McCoy site for TY 06 Reserve intelligence analyst courses 

Spc. Jeff Camerato (standing) briefs Chief Warrant Officer 3 Don McCullough (center) and Staff Sgt. Michael Giangregorio about a course training scenario. (Photo by Rob Schuette)

      McCullough, the Intelligence Analyst Section leader for Detachment 4, 2nd, 84th MI Battalion at Fort McCoy, said the unit has the facilities, location and support at Fort McCoy to meet Soldiers' needs.

      "There is a need for a new course of study (for intelligence analysts) on the Army Reserve side," McCullough said. "Many units have a position for someone who can analyze intelligence gathered by other personnel and how it relates to their mission. The units the intelligence analysts are assigned to include infantry and engineers, and many others."

      The course has undergone a number of revisions since a pilot course first was offered in late 2003, McCullough said. McCullough was one of a number of Soldiers mobilized to help develop the course. The course eventually will include a distance-learning portion for students to complete at home station before attending the course. 

      Each time the course has been offered feedback from students and instructors has been used to further refine the training, McCullough said.

      Representatives from the U.S. Army Reserve Command were at Fort McCoy in March to see the facility and the program and came away impressed, McCullough said. Instructors from the other battalions also trained here at that time.

      The plan for 2006 is to have instructors from each of the four battalions be responsible for one of the rotations, and Fort McCoy will present two rotations for a total of six rotations. 
Instructors from Devens Reserve Forces Training Area, Mass., (Region A); Camp Bullis, San Antonio (Region F); Fort Bragg, N.C. (Region C) and Fort Huachua, Ariz. (Region G) will present a training rotation at McCoy during TY 2006.

      The six rotations are three times as many as Fort McCoy usually hosts in a year, McCullough said.

      Fort McCoy will host four rotations in this training year, TY 2005.

      McCoy is an ideal location to host the training because it can support the necessary analytical computer equipment, and Soldiers are within walking distance or a short bus ride of many important locations on the installation, he said.

      These include the Installation Dining Facility, the Post Exchange Mini Mall, and the Rumpel Fitness Center, among others, McCullough said. 

      "This allows students to come here without POVs and be able to get to the necessary locations," he said. "The training will help these units keep these skills up to date and be prepared for deployment."

      Spc. Jeff Camerato of the 3432nd Military Intelligence Detachment of Charlottesville, Va., said the course was fast-paced and helped him gain an appreciation of the intelligence environment.

      "This training will be very important for units being deployed overseas," he said.
Staff Sgt. Michael Giangregorio of the 40th Infantry Division of Los Alamitos, Calif., said a lot of important information was introduced during the course. An after-action review was held after each phase of the course to seek student input to make the course better.

      "They want our input on how the course has gone, which makes us feel more involved," he said.

      Sgt. Joseph Bell of the 1st Information Command of Fort Belvoir, Va., said the course served as a good refresher or introduction to the material.

      "The instructors all brought real-world experience to the course," Bell said. "They're sharing things with us that 18-19 year olds normally wouldn't get in advanced individual training."