New fiscal year brings renewed training activity to Fort McCoy as military units begin FY 2027
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DVIDS - GeorgiaWith Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers, Marines, and aviation personnel among those conducting training during the month, Fort McCoy once again demonstrated its ability to support a wide range of military readiness requirements.
The new fiscal year began Oct. 1, and training activity started building immediately. One of the first major training events involved aircrews from the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment (1-147th Aviation), which completed unit training Oct. 9.
According to Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS) scheduling officials, the 1-147th maintains a presence at Fort McCoy nearly every month of the year. The Oct. 9 training included extensive aircrew proficiency activities, familiarization with flight routes and other aviation requirements.
The unit’s recurring training demonstrates how Fort McCoy supports specialized military capabilities in addition to traditional ground-force training. The Wisconsin Army National Guard aviation unit operates aircraft that support transportation, aviation operations and medical evacuation missions.
Marine Corps Reserve units also made Fort McCoy a training destination during October.
Marines with 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines (2-24), completed extensive training at the installation. The battalion, nicknamed the “Mad Ghosts,” is part of the 23rd Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, and is headquartered at Fort Sheridan, Ill. Its motto is “First in, Last out,” and its unit colors are black and gold.
The battalion traces its origins to the 9th Reserve Battalion, established in 1922, and was activated in March 1943 as part of the 4th Marine Division, history shows.
U.S. Marines with the 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group, Marine Forces Reserve, also conducted training at Fort McCoy during October.
According to DPTMS officials, both Marine units conducted training on Fort McCoy’s North Post, including activities at Ranges 6 and 18. Their presence highlighted the installation's ability to accommodate different service branches and a variety of training requirements at the same time.
The two middle weekends of October were particularly busy, DPTMS officials said, with a high volume of Army Reserve and Army National Guard personnel conducting training across the installation.
Activities included driver training, weapons qualifications, Warrior Tasks, and other individual and collective readiness requirements. These activities are essential for maintaining Soldier proficiency and ensuring military personnel remain prepared to perform their assigned duties.
The variety of October training is representative of Fort McCoy’s larger mission as the Army’s Total Force Training Center.
Located in west-central Wisconsin, Fort McCoy encompasses approximately 60,000 acres, including extensive contiguous maneuver and live-fire training areas. The installation provides a combination of open maneuver terrain, specialized training facilities, ranges, classrooms, aviation resources and logistical support that allows military units to conduct everything from individual weapons qualifications to large-scale collective training exercises.
Fort McCoy’s range complex includes 31 live-fire ranges, 17 of which are automated or instrumented, as well as 21 artillery firing points, 12 mortar firing points and an 8,000-acre impact area, according to DPTMS.
The installation also offers specialized facilities for collective training, including multipurpose training ranges, a convoy live-fire range, an infantry platoon and squad battle course, multipurpose machine-gun ranges, live-fire shoot houses and a live-fire breach facility.
Beyond its ranges and maneuver land, Fort McCoy provides aviation training opportunities through Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport, Young Air Assault Strip and other aviation support facilities. These resources allow military aviation units to conduct flight operations and coordinate training with ground forces.
Other specialized capabilities include the Regional Training Site-Medical, Regional Training Site-Maintenance, simulation facilities, the Medical Simulation Training Center, 98th Army Reserve Readiness Training Center, and the Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy. These resources support technical instruction, medical readiness, maintenance proficiency, leadership development and other institutional training requirements.
Fort McCoy’s DPTMS coordinates many of the resources that make these training opportunities possible. The directorate manages training areas and ranges, provides training aids and simulation support, coordinates airfield operations, and supports mobilization and demobilization requirements.
The installation’s mission also extends beyond traditional Army training. As a joint training location, Fort McCoy supports active-duty military personnel, Army Reserve and National Guard units, and service members from the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Other federal, state and local government organizations also use installation resources for training and mission support.
The scope of that mission is reflected in the installation’s annual training totals.
During FY 2025, Fort McCoy supported 109,962 troops in training, according to information provided by DPTMS in November 2025. That included 46,047 personnel participating in annual training and major exercises and 63,915 personnel completing battle-assembly training.
Brooks Lundeen, DPTMS range officer, said in the November 2025 reporting that the increase in the FY 2025 total reflected the addition of strength reports for units using facilities in the cantonment area. That support included not only ranges and training areas but also barracks, dining facilities, buildings and other installation resources.
The FY 2025 total was higher than the 73,991 troops supported during FY 2024 and the 86,090 supported during FY 2023.
Fort McCoy’s long-term training mission is even more significant. The installation has provided support and facilities for field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984, according to the installation’s official information.
Those numbers represent more than the number of troops using a firing range or maneuver area. They reflect an installation-wide effort involving range operations, training-area management, airfield support, lodging, dining, facility operations, logistics and the many other services necessary to support military units throughout their training cycles.
As FY 2027 continues, October’s training activity provides an early indication of the continued demand for Fort McCoy’s resources. From Wisconsin Army National Guard aviation crews and Marine Corps Reserve infantry and engineer units to Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers completing essential individual and collective tasks, the month’s activities reflect the diversity of organizations that rely on the installation.
Each training event contributes to the larger readiness mission of preparing America's military personnel for their assigned responsibilities, whether at home or abroad.
With its extensive training land, modernized ranges, specialized facilities and ability to support multiple military branches and components, Fort McCoy remains an important part of the nation's military readiness network as another fiscal year of training begins.
Fort McCoy’s motto beginning in 2026 is “Training the Total Force and Shaping the Future since 1909.” The installation’s mission: “Fort McCoy strengthens Total Force Readiness by serving as a training center, Mobilization Force Generation Installation, and Strategic Support Area enabling warfighter lethality to deploy, fight, and win our nation’s wars.”
And Fort McCoy’s vision is, “To be the premier training center supporting the most capable, combat-ready, and lethal armed forces.”
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 athttps://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on DVIDS by visiting https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/FMPAO on DVIDS. 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.”
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