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The U.S. Army and the University of Montana have expanded a Regional Intergovernmental Support Agreement (RIGSA) meant to streamline enhanced, cost-effective environmental compliance and resource management to include Fort Carson and the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS).

Published in 2023, the initial RIGSA between the university and the Army’s Installation Management Command ensured nine installations across the U.S. would receive a variety of environmental compliance services from the university. Recently, the list of benefiting installations grew to every IMCOM installation, to include Fort Carson and PCMS.

Through leveraging University of Montana’s Center for Integrated Research on the Environment and the university’s specialized academic expertise, Fort Carson can now seamlessly manage complex National Environmental Policy Act reviews, conduct critical natural resource planning and perform National Register of Historic Places evaluations for cultural sites.

“Through our partnership with the University of Montana, Fort Carson ensures millions of dollars worth of land assets remain viable and legally compliant,” said David Tookmanian, Fort Carson Plans, Analysis and Integration Office. “This effort ensures our military training and readiness remain uninterrupted while providing the installation with a streamlined, flexible procurement vehicle compared to traditional federal contracting hurdles.”

An additional benefit associated with the RIGSA is the installation’s ability to rapidly deploy university personnel and field researchers to tackle emergent environmental challenges, including surveying for federally protected species or mitigating wildfire risks.

“Ultimately, this partnership reduces administrative overhead, lowers overall operational costs and delivers high-quality, scientifically backed data to base leadership, allowing military personnel to focus on core warfighting capabilities,” said Tookmanian.

In addition to the RIGSA, Fort Carson maintains eight IGSAs with local organizations for on-demand transportation services, construction, and energy maintenance and operations. IGSAs like these allow for military installations such as the Mountain Post to leverage local and state governments to share or provide support services, streamlining efficiency while reducing costs.

“When we say we’re committed to remaining good stewards of the land, this is exactly what we mean,” said Tookmanian. “We look forward to our partnership with the University of Montana and to the ways in which we remain a premier training location for military units across the globe.”

Fort McCoy’s Deputy Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Chad Holder and other Fort McCoy staff met with leaders of the La Crosse (Wis.) Chamber of Commerce and La Crosse County officials Sept. 29 to enhance community engagement relationships, discuss regional needs, and explore opportunities to strengthen connections between the installation and surrounding communities.

The Fort McCoy delegation met with La Crosse Chamber of Commerce Director Sam Scinta; Kathleen Stewart, director of land services for La Crosse County; Sara Koopman, associate county administrator of the Administrative Center for La Crosse County; and Sam Bachmeier, community development specialist for La Crosse County, at the La Crosse County Administration Office in downtown La Crosse.

“The purpose of this meeting was to introduce key leaders and discuss changes coming to the region due to the Army Transformation Initiative,” officials said. Holder highlighted the continued need for adequate housing and child care as well as the current military spouse hiring initiative that includes La Crosse Chamber.

The county hosts quarterly municipality meetings, and Fort McCoy leaders will be considered for future attendance, according to meeting after-action determinations. La Crosse County officials also discussed a housing survey they conducted and said they would share the results with Fort McCoy at a future time.

Both sides noted the meeting as successful and are working to continue engagements.

Economic impact reaches throughout region

The meeting also reflects the importance of maintaining strong relationships between Fort McCoy and the communities that support its mission. The installation’s economic activity, workforce, training operations, and contracting needs create connections that extend throughout western Wisconsin and beyond.

According to Fort McCoy’s latest publicly reported total economic-impact figures, the installation generated an estimated $1.6 billion in economic impact during fiscal year 2024, which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024. That figure was up from $1.38 billion in FY 2023, according to information compiled by Fort McCoy’s Plans, Analysis and Integration Office.

The FY 2024 figures included a workforce of 1,934 personnel: 1,061 civilian employees, 495 military personnel, and 378 contract employees. Approximately 66 percent of the workforce lived in Monroe County, demonstrating how installation employment supports households and communities close to the post.

