Camp McCoy
Fort McCoy
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| Part of United States Army Reserve Command (USARC) | |
| Located near: Tomah, Wisconsin | |
| Coordinates | 44°00′35″N 90°41′00″W / 44.00972°N 90.68333°WCoordinates: 44°00′35″N 90°41′00″W / 44.00972°N 90.68333°W |
| Site information | |
| Owner | United States Army |
| Condition | Active |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1909 |
| Built by | Major General Robert Bruce McCoy |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | United States Army, 86th Training Division, Regional Support Command, 181st Infantry Brigade, 426th Regiment (Regional Training Institute) & Wisconsin Military Academy, Wisconsin State Patrol, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-25, Equipment Concentration Site 67, Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site, NCO Academy |
| Fort McCoy, Wisconsin | ||
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| Coordinates: 44°00′13″N 90°24′36″W / 44.0035°N 90.41°W | ||
| Country | United States | |
| State | Wisconsin | |
| County | Monroe County | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 90 sq mi (240 km2) | |
| Elevation | 873 ft (266 m) | |
| Population (2010 Census) | ||
| • Total | 2,215 | |
| • Density | 24/sq mi (9.2/km2) | |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-5) | |
| • Summer (DST) | Central (CDT) (UTC-4) | |
| ZIP code | 54656 | |
| Area code(s) | 608 | |
Fort McCoy is a United States Army installation. It is located on 60,000 acres (240 km2) between Sparta and Tomah, Wisconsin, in Monroe County. Since its creation in 1909, the post has been used primarily as a military training center. A part of Fort McCoy is also used by the Wisconsin State Patrol as a training facility.
The post has been in virtually constant use since it was first formed as the "Sparta Maneuver Tract" on 14,000 acres (57 km2) in 1909. At first, the tract was made up of two camps, Camp Emory Upton and Camp Robinson. These were separated by a line of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad that ran across the land from east to west. In 1910, the army renamed the entire tract "Camp Bruce E. McCoy" for Robert Bruce McCoy, a retired major general who first proposed the area as a training ground and bought part of the property on which the fort stands. In 1926, the name of the post was shortened to "Camp McCoy".
In 1938, the United States began a major expansion of the camp. This included the addition of over 45,000 acres (180 km2) to the post, as well as the construction of several new structures including living quarters for the troops. This increased the camp's capacity to 35,000 soldiers. In all, the project was estimated to have cost about $30 million. The expansion was officially concluded with a new inauguration on August 30, 1942.
During World War II, Fort McCoy was used as a detention center for approximately 170 Japanese and 120 German and Italian American civilians arrested as potentially dangerous "enemy aliens" (despite a lack of evidence to demonstrate their supposed risk) in 1942. After the internees were transferred to other camps, McCoy was used as a training facility for units from across the country preparing to enter combat, including the segregated all-Nisei 100th Infantry Battalion. The post was also used as a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during the conflict, holding 4,000 Japanese and German POWs. Fort McCoy's POWs were featured in the 2011 film "Fort McCoy."
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Wikipedia