soldiers are expected to be able to get a CSH running on their own by staking out a site, moving the equipment to the site, and building the hospital from bare ground.
In March, RTS-Medical will be fielding new field hospital equipment with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency.
“This will be a big event for us,” said Col. Cynthia Hopkins, RTS-Medical site director. “We haven’t had an entire new hospital set since 1997.”
RTS-Medical will also host training sessions for commanders, command sergeants major, and their staff officers to better understand hospital establishment and operations, as well as a Chief Wardmaster Course. This class focuses on senior enlisted skills required of a chief wardmaster for all areas relating to hospital establishment.
RTS-Medical staff members will be participating in and providing support for three Combat Support Training Exercises (CSTX) this year, too, Hopkins said. The exercises will be held in June, July, and August. According to the 84th Training Command, a CSTX is a large-scale training exercise where units experience tactical training scenarios specifically designed to replicate real-world missions.
Also at Fort McCoy, the MSTC is a garrison organization that provides state-of-the-art medical training for both medical and nonmedical personnel, ensuring highly educated, innovative, and adaptive Soldiers.
“Since October, we’ve been focused on 68W (medic) sustainment training,” said Luis Illescas, course coordinator with MSTC. “From April through June, we’ll be focused on nonmedical personnel doing combat-lifesaver, or first-responder, training.”
The MSTC also provides support for exercises throughout the year, like the CSTXs planned during the summer. The heavy exercise season is typically during the summer months, after which MSTC resumes its regular training for both medical and nonmedical personnel, Illescas said.
For more information about services provided by the MSTC, call 608-388-1136. For more information about services provided by RTS-Medical, call 608-388-2544.