TOMAH, Wis. (WCIA) — When not in uniform, soldiers in the Illinois National Guard walk around like anyone else. Their day-to-day employers see them come into work, but don’t typically get to watch them prepare for combat, until now. 

Employers and a handful of reporters flew from Peoria to Tomah, Wisconsin to go behind the scenes of training at Fort McCoy. The annual two-week trip gave soldiers the chance to freshen up old skills and learn new ones.

“This year, the brigade commanders’ main effort for training is to get soldiers more proficient in lethality,” said Major Spencer Ervin, S-3 Operations Officer of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

More than 500 soldiers tried out new weaponry, including grenade launchers.

“More time, more ammo, [we’re] just getting more comfortable with the weapons systems we own to increase proficiency in future years,” Ervin said. 

Behind the scenes of the battlefield, several intelligence camps serve as the brain of potential operations. Both above ground and below, servicemen and women map out land, water and air to know where soldiers should and shouldn’t go.

“The army is composed of people first and we are a team, it’s a team fight,” Ervin said. 

The employer-focused trip gave bosses the chance to see that teamwork firsthand. 

“We send these outstanding team members that are trustworthy back in their communities to share the wealth,” Ervin said. 

For the soldiers, it’s a chance to reconnect with familiar faces and mentor the new ones that come along. 

“Some of my best moments in working with my teammates [are] moments of suffering in a training environment,” Ervin said. “When the going gets tough, you bond together.”