Fort McCoy is Wisconsin’s sole federally operated Army installation, hosting premier training grounds and support infrastructure for large-scale exercises with nearly 60,000 acres of ideal terrain and a four-season climate.
Each year, Fort McCoy provides support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 150,000 military personnel from all services. Fort McCoy supported nine major Army Reserve exercises in 2014, including Red Dragon and Global Medic.
Upon returning from the Spanish-American War, Robert Bruce McCoy envisioned an artillery camp, suitable for training Soldiers. In 1906, William Howard Taft, then Secretary of War,advocated the building of large maneuver camps to be used jointly by the regular Army and National Guard.
The post was established in 1909 as the Sparta Maneuver Tract. In 1926, it was named Camp McCoy in honor of Maj. Gen. Robert B. McCoy.Fort McCoy’s role as a major mobilization site was evident during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.
More than 18,000Soldiers and 3,400 items of equipment were deployed and redeployed at Fort McCoy. Fort McCoy has supported many national defense missions,including Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle and New Dawn.
More than 140,000 military personnel from 2,416 units mobilized or demobilized at Fort McCoy since 9/11.