During January 2026, U.S, Army Installation Management Command and Army Materiel Command held awards competitions back-to-back and from that several Fort McCoy public affairs and multimedia-visual information personnel were recognized with numerous awards for 2025 excellence.
2025 Army Installation Management Command Communications Awards
The 2025 Army Installation Management Command Communications Awards (IMCOM) were held in mid-January.
Greg Mason, audiovisual production specialist with the Fort McCoy Multimedia-Visual Information (MM-VI) Office, which falls under the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security, earned a first place in Broadcast Category C, Social Media/Multimedia Video (Individual Category). This award was for his video, available at https://www.dvidshub.net/video/971315/walter-reed-army-institute-research-effects-mortars-soldiers, entitled, “Walter Reed Army Institute of Research on effects of Mortars on Soldiers.”
Mason also earned second place in Category G: 2025 Clark Taylor Civilian Videographer of the Year. Mason’s judged entries for this category were as follows:
— MICLIC (Mine Clearing Line Charge) at Fort McCoy, https://www.dvidshub.net/video/973020/miclic-mine-clearing-line-charge-fort-mccoy-wi.
— U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center at Fort McCoy, https://www.dvidshub.net/video/978138/us-army-engineer-research-and-development-center-erdc-fort-mccoy-wi.
— Walter Reed Army Institute of Research on effects of Mortars on Soldiers, https://www.dvidshub.net/video/971315/walter-reed-army-institute-research-effects-mortars-soldiers.
— USAR BSC — Helocast at Fort McCoy, https://www.dvidshub.net/video/964369/usar-bsc-helocast-fort-mccoy-wi.
Because Mason was in the top two of the competition in the category, he moved on to compete in the Army Materiel Command-level of competition.
In the photography compeition, Kevin Clark, MM-VI photographer, earned a first-place award in Photography Category B, News Photograph (Individual Category).
Clark’s photo was entitled, “CH-47 Chinook crew helps Army Reserve competitors for Best Squad competition at Fort McCoy,” and covers Soldiers jumping from a Chinook into Big Sandy Lake on Fort McCoy’s South Post. The photo is available at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/9074076/ch-47-chinook-crew-helps-army-reserve-competitors-best-squad-competition-fort-mccoy.
In the graphics competition, Graphic Artist Kendra Pierce with the Fort McCoy MM-VI Office earned first place in Graphic Design Category A. Pierce’s Entry was entitled “UAS Couter-Drone Tri-fold.” The tri-fold is available for viewing at https://www.dvidshub.net/image/9409530/uas-couter-drone-tri-fold.
From the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office, Senior Public Affairs Specialist Scott T. Sturkol earned a second-place finish for Category I: 2025 Moss-Holland Civilian Writer of the Year. Sturkol’s judged entries for this category included:
— 80 YEARS LATER: Recalling end of World War II at Camp McCoy, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/547183/80-years-later-recalling-end-world-war-ii-camp-mccoy.
— Lt. Dan Band entertains nearly a thousand guests during July 2025 concert at Fort McCoy, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/543247/lt-dan-band-entertains-nearly-thousand-guests-during-july-2025-concert-fort-mccoy.
— Research with Walter Reed study on mitigating impacts of blast exposures continued in 2025 during training at Fort McCoy, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/547022/research-with-walter-reed-study-mitigating-impacts-blast-exposures-continued-2025-during-training-fort-mccoy.
— Hundreds attend Clydesdales visit to Fort McCoy; parade held at Pine View Campground, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/502187/hundreds-attend-clydesdales-visit-fort-mccoy-parade-held-pine-view-campground.
— Soldiers with 13th Battalion, 100th Regiment hold sling-load training at McCoy; Wisconsin National Guard Black Hawks, crews assist, https://www.dvidshub.net/news/499635/soldiers-with-13th-battalion-100th-regiment-hold-slingload-training-mccoy-wisconsin-national-guard-black-hawks-crews-assist.
