Approximately 200 soldiers assigned to the Wisconsin National Guard's 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery Regiment, went to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, Jan. 21, to not only complete important individual soldier tasks but also to train on M777 and M119 howitzers in cold weather.
Army Command Sgt. Maj. Nicholas Kletzien, battalion senior enlisted advisor, said this training was meant to mirror, in some ways, the training the unit completed in previous years during Exercise Northern Strike at Camp Grayling, Michigan.
"Those were good training opportunities," he said. "What we wanted to do here was do some training to be similar to that exercise, but [on] a smaller scale."
Kletzien said just over half of the battalion completed this training because many members were either supporting deployments or completing institutional training that's typically done at this time of year.
"So, because our unit would be training with a smaller number of troops, we decided to set up this training at [Fort] McCoy, and it worked out great," he said.
Army Lt. Col. Rustin Billings, battalion commander, and Kletzien said the training plan was built on several operational goals to improve the unit in various ways.
The soldiers were tested during the 11 days of training on their handling of equipment, basic soldier skills and teamwork in extreme temperatures.
"We find this [training] resonates with soldiers better than when we make training artificially hard," Kletzien said.
Many times, the unit set up arctic 10-person tents with heaters to keep troops warm while they operated the howitzers and also during a sling-load training event on Jan. 28.
Kletzien said practicing those cold-weather operations skills, as well as having soldiers wear their cold-weather gear, helps them to be ready for all environments.
Last October, Joe Ernst, an instructor for the Cold-Weather Operations Course at Fort McCoy, demonstrated a variety of ways for unit members to operate and use cold-weather equipment.
"When Joe came to talk with our unit, he showed us how to use that equipment, and in turn, it really helped us to be prepared for the training," Kletzien said.
Throughout their training, the soldiers experienced a variety of challenging weather conditions, including snow showers and multiple days with temperatures below zero or near zero.
"Our goal was to do some testing with the equipment," Kletzien said. "Individual tasks and training were also our focus. … And that was accomplished."
Kletzien also said Fort McCoy is an ideal place for his unit to complete extended combat training, weekend training and annual training.
"Fort McCoy, besides its location being close for everyone, offers a wide array of firing points for our unit to choose from," Kletzien said. "This flexibility helps us build scenarios and realistic training for our soldiers."
Plans are already underway for training in 2027.