Army set to Close Almost Half of its Museums
I get it, the Army is looking to save money everywhere to do more important things like fund new weapon systems that will eventually turn into a boondogle and upgrade military housing to almost habitable levels, but this sucks.
Young Joes need to be able to go to their on-base museum and learn about their heritage and history, coming face to face with the heroes of the past.
Plus, in many cases, the base museum is the only place where new soldiers can take their visiting family members to “show” them what they do. I recently visited the Infantry Museum at Benning on a Sunday morning, and most of those touring the exhibits were young E-1/2/3s walking their parents around with pride. A sense of picking up the torch going back to 1775.
This is a mistake.
From the CMH:
In support of Army transformation and a focus on directing resources toward readiness and lethality, the Center of Military History has begun a consolidation and reduction of Army museums, a process that will continue through Fiscal Year 2029.
The Army Museum Enterprise (AME) will reduce from 41 museum activities at 29 locations to 12 field museums and four training support facilities at 12 locations.
In the current AME, a substantial maintenance backlog and insufficient staffing prevent our museums from reaching their fullest potential as educational and historical resources. These challenges also pose significant risk to our ability to care for the Army’s priceless artifact collection, which is one of the world’s largest.
The future Army Museum Enterprise is designed to best support Soldier training and public education within our available budget and professional staff. The consolidation plan ensures the widest possible access to the highest quality museums within available Army resources.
Specific closure dates and procedures have not been determined. CMH is committed to maintaining communications with affected local communities and commands, and to addressing stakeholder concerns.
As soon as a timeline of closures and consolidations of specific museums is set, we will provide the information.
Bases and facilities where the Army is proposing to keep museums open, according to a draft proposal obtained by Task & Purpose, are:
- The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York
- U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii in Honolulu
- Fort Gregg Adams, Virginia
- Fort Bragg, North Carolina
- Fort Cavazos, Texas
- Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
- Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- Fort Jackson, South Carolina
- Fort Benning, Georgia
- Fort Novosel, Alabama
- Fort Sam Houston, Texas
- Fort Sill, Oklahoma
Those set to be closed include museums on the following bases:
- Fort Huachuca, Arizona
- Fort Lewis, Washington
- White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
- Fort Carson, Colorado
- Fort Riley, Kansas
- Fort Bliss, Texas
- Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
- Fort Knox, Kentucky
- Fort Stewart, Georgia
- Fort Drum, New York,
- Fort Hamilton, New York
- Rock Island, Illinois
- Fort Eustis, Virginia
- Camp Humphreys, South Korea
- Vilseck, Germany