Early 1900s

1930s

A chronicle of our past ... The 1990s

1990

Fort McCoy Installation Commander Col. Raymond G. Boland presents Bob Hope with a Desert Shield uniform in 1990 at the La Crosse Center. (File photo)

Silver Creek and Clear Creek on Fort McCoy were designated as State Natural Areas.  These two creeks, in an almost untouched condition for the past 100 years, are relatively rare in the southwestern Wisconsin area.

Operation Desert Shield/Storm brought Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers to Fort McCoy for mobilization to the Persian Gulf. 

Bob Hope entertained 2,000 soldiers from Fort McCoy at the La Crosse Center.

1991

A total of 74 units from nine states,  accounting for nearly 9,000 soldiers, processed through Fort McCoy in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm.  A total of 3,076 pieces of equipment were shipped from the installation in 24 train increments aboard 1,138 railroad cars.  Fort McCoy was responsible for processing and deploying 8 percent of the total reserve-component force called to active duty.

Fort McCoy lost the bid for the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center but gained additional missions from the second Base Realignment and Closure study, which recommended closing Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind.

In June, Fort McCoy received one of the largest reserve-component equipment demobilization/repair missions in the Army.  The mission, called Operation Desert Fix, gave the installation responsibility for the inventory, inspection, repair and return of more than 5,800 pieces of equipment.

1992

World War II building demolition began at Fort McCoy.  Excess buildings were torn down as part of the Facilities Reduction Program and new construction growth.

Ten major construction projects at Fort McCoy, worth more than an estimated $50 million, were under construction, had been bid or had funding approved.

Twelve M-1 Abrahms tanks were delivered to Fort McCoy.  The M-1, approximately 12 years old, replaced the 25-year old M-60 series tank.

Training at Fort McCoy reached record proportions as a total of 143,362 soldiers and authorized civilians trained at the installation.

Soldiers train with pugil sticks. (File photo)

1993

An apparent food-poisoning incident affected 49 members of Company C of the 397th Engineer Battalion while training at Fort McCoy.

Headquarters, Forces Command, Permanent Order 192-11, dated Dec. 7, transferred the command and control of Fort McCoy from Forces Command to the U.S. Army Reserve Command.

1994

Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Stumpf, the military's last enlisted soldier on active-duty to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor, retired at Fort McCoy.

Fort McCoy received the mission to oversee operations and funding for three direct-reporting installations - Fort Pickett, Va., and Fort Hunter Liggett and Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, both in California.

Fort McCoy became the first military installation in the nation to house homeless veterans and veterans who are at risk of becoming homeless.

1995

Fort McCoy was selected as the 1994 Army Communities of Excellence winner in the small-installation category.

Fort McCoy was designated as one of 15 Army power-projection platforms.  This announcement recognized the installation's capability to mobilize and deploy both active-duty and reserve- component soldiers.

1996

Fort McCoy lost its bid for the North Central Regional Civilian Personnel Operations Center. The Department of the Army chose Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., as the new site.  The new center will consolidate and manage many of the civilian personnel functions, such as recruiting new personnel, maintaining personnel files and processing personnel actions, currently handled at Fort McCoy and sites in eight other states.

Four members of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 228th Aviation Regiment, an Army Reserve unit headquartered at Fort McCoy, left for Heidelberg, Germany, or Naples, Italy, to serve nine-month tours in support of Operation Joint Endeavor, the Bosnian peacekeeping effort.

Two Fort McCoy employees were indicted for alleged roles in a conspiracy to remove military equipment from the installation for private use.  Fort McCoy cooperated with the FBI in a 13-month investigation.  Altogether, seven men were accused of allegedly removing approximately 150 pieces of equipment from Fort McCoy.

1997

Fiber optic cable was installed to help Fort McCoy connect its work force to such technology as the World Wide Web and e-mail.  The project should meet Fort McCoy's data transmission needs for 15 to 20 years.

Northern States Power Company installed natural gas to serve Fort McCoy facilities.  Natural gas is cheaper than propane gas, which was being used to heat the majority of post.

The U.S. Marine Corps recorded a cold-weather survival video at Fort McCoy. The video offers instruction about preparing to perform cold-weather missions.  All service personnel at cold-weather sites may use the video.

1998

The Fort McCoy Garrison consolidated nine directorates into five.  The reorganization sought to: align the installation's organizational structure with its major business functions; streamline directorates and place the installation in a more competitive position in a changing Department of Defense marketplace; and help to protect the work force, and provide long-term stability in a competitive environment.

Fort McCoy was selected to serve as a site for Army reservists to rebuild 350 M915 trucks using Glider Kits.  The project will save the Army Reserve about $15 million compared to buying new vehicles and will attract additional soldiers training at Fort McCoy.

The Paladin, an updated 155mm self-propelled howitzer, arrived at Fort McCoy for members of the 1st/126th Field Artillery Battalion.  The howitzer features the latest in computer, satellite and firing technology.