Pam Severson has helped thousands of people in her 31 ½ years at Fort McCoy, which might be why dozens of people showed for her retirement from government civil service Jan. 31 at the building 50 dining facility at Fort McCoy.

During her ceremony, she had guest speakers touting her successful career, including Fort McCoy Garrison Commander Col. Sheyla Baez-Ramirez, Fort McCoy Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) Director Tanya Morene, Fort McCoy LRC Plans & Operations Division Chief David “D.J.” Eckland, and Wisconsin State Senator Patrick Testin.

Eckland was first and reviewed Severson’s career in his own words.

“Pam has worked at the SATO (Scheduled Airlines Traffic Office), which is our commercial transportation office (CTO), as a contractor,” Eckland said. “She was there for nine years. During those nine years, she was a leisure agent and spent some time as the branch manager and received numerous awards during that time — such as the Leisure Travel Agent of the Year eight years in a row.

“In December 2001, she transitioned from the CTO to the Directorate of Logistics as a contractor in the transportation office, specifically in the passenger travel section and official passport section,” he said. “During her time there as a contractor, which was December 2001 until November 2010, Pam was part of a team that processed over 15,000 passenger movements per year. They did over 800 official passports for service members per year during that time, and they were instrumental in what Fort McCoy did to transport troops by commercial aircraft, commercial bus, and group travel for mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and numerous other exercises such as the Sinai mission.

“In November of 2010, Pam started her Department of the Army civilian career,” Eckland said further in his review of her career. “She has 14 years and a couple months as a Department of the Army civilian. During that time, she’s in the same section. They’re processing over 10,000 troops by commercial truck, commercial bus, commercial aircraft, and group travel per year as a section.

“As a section, they were executing over 600 passport applications per year on average. During that time, the passport section received numerous kudos from the Department of State for how they executed the mission,” Eckland said. “So that was a direct result of Pam and her efforts. Pam’s special to me because I have worked with Pam since December 2002. So, I came to Fort McCoy and started as a contractor in December 2002, and that’s when I met Pam. We were peers at that time, and Pam taught me everything there is to know about passenger travel and official passports.

“When I started, I had no clue what any of that meant or how to do it,” Eckland said. “Pam mentored me through that. She coached me. She taught me and made me proficient at those tasks. During that time, Pam was the passenger lead and became my supervisor for a short period of time before we transitioned into the government workforce. When we transitioned into the government workforce in 2010, I became Pam’s supervisor, and I was Pam’s supervisor from 2010 through 2020 when I transitioned into the position that I am now.

“I have worked alongside Pam in many different capacities over the last 27 years,” Eckland said. “If there’s one thing that’s for sure about Pam, is she is dedicated to the mission. She takes great pride in everything that she does, and she loves supporting the Soldier, the service member. Now here at Fort McCoy, our center of gravity is the Soldier, the service member, the warfighter. So, Pam, thank you for 31 1⁄2 years of dedicated service to the Fort McCoy community, our mission, and the servicemembers.”

Baez followed Severson’s introduction by Eckland with praise for Severson’s career as well.

“Every time that we recognize the caliber of the employees at Fort McCoy, I am …. Not surprised,” Baez said. “When we look at employees like Pamela here, that have dedicated over 30 years of her life to the Fort McCoy community, this is commendable. This is a great thing.

“When we look at jobs, a lot of times, many of our employees might feel like, how do I fit into the big picture,” Baez said. “What do I do for Fort McCoy? What do I do for the community? What do I do for the Army? There is no small job at Fort McCoy. And when you do the job with the passion that Pamela has done her job for the past 30 years, her accolades speak for themselves. She has been recognized multiple times because she did her job with passion and with love.

“And that is something that we see greatly here at Fort McCoy,” Baez said. “Pamela, we are so proud of you. We are so glad. … I do not want to miss the opportunity (also) to thank the family. When we look at employees, a lot of times we cannot do what we do, either in uniform or civilian attire, for this installation if we didn’t have the support of our family. Thank you so much for supporting Pamela. Thank you so much for being that rock that helps her. Because I’m sure that when she was processing thousands of people per day for transportation, for orders, for passports, she probably would get home wore out. And you guys are the ones who have to pick her up and wear the burden of all the things that she did at work. So, thank you so much for supporting her. Thank you so much for being alongside her for the past 30 years doing this great job.”

Morene also shared her thoughts on the success Severson had supporting the Army in her job. She also discussed how Severson is a good person all around.

“Pam’s always smiling,” Morene said. “She’s always got a smile on her face. She’s always got a story to tell. … She just lights up the room when she comes in and it’s always great to have her anywhere around you.

“When she’s talking to the Soldiers, they love her,” Morene said. “She’s (also) a really good communicator.”

And Severson was thankful to everyone for their kind words, their support for her career, and more.

“It’s been an honor to work here and make sure that the Soldiers got where they needed to go,” Severson said. “My time here has just been fulfilling and crazy, and I will miss everybody. I made some amazing friends, and I thank you all just for everything. It’s made my life complete. … Thank you.”

During the ceremony, Severson was presented with two special U.S. flags, Army medals for achievements, and a retirement certificate of appreciation.

The Fort McCoy LRC provides quality and timely logistical services by fostering a customer-service and safety-first culture that ensures world-class support to its customers. On order, the LRC conducts mobilization support operations.

The LRC is responsible for the Central Issue Facility, Retail Supply Operations, Asset Management, Food Services, Materiel Support Maintenance, Transportation, and Ammunition Supply Services.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy,” on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fortmccoywi, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@fortmccoy.

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