80 years later: Summer training at McCoy continues to prepare America’s military

On a warm summer morning in the 1940s, the sounds echoing across Camp McCoy were unmistakable. Cadence calls drifted across company streets, trucks rolled through clouds of dust, artillery thundered from distant ranges, and thousands of young Americans trained for a war that would shape history.

Eight decades later, the sounds are different — but the mission is remarkably the same.

Today, Fort McCoy echoes with the whir of Black Hawk helicopters, the movement of modern tactical vehicles, digital communications, and Soldiers and Airmen training with equipment unimaginable to those who served during World War II. Yet, just as it did during the 1940s, the installation remains dedicated to preparing America's military forces for operations around the world.

Throughout June 2026, thousands of service members converged on Fort McCoy for annual training, professional military education, and specialized readiness missions. Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Air National Guard, Air Force, and Civil Air Patrol personnel trained side by side across the installation, highlighting Fort McCoy's enduring role as one of the Army's premier Total Force training centers.

Among the organizations training were Soldiers with the Illinois Army National Guard's 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 194th Field Artillery Regiment, 248th Aviation Support Battalion, 224th Engineer Battalion, and 327th Engineer Battalion. Army Reserve organizations included the 407th Civil Affairs Battalion, 624th Quartermaster Company, 416th Theater Engineer Command, and 16th Psychological Operations Battalion. Airmen with the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 115th Security Forces Squadron strengthened force-protection capabilities, while members of the Wisconsin Wing of the Civil Air Patrol participated in leadership development and emergency-services training.

Institutional training remained equally important throughout the month. The Fort McCoy Noncommissioned Officer Academy continued developing future Army leaders, while students trained at the Regional Training Site-Maintenance, Regional Training Site-Medical, and the 86th Training Division. The Wisconsin Challenge Academy also continued helping young people develop leadership, discipline, and life skills through its nationally recognized residential program.

Although today’s Soldiers train with satellite communications, precision navigation, unmanned aircraft systems, advanced medical technology, and digital mission command systems, the foundation of military readiness remains rooted in the same principles that defined Camp McCoy during World War II.

During the 1940s, Camp McCoy became one of the nation's busiest military training installations as America mobilized for global war. Following the Army’s rapid expansion in 1942, tens of thousands of Soldiers arrived by rail as new barracks, training ranges, hospitals, warehouses, and support facilities transformed the installation into a major mobilization center. Among the best-known organizations to prepare for combat at Camp McCoy were the 100th Infantry Battalion, whose Japanese American Soldiers would earn one of the most distinguished combat records in U.S. Army history as part of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the 76th Infantry Division, which completed extensive training at Camp McCoy before deploying to the European Theater.

Numerous other infantry divisions, artillery units, engineer organizations, and support formations also trained at Camp McCoy before serving in Europe and the Pacific, establishing the installation's reputation as one of America's premier training camps.

The differences between then and now are striking.

A Soldier training at Camp McCoy in the 1940s carried an M1 Garand rifle, navigated with paper maps and compass, communicated through field telephones and radios, and often traveled to training areas in military trucks after arriving at Camp McCoy by rail.

Today’s service members use encrypted digital communications, GPS navigation, modern tactical vehicles, advanced aviation platforms, sophisticated medical equipment, and integrated command-and-control systems while preparing for multidomain operations.

But despite extraordinary advances in technology, the fundamentals have remained constant. Soldiers still spend long days mastering marksmanship. Engineers continue building mobility and survivability projects. Quartermaster Soldiers sustain the force. Medical personnel rehearse lifesaving skills. Noncommissioned officers develop future leaders. Young men and women continue arriving at Fort McCoy to build confidence, strengthen teamwork, and prepare themselves for missions that could take them anywhere in the world.

According to officials with Fort McCoy's Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security (DPTMS), the installation’s ability to support numerous organizations simultaneously remains one of its defining strengths.

“June was another outstanding month that showcased Fort McCoy's ability to support multiple components and a wide variety of missions simultaneously,” DPTMS officials said.

The continuity between Camp McCoy and today’s Fort McCoy extends beyond training. Many of the World War II-era buildings constructed in 1942 remain preserved throughout the cantonment area and within Fort McCoy’s Commemorative Area, allowing visitors to walk the same streets once traveled by Soldiers preparing to deploy overseas more than 80 years ago.

Those historic buildings stand alongside modern facilities, symbolizing an installation that has continually evolved while remaining true to its original purpose. That purpose has never been more evident.

During fiscal year 2025, Fort McCoy supported 109,962 personnel in training while serving as one of the nation's premier training centers for the Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Air Force, and numerous joint and interagency partners. The installation also generated an estimated $1.6 billion economic impact during fiscal year 2024, reinforcing its importance to both national defense and communities throughout west-central Wisconsin.

The uniforms have changed. The weapons are more advanced. The battlefields have evolved from Europe and the Pacific to today’s complex global operational environments. Yet every summer, thousands of service members continue arriving at McCoy for the same reason they did during the 1940s — to prepare themselves before answering the nation’s call.

Eighty years after Soldiers with the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 76th Infantry Division, and countless other World War II units marched across Camp McCoy, a new generation now trains on many of the same ranges, roads, and maneuver areas. The faces are different, the technology is vastly improved, and the missions have changed, but Fort McCoy continues to fulfill the mission it has carried out for generations — building ready forces prepared to deploy, fight, and win wherever America's interests require.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online athttps://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.” Also try downloading the My Army Post 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.”