Sturkol also earned a second-place finish in Writing Category A, News Article (Individual Category). His entry for this category was entitled, Research with Walter Reed study on mitigating impacts of blast exposures continued in 2025 during training at Fort McCoy, and is available at https://www.dvidshub.net/news/547022/research-with-walter-reed-study-mitigating-impacts-blast-exposures-continued-2025-during-training-fort-mccoy.
As managing editor of Fort McCoy’s monthly official newspaper, Sturkol also led the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office to first-place finishes in Writing Category C, Online Publication (Unit Category), and Writing Category D, Printed Publication (Unit Category). Public Affairs Specialist Melissa Dubois was a significant contributor for these categories as well as the Fort McCoy MM-VI team who includes Mason, Clark, Pierce, and also Photographer Amanda Clark.
For the winning, first place online edition, it was Fort McCoy’s September 2025 edition of The Real McCoy Online. That edition is available at https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_75293.pdf.
The winning first-place printed edition was Fort McCoy’s June 2025 edition of The Real McCoy newspaper. An electronic version of that edition is available at https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_73346.pdf.
2025 Army Materiel Command David G. Harris Competition Awards
The 2025 Army Materiel Command David G. Harris Competition was completed toward the end of January, and again Fort McCoy’s Public Affairs/MM-VI team did well again.
Greg Mason, again, earned first place in Category C: Social Media/Multimedia Video, for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research on effects of Mortars on Soldiers video*.*
And in Category G: 2025 Clark Taylor Civilian Videographer of the Year, Mason earned first place for Army Materiel Command. Mason will serve as the command’s representative in the category at the Army-level Keith L. Ware competition. His second time doing so in the last few years.
For Category B: News Photograph, Photographer Kevin Clark earned a third-place finish.
In Category A: Layout and Design, Graphic Artist Kendra Pierce had a second-place finish.
For Category C: Online Publication, The Real McCoy of the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office earned a third-place finish.
And lastly, in Category D: Printed Publication, The Real McCoy newspaper earned first place, making the paper the Best Printed Publication in Army Installation Management Command and Army Materiel Command in 2025. The newspaper also earned the same title for IMCOM in 2024.
“Earning awards for news, video, photo, newspaper, graphics, individual news and video coverage demonstrates the caliber of talent that Fort McCoy has in the people who manage the public affairs and multimedia missions at Fort McCoy,” Sturkol said. “It’s a great honor to represent Fort McCoy and its great mission as the Total Force Training Center. The work accomplished by our team in PAO and MM-VI isn’t possible without the support of the entire Fort McCoy team, so these awards are really Fort McCoy awards. We all appreciate the support across the post.”
Kevin Clark said he appreciated his work being recognized.
“I’m just glad we can help show the rest of the Army all the amazing things we’re doing at Fort McCoy,” he said.
In a message about competition results, U.S. Army IMCOM Public Affairs stated there was a lot of competitors.
“IMCOM public affairs professionals from 20 garrisons worldwide entered 245 pieces of content into 24 categories,” the message stated. “Their work reflects excellence in sharing and communicating the Army’s story around the globe. The work of these civilian and military writers, editors, photographers, videographers, and graphic designers was distinguished from that of their peers by a panel of 10 judges.”
Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez Ramirez also discussed these results in a postwide message to the Fort McCoy team.
“Fort McCoy Community Team, it is my distinct pleasure to share the results of the 2025 Army Installation Management Command and Army Materiel Command Awards,” Baez wrote. “Once again, Fort McCoy has proven that we are home to some of the most talented communicators in the Army. Our Public Affairs and Multimedia-Visual Information Team secured an incredible14 major command awards (and nominations), marking our strongest performance since 2022. From first-place finishes in photography and graphic design to ‘The Real McCoy’ being recognized as a premier publication, the quality of work coming out of this installation is second to none.
“Special shout-outs toScott Sturkol, Gregory Mason,Kevin Clark, Melissa Dubois, andKendra Piercefor their individual and unit placements. Your dedication to telling the Fort McCoy story with excellence does not go unnoticed.”
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.”
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.)