Fifteen Soldiers who were students in the Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance Unit Armorer Course in early March learned about how the different weapon systems work, about assembly and disassembly of those weapons, how to correct malfunctions, inspection, and more.

The course, taught by instructors Sgts. 1st Class Carlos Vazquez and Shane Bender, provides performance-oriented training on administrative and technical tasks required of a unit armorer, according to the course description.

Training includes arms inspection, disassembly, assembly, required operator and organizational maintenance, parts ordering, prescribed load list maintenance for small arms, and turn-in procedures for direct-support maintenance. The course also covers physical security and security inspections conducted by an installation provost marshal office.

The students came from units from across the Army and from a variety of career fields. The course covers weapons Soldiers will typically see within their units, instructors said.

As the students learn about the physical-security requirements that have been entrusted to them by their commander, they also understand what a big responsibility they are assuming for their unit. And they also learn about troubleshooting problems with weapons.

Master Sgt. William Parker, chief instructor for RTS-Maintenance, said the Unit Armorer Course is the kind of training that can bring Soldiers together from different career fields and give them a unique perspective on doing that job.

“The Unit Armorer Course is a great course,” Parker said. “We have a bunch of different ranks that come to that course all the time — from private … all the way to sergeant first class. We’ve also had lieutenants come to that course, and they all come from different backgrounds because it doesn’t matter what military occupational specialty you are for you to be charged with being the unit armorer. So, you can have an extremely diverse class.”

RTS-Maintenance trains thousands of Soldiers every year in the Army’s 91-series MOS and administratively supports the training of Soldiers in the 89B MOS. The unit aligns under the 3rd Brigade (Ordnance), 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, and is centrally located in the cantonment area with an entire complex to hold training.

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,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison 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.”