Squeeze play? Consolidations, closings likely to reduce number of museums

“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 a significant risk to our ability to care for the Army’s priceless artifact collection, which is one of the world’s largest,” the Center of Military History explained in a post on Facebook.

“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,” the center added.

 Many of the museums could be closed by the end of 2028. Specific closure dates and procedures had yet to be determined. CMH confirmed that it was “committed” to maintaining communications with the affected communities and commands.

According to an internal document obtained by Task & Purpose, some of the museums that could close include the 10th Mountain Division Museum at Fort Drum, N.Y., as well as the Frontier Army Museum at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and the U.S. Cavalry Museum and 1st Infantry Division Museum at Fort Riley, Kan.

The known bases that will see their museums close are: Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; White Sands Missile Range, N.M.; Fort Carson, Co.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Fort Knox, Kent.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Hamilton, N.Y.,; Rock Island, Ill.; Fort Eustis, Va.; Camp Humphreys, South Korea; and Vilseck, Germany.

While this is all a loss for history lovers, there is some good news to be found.

Some smaller museums could be consolidated into a more effective single entity. For example, the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, along with the Quartermaster Museum and the Ordnance Training Support Facility at Fort Lee (formerly Fort Gregg-Adams), will be consolidated in a single facility under the theme of Army Sustainment at the base, located outside Richmond, Va. However, the U.S. Army Women’s Museum will be shuttered, and its collection will be sent to other institutions.

The aforementioned Frontier Army Museum could migrate with support from the U.S. Army to a new privately funded museum outside the base gates. It would be modeled on the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Ga., or the Wings of Liberty Museum at Fort Campbell, Kent., which each operates as a public-private facility, Task & Purpose reported.

Moving some of the museums “off base” could also ease the access for visitors, who otherwise need to undergo a background check and have a REAL ID Act-compliant ID.

One factor in shuttering so many museums devoted to the history of the United States Army is that many are housed in buildings that are old and desperately in need of repair. Some have leaky roofs, and others have outdated HVAC systems that impact the experience, but are also far from ideal for the precious exhibits. It would be a shame for artifacts that survived major conflicts to succumb to the elements because of improper storage or a faulty AC unit!

Upgrading the buildings would be costly.  The collections in the U.S. Army’s various museums are spread across more than 100 buildings. The current operating budget for all 41 museums was stated to be $35 million. Current estimates are that it would cost $65 million to repair and update the aging infrastructures.

 Another consideration is that some museums haven’t received the attention they deserve.

“The museum enterprise was created because lots of individual entities, whether that was posts or units or schools, created their own little museums,” James Vizzard, the deputy executive director of the Army Center for Military History at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., told Task & Purpose. “So you had a post commander who was all excited about it and put a lot of money into it and built it up. And then the next commander was like, ‘I don’t really care about the museum. I got to train people to go to war.’”

Fortunately, while some consolidation will occur, and several facilities will close, others will remain open and likely get more of the attention they deserve. In addition to the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the Army will continue to operate the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii in Honolulu. In addition, the museums at Fort Lee, Va.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood (formerly Fort Cavazos), Texas; Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Campbell, Kent.; Fort Jackson, S.C.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Novosel, Ala.; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Sill, Oklahoma.