98th Army Reserve Readiness Training Center prepares for Oct. 21 activation ceremony at Fort McCoy
A new chapter in the Army Reserve’s training mission at Fort McCoy will be marked Oct. 21 when the 98th Army Reserve Readiness Training Center (98th ARRTC) conducts its formal activation ceremony at Fort McCoy.
The ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 21 at Building 50 on South O Street at Fort McCoy and will formally mark the establishment of the 98th ARRTC as an Army Reserve training organization at the installation.
The activation ceremony will bring together Soldiers, leaders and representatives from organizations associated with the 98th ARRTC as the unit officially begins its mission and builds upon the longstanding heritage of the 98th Infantry Division.
The planned ceremony includes a welcome, arrival of the official party, presentation of the colors and the national anthem, which will be performed by Capt. Wanda Snipes. Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Walter McCall is scheduled to provide the invocation.
One of the central moments of the ceremony will be the reading of the activation order followed by the uncasing of the colors, symbolically marking the unit's formal activation and beginning of its mission.
Remarks are scheduled from Col. Michael Child, deputy commanding officer of the 102nd Training Division, followed by remarks from Lt. Col. Brandon Collins, commander of the 98th ARRTC. The ceremony will conclude with a benediction and the singing of the Army Song.
Continuing legacy of 98th Infantry Division
The 98th ARRTC’s heritage reaches back to the 98th Infantry Division, which was established during the final months of World War I, the unit’s history states. The 98th Infantry Division did not see combat during World War I, but it was later activated during World War II for defensive and occupation duties.
During World War II, the 98th Infantry Division served in Hawaii and later moved to Japan for occupation duty following Japan's surrender. The division was inactivated in 1946, the history states.
“The division returned to the Army Reserve and underwent a significant transformation in the postwar period. In 1959, the 98th Infantry Division was redesignated as a training division, beginning a new chapter focused on preparing Soldiers through institutional training,” the history states
The division’s training mission continued to evolve over subsequent decades. In 1994, it was redesignated the 98th Division (Institutional Training), absorbing missions associated with U.S. Army Reserve Forces schools.
The history of the 98th Infantry Division is also represented by its distinctive Iroquois shoulder sleeve insignia. The patch incorporates the profile of an Iroquois figure and reflects the division's historical connection to New York and the Iroquois Confederacy.
The blue and orange-gold colors are associated with the Dutch House of Nassau, reflecting New York’s early history. That heritage remains an important part of the 98th ARRTC identity as the organization establishes itself at Fort McCoy.
Building a new training organization
The activation follows months of preparation and integration involving the 98th ARRTC and its associated training organizations.
On Aug. 28, personnel participated in a foot march and patch ceremony at Fort McCoy designed to promote unit integration, build unity, honor the history of the Iroquois patch and mark a major milestone in establishing the 98th ARRTC. A total of 134 personnel participated, including personnel from satellite organizations who joined the event virtually.
Those organizations include Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 98th USARRTC; the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort McCoy; Ordnance Training Center organizations at Fort McCoy, Fort Hood and Fort Devens; and the Engineer Chemical Training Center at Fort Leonard Wood.
The Oct. 21 activation ceremony will provide the formal recognition of the 98th ARRTC’s establishment and its continuing connection to the Army Reserve’s institutional training mission.
For Fort McCoy, the activation adds another organization to an installation whose history and current mission are closely tied to preparing Soldiers and units for missions around the world.
The activation of the 98th ARRTC represents both a new beginning at Fort McCoy and a continuation of more than a century of heritage associated with the 98th Infantry Division and its Iroquois identity.
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.”
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