Originally constructed as 14,000-acre tract for Army maneuvers in 1909 and comprising two Camps (Emory Upton and Robinson), Fort McCoy today is an Army installation covering 60,000 acres in and area between the towns of Sparta and Tomah in Wisconsin. A year after the tract was established, the Army redesignated is Camp Bruce Elisha McCoy, father of retired Major General Robert Bruce McCoy, who originally suggested area should be used as a training ground; it was offically renamed Camp McCoy in his honor in 1926, but did not receive its current designation of Fort McCoy until 1973.
The Fort is the site of several large-scale training annual training exercises, including a WAREX (Warrior Exercise) that emphasizes platoon-level training and coordination; a CSTX (Combat support Training Exercise) that revolves around company-level training and maneuvers; Cold Weather Operations Course, open to all three Army components as well as Navy, Marine, and Air Force personnel; and Global Medic, which as the title implies is an exercise covering in-theater combat medical support. The Fort falls under the operational control of 88th Regional Support Command, with training exercises managed and organized by the 86th Training Division and the 181st Infantry Brigade.
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Fort McCoy's Distinctive Unit Insignia, also referred to as a “unit crest” or DUI, was approved on 15 May 1984. It's triangular shape simulates Fort McCoy's cantonment area configuration, with the two pine trees in the center alludingto the installation's location in Wisconsin where pines are one of the most common types of trees. A white background suggests the snowy conditions during Wisconsin's long winters, and the green border around it suggests a contained area in support of Army training exercises.Distinctive Unit Insignias are worn by all Soldiers (except General Officers) in units that have been authorized to be issued the device. It is worn centered on the shoulder loops of the Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU) and the blue Army Service Uniform (ASU, Enlisted only) with the base of the insignia toward the outside shoulder seam. DUIs are not worn on the Dress variations of either uniform, however.