The reported civilian and military workforce payroll for FY 2024 was $270.4 million. Operating costs were $170 million, covering expenses such as utilities, physical plant maintenance, repairs and improvements, construction projects, supplies, and services. Other reported expenditures totaled $21.2 million, including approximately $511,296 in payments to local governments and $20.7 million in discretionary spending in local communities by service members training and residing at Fort McCoy. Military construction on the installation exceeded $92.6 million that fiscal year.

Fort McCoy used a gross multiplier index of 4.0 to estimate the overall economic effects of expenditures in the local economy. The index measures how money circulates within a region and was developed by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and validated by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Fiscal and Economic Research Center.

The economic-impact estimate reflects more than direct spending at the installation. Money spent on construction, supplies, services, housing, food, retail purchases, and other needs can circulate through businesses and households, helping sustain employment and economic activity in communities across the region.

More recent training figures also underscore the installation’s continuing role in the regional economy. Fort McCoy supported 109,962 troops during FY 2025, according to installation reporting. Service members training at the post rely on a broad network of facilities and support services, while their presence can bring additional customers to businesses in nearby communities.

Community partnerships help address shared needs

For Fort McCoy and its neighboring communities, regular engagement provides an opportunity to discuss how changes in military missions and regional growth may affect housing, transportation, childcare, employment, and other services.

Adequate housing and child care are particularly important considerations for communities seeking to attract and retain workers. These resources also matter to military families and employees who need dependable options close enough to balance work and family responsibilities.

The military spouse hiring initiative discussed during the meeting provides another opportunity for cooperation. Connecting military spouses with regional employers can help qualified candidates find work while giving businesses access to additional talent. Continued communication among Fort McCoy, chambers of commerce, workforce-development organizations, and local government can help identify job opportunities, explain hiring resources, and address potential obstacles to employment.

Housing information is another area in which cooperation can support long-term planning. Once La Crosse County shares the results of its housing survey, Fort McCoy and community leaders will have an additional source of information to consider when discussing regional housing needs and the effects of future changes.

These conversations are valuable because the needs of an installation and those of nearby civilian communities often overlap, officials said. A strong workforce benefits employers, while sufficient housing, reliable child care, and accessible employment opportunities help families establish stable lives in the region.

Building long-term relationships

Continuing engagement also gives local leaders opportunities to learn about Fort McCoy’s mission and anticipated changes, ask questions, share community concerns, and identify areas in which organizations can work together.

For Fort McCoy, these relationships can improve awareness of regional resources and challenges as installation requirements evolve. For community partners, direct communication provides opportunities to plan for potential impacts, connect with installation representatives, and better understand how military operations contribute to local and regional prosperity.

The Sept. 29 meeting established another point of contact between Fort McCoy and La Crosse-area leaders. Future participation in municipal meetings and the exchange of housing survey findings are among the potential next steps.

Through continued communication and collaboration, Fort McCoy and its regional partners can work toward communities that are better positioned to support military readiness, meet residents’ needs, strengthen the workforce, and sustain economic opportunities throughout western Wisconsin.

Fort McCoy’s motto beginning in 2026 is “Training the Total Force and Shaping the Future since 1909.” The installation’s mission: “Fort McCoy strengthens Total Force Readiness by serving as a training center, Mobilization Force Generation Installation, and Strategic Support Area enabling warfighter lethality to deploy, fight, and win our nation’s wars.”

And Fort McCoy’s vision is, “To be the premier training center supporting the most capable, combat-ready, and lethal armed forces.”

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin. The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.

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.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Army Pacific strengthens deterrence by positioning ready forces forward, training alongside allies and partners, and building the interoperability needed to operate together before a crisis begins, Gen. Ronald P. Clark said during a panel at the Association of the United States Army’s 2026 Annual Meeting and Exposition Oct. 12.

