The Sconi

A U.S. senator from Wisconsin who on Aug. 25 visited the United States Army installation Fort McCoy where refugees from Afghanistan are being placed said the situation underscores how “chaotic” the mission has been.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) said in a video on Twitter that a little over 1,000 people had arrived at that time at Fort McCoy from Afghanistan, with more planned toward a capacity of 10,000 people.

“There’s two things I was kind of shocked about. First of all, the commanding general had no idea that he was going to be serving in this capacity, that this was going to be the mission of Fort McCoy until 10 days ago,” Johnson said in the video. “When I asked, 'Do you know whether everybody has an ID that is coming to Fort McCoy yet?', he couldn’t answer that question. Again, that’s how chaotic this is. This is how unplanned and how unorganized this was from the top.” 

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin), who was briefed on Aug. 27 by Fort McCoy’s senior commander Maj. Gen. Darrell Guthrie about the Afghan evacuees, said in a video on Twitter that the situation at Fort McCoy will be ongoing.

“I appreciate General Guthrie providing the information he did here. I think we saw what makes our country so great,” Steil said in the video. “We saw our troops here providing comfort and aid to individuals who escaped from Afghanistan. I still have some very significant questions. I’ll be following up with the Biden administration regarding the vetting process of individuals.”

Fort McCoy is on 60,000 acres between Sparta and Tomah, Wisconsin in Monroe County, online facts about the installation said.