Several Vietnam War-era veterans with the 85th Ordnance Company made a reunion visit to Fort McCoy on Sept. 26, and the vets had a full day of activities at the installation.

The former Soldiers in the company first started their post visit with a stop at Fort McCoy Garrison Headquarters where the veterans visited with Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez, Garrison Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Mike Corkum, and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Calarco, garrison command sergeant major.

Following their visit with the garrison command team, the 85th vets received an installation driving tour to show some of the current training areas and facilities of Fort McCoy, and more.

The driving tour was then followed by the tour of the Fort McCoy Commemorative Area with members of the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office. The group visited mainly the Fort McCoy History Center and the historical buildings at the area with additional looks at Equipment Park and Veterans Memorial Plaza.

The 900 block of Fort McCoy and the 11-acre area surrounding it are the hub of the fort’s history-preservation efforts that make up the Commemorative Area. Most visitors to the area first take a walk around the Fort McCoy History Center when open, especially for pre-arranged tours like this.

Through every major operation, and everything else supported, that history is remembered in the Fort McCoy History Center. Documents show how the History Center was improved after several months of work in 2015 to renovate the interior and exterior of the facility. Those interior renovations provided for expanded exhibit floor space, improved lighting, and installation of energy efficient heating and air-conditioning systems. Exterior improvements included new steps and a ramp to improve access for visitors.

The History Center features exhibits as well as displays of artifacts, photographs, and memorabilia that tell the story of Fort McCoy since its founding in 1909. The center first was opened in 1999 in building 902 when the Fort McCoy observed its 90th anniversary.

Whether it’s Maj. Gen. Robert B. McCoy’s World War I gas mask, horseshoes from the early

camp stables, World War II-era uniforms, or items from the 1980 Cuban Refugee Resettlement mission, the History Center offers exhibits spanning from Fort McCoy’s earliest beginnings to the installation’s involvement in the war on terrorism.

In 2022, the center also received two new additions as well. In July 2022, Alan McCoy, grandson of Maj. Gen. Robert Bruce McCoy for whom Fort McCoy is named after had visited the installation with his family members, and with him he brought a century-old artifact he’d received in the form of a wood crate that included the words stamped on it: “CAMP EMERY UPTON” and “CAMP ROBINSON.”

The Commemorative Area overall consists of five World War II-era buildings set aside to help tell Fort McCoy’s unique story, said Fort McCoy Public Affairs Officer Tonya Townsell, who oversees the overall operations at the area. These facilities are representative of the types found in the cantonment area when it was constructed in 1942. Townsell also provided the Commemorative Area tour for them.

Three of the buildings — an administrative facility, a dining facility, and a barracks — are set up to depict Soldier life during the 1940s. Display items include a World War II chapel, bunk beds, footlockers, mannequins, and potbelly stoves. Another building highlights four different modern military training venues, and a separate facility shows various training aids.

When this group walked into Equipment Park, they got to see a lot of Army history. The Equipment Park is an outdoor display of historic and present-day equipment representative of the types used on the installation. The design of the park allows for display of 70 pieces of equipment, ranging from helicopters and howitzers to trucks and trailers.

These visitors also got to see Veterans Memorial Plaza. Construction on Veterans Memorial Plaza began in 2006, as did the work to create the five Soldier statues on the memorial representative of each of the major conflicts that Fort McCoy had been involved with to that point in time: i.e., World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the war on terrorism, documents show.

After their Commemorative Area visit, the former 85th Soldiers enjoyed a lunch at the dining facility in building 50. The Fort McCoy food-service team oversees dining facilities on the installation and tens of thousands of meals are served in dining facilities on post each year.

The veterans then were able to visit the Fort McCoy simulations training complex in the 200 block on post. The simulations training area has a wide array of training facilities that each year troops get to see, use, and build their skills on.

One simulations training area the 85th vets saw was the Engagement Skills Trainer, or EST. The U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center’s description of an Engagement Skills Trainer, available at https://asc.army.mil/web/portfolio-item/engagement-skills-trainer-est, states the many capabilities of the system.

“The Engagement Skills Trainer II is designed to simulate live-weapon training events that directly support individual and crew-served weapons qualification, including individual marksmanship, small unit collective and judgmental escalation-of-force exercises in a controlled environment,” the description states. “It provides detailed feedback to the individual fire team/squad that covers the fundamentals of marksmanship, fire control, and distribution of fires. The EST II simulator provides enhanced diagnostics with intelligent Automatic Coaching and Virtual Battle Space 3 based collective training enabled by the system’s open architecture.

“The EST II provides an impressive array of functionality for both instructor and trainee — solid weapon handling and shot placement analytics, coaching tools that highlight trainee results in real-time for reinforcement of correction, and enhanced graphic capabilities for an immersive training platform,” the description states.

“These visitors not only saw the EST but also the Mobile Marksmanship Training Simulator; Joint, Light Tactical Vehicle Simulator; Virtrual Battle Space Simulator; and more,” said Training Support Officer Rob Weisbrod with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security.

Following the simulations area visit, the tour was completed.

According to Army Ordnance Corps history, available at https://goordnance.army.mil/history/OrdnanceCorpshistory.html, states that during the Vietnam War era between the 1960s and 1975, the ordnance Soldiers like these 85th veterans dealt with change and kept on going.

“Following the massive reorganization of the Army in 1962 based on the Hoelscher Committee Report, the Ordnance Corps and the office of the Chief of Ordnance was disestablished,” the history states. “The Ordnance branch continued under the direction of the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. Army Materiel Command assumed responsibility for many of the Ordnance Corps historical functions; research, development, procurement, production, storage and technical intelligence. The Ordnance School was renamed the Ordnance Center and School and came under the direction of Continental Army Command. Combat development would be delegated to a new Combat Development Command.

“Despite these changes, ordnance officers and Soldiers continued their core missions of ammunition handling, maintenance, and explosive ordnance disposal during the Vietnam War,” the history states.

Executive Officer Mike Volpe with the Fort McCoy Garrison coordinated the visit.

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.”