Speaking during the Contemporary Military Forum, “Decisive Landpower: Deterrence and Partner Integration Against the Pacing Threat,” Clark emphasized that the distances across the Pacific make forward posture and sustained partner engagement essential to delivering combat-ready forces when and where they are needed.
“Our responsibility to deliver warfighting capability at the place and time of our choosing is really tied to posture,” Clark said, “The only way that we’ve been successful in the business of deterrence is to provide those forces at scale.”

Clark highlighted Operation Pathways, USARPAC’s exercise program, as a key way to strengthen readiness and relationships with regional allies and partners. He said the program includes 54 exercises over the course of a year, providing opportunities to train alongside partner forces on their own territory.

Those exercises help build the readiness needed to deter conflict and, if necessary, fight and win, Clark said.
He identified USARPAC’s priorities as “people, partnerships, and then our efforts to prevail in competition, crisis, and conflict,” underscoring the role of relationships and interoperability in the command’s approach to deterrence.

Training together also allows forces to develop trust, align procedures and improve the ability of their systems to work together. Clark stressed that these relationships must be built before a crisis, when forces may need to respond together under pressure.

Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, commander of United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, reinforced the importance of posture, protection and sustainment in maintaining a credible presence. He explained that the ability to remain effective in a location over time depends on having the right capabilities, protection and sustainment in place.

“If you can have the right posture, if you can be protected in the place where you are, if you can sustain yourself in that place, you’ve achieved endurance,” Brunson said.

Clark also highlighted the importance of developing people and strengthening interoperability across partner forces, including through noncommissioned officer development. He described NCOs as not only the backbone but also “the muscle of our formations,” emphasizing their role in building capable, integrated forces.
Together, forward posture, realistic training and enduring partnerships help USARPAC provide landpower that supports the joint force and strengthens deterrence across the Pacific.

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, closed fiscal 2026 on Sept. 30 with $2.49 billion obligated across programs supporting military readiness, installation resilience and specialized engineering requirements for military services and federal partners worldwide.

The total demonstrates the breadth of work Huntsville Center can deliver. During the year, project teams modernized facilities, strengthened energy resilience, advanced munitions cleanup and environmental restoration, outfitted medical spaces, and supported infrastructure and cybersecurity requirements across the United States and overseas.

Final year-end data shows Utility Monitoring and Control Systems with $426 million in obligations, Fuels with $151.8 million, Furnishings with $261.3 million, and Energy Savings Performance Contracting with $181.2 million. The Ordnance and Explosives Directorate obligated $122.3 million, the Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise obligated $62.9 million, and the Engineering Directorate obligated $49.4 million.

Arthur Martin III, Huntsville Center programs director, said the financial total matters because of what those resources allow the Center to deliver for its stakeholders.

“The $2.49 billion we have obligated this fiscal year is significant, but the true measure of our success is the value those resources provide to the stakeholders we serve. Across Huntsville Center, our project delivery teams continue to take on complex requirements, apply specialized expertise and deliver solutions that directly support the missions of the Army and Department of Defense. As those requirements evolve, we have to evolve with them. Going forward, our focus must remain on understanding what our stakeholders need, being disciplined in how we manage our programs and delivering on the commitments we make. If we continue to do those things well, Huntsville Center will remain the organization our partners turn to when the requirement is difficult, specialized and critical to the mission.”

That work reached well beyond a single service or mission set. Huntsville Center’s fiscal 2026 stakeholders included the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force, as well as NASA and other partners. The portfolio shows how the Center’s specialized programs can be applied to requirements ranging from facility design and modernization to energy, environmental, medical and infrastructure needs.

For the Space Force, Huntsville Center’s Architect-Engineer Contracts and Criteria Branch administered the design task order for a consolidated air traffic control tower, fire station and air operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. During fiscal 2026, the team helped advance the project from a 35% design through reviews and value engineering toward a final design planned to support construction beginning in fiscal 2028.

At Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, the Center’s Medical Outfitting and Transition program completed a yearlong modernization of patient waiting areas at Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center. The effort replaced decades-old furniture in a hospital serving about 48,000 beneficiaries while allowing the facility to remain fully operational throughout installation.

At Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., Huntsville Center’s Facilities Repair and Renewal program provided oversight for an $18 million renovation of a 33,000-square-foot dormitory damaged by a burst water pipe. The top-to-bottom modernization will provide 30 suites for about 60 Air Force and mission-partner junior enlisted personnel and includes replacement of major mechanical, electrical and building systems.

For the Army, Huntsville Center completed a $58 million Utility Energy Services Contract project at Fort Bliss, Texas, installing microgrids and energy storage to provide backup power to more than 140 critical buildings. The 24-year agreement is projected to save the installation more than $136 million and improve energy and water resilience.

At the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, the Center’s Furnishings Program is scheduled to complete phased delivery and installation for the Cyber and Engineering Academic Center in October.

Closer to home, Huntsville Center will continue providing technical support for Redstone Arsenal’s Prototype Recovered Ordnance Destruction System through systemization, testing, and operations. The arsenal’s first permanent recovered-ordnance destruction system is designed to increase disposal capacity and sustain long-term munitions cleanup.

For NASA, Huntsville Center’s Facilities Reduction Program awarded a $585,658 contract in July for pre-demolition surveys at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. The work will identify asbestos and other regulated materials in excess facilities slated for removal and provide the environmental data needed to plan their safe demolition.

The year also included less visible work with far-reaching effects. Huntsville Center completed a major operational technology inventory to help military leaders identify and prioritize cybersecurity risks in the systems that control facilities and infrastructure.

Huntsville Center’s Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program has 18 projects in various stages of planning and development, including work intended to strengthen installation power and water resilience in the United States and overseas.

In March, the Center became the first U.S. Army Corps of Engineers organization to successfully complete the Army Safety and Occupational Health STAR recertification evaluation.

Delivering work across that range of mission areas and customer organizations depends on more than program management alone. Contracting professionals, engineers, project managers, legal advisers and industry partners turn requirements and funding into field work, giving Huntsville Center the capacity to move specialized needs toward execution.

“When you look at the scale of our workload for the 2026 fiscal year, it is easy to get lost in the numbers,” remarked Ronnell Booker, Huntsville Center’s Director of Contracting. “But the reality is simpler: it represents a profound trust placed in the Center, particularly in our contracting professionals – they serve as the strategic core of our delivery teams.”

“They do not just process transactions,” the Director continued. “They build the practical bridge between a Soldier’s need and the market’s capability. The HNC Contracting professionals experience a normal operations tempo what other organizations may consider ‘surge’ operations: HNC manages a $2 – $3 Billion annual execution while simultaneously designing/developing $20+ Billion in acquisition architecture made up of our multiple-award IDIQs – and FY26 was no different. But we don’t do this important work in a vacuum. We rely on industry – and specifically our small-business partners within the 8(a) Program – to stand with us. Cultivating these relationships is not a regulatory chore; it is the only way we deliver the capability that the Army and the Department of War actually need.”

Taken together, the year’s work demonstrates a model built to serve organizations with difficult, specialized and mission-critical requirements. The same combination of program expertise, engineering, acquisition and contracting support that delivered fiscal 2026 work across military and federal missions positions Huntsville Center to take on the requirements its partners bring next.

Col. Robert Hilliard, Huntsville Center commander, said the year’s accomplishments lay a foundation for the work still ahead.

“Huntsville Center is such a unique and essential organization,” the commander noted. “We take on our Nation’s toughest and most complex engineering challenges, delivering results time and again that strengthen our posture, improve our infrastructure, and keep our service members ready and responsive. As we close out Fiscal Year 2026, I am so incredibly proud of the Huntsville team, whether serving from Huntsville, Omaha, Alexandria or so many other locations around the world. I’m also excited about what the future holds for HNC; we are taking our tried-and-true blueprint for success to the next level in the coming year as we clear obstacles and bring the right expertise to every mission. Our focus remains on our people to serve our partners and our nation. Together, we will continue Delivering excellence around the globe.”