Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce September Newsletter 2020 | Page 14

From Fort McCoy
14 - The Sparta Ambassador - September 2020
Training has resumed at Fort McCoy
After training halted in April, it restarted in July and has grown significantly since.
FORT McCOY
Theresa Fitzgerald
For Larry Sharp, the chief of the Fort McCoy Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS)
Training Coordination Branch, planning for training on post since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March has not
been easy.
“It’s been a herculean effort by everyone on our team to get this training back and to keep it going,” Sharp said. “After
we stopped the training, we were busy getting units rescheduled and back here starting in July. We’ve had to work
with travel restrictions in mind as well as COVID-19 safety precautions.
“Our scheduling people have been working and working, our ammunition supply people have been very busy, and we
have people who have been working nearly full time just ensuring units are following the established COVID-19 precautionary
measures,” Sharp said. “But the training is back, and units are getting their required training completed.”
The last week of July and the first week of August saw more
than 4,000 troops training on the installation each week, and
that number grew to more than 6,000 troops per week during
the last two weeks of August.
As September approaches, Sharp said the training operations
tempo on post will remain high.
“September looks to be pretty busy here, too,” Sharp said.
“With that in mind, we’ll keep pressing forward to ensure everyone
has the training support they need while they are here.
ftmccoy
usagmccoy