There are over 35,000 museums within the United States welcoming over 850 million visitors
each year.
Did you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes in museums, creating the displays and
exhibits we all enjoy?
Join us as we explore museums and their exhibits from the inside out.
Hi I'm Leslie Mueller, welcome to Museum Access, the show that takes you to America's top
museums to talk to the experts, then we go behind the scenes to learn even more.
Today we're just outside Alexandria, Virginia at the breathtaking National Museum of the
United States Army.
This 185,000 square foot museum proudly sits on an 84 acre campus and celebrates over 245
years of Army history.
It's unique in that it tells the compelling and often heroic stories of the US Army through
the voices and eyes of American soldiers.
Today we'll learn more about the accomplishments, sacrifices and commitment of those soldiers
and the challenges they face in today's changing world.
We'll see the Higgins boat that took part at the Normandy Beach Landing of World War
II, the iconic Huey helicopter that was used as an aerial ambulance during the Vietnam
War and the M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle used more recently in Baghdad.
We'll also get a behind the scenes peak at this award winning museum during its construction
and some of the spectacular exhibits taking shape.
We'll also see striking photos of some of the museum's lifelike soldier figures being
created in a Brooklyn, New York studio.
So are you ready to learn more about America's oldest military service?
Let's go.
Tammy, thank you so much for taking time today to share this spectacular museum with
our viewers.
This is incredible.
Oh, thank you.
It's my pleasure.
And we're just so happy that you're here.
Thank you very much.
Have you been on a whole journey here?
Quite a bit of it.
So I came onto the project in this time of year in 2014.
Oh my gosh.
And the project had been pencils down, we call it, for several years.
And so everything was standing back up.
We were getting ready to start construction with the Army Historical Foundation, our 501(c)(3)
Foundation partner.
And so it was just a joy.
It was so exciting.
The property is incredible.
The building is incredible.
How long did it take?
So construction began on March 8th of 2017.
And then the building was watertight in 2018.
That's when we were able to start exhibit work.
And then we were ready to open in the spring, early summer of 2020, right before the pandemic.
Well, there has to be symbolism in the way this was designed.
I'm assuming.
Yes.
Yes.
So if you listen to the architects, you know, they are artists and they will tell you all
of the points.
But one of the things is actually the stainless steel exterior of the building itself.
That was chosen specifically to represent the strength of the Army.
It's also reflective in nature.
So as our daily environmental conditions change here at this site, at this campus.
So too does the exterior of the building.
And that's a nod to the fact that the Army is a ground force.
So our soldiers are in that changing environment all the time.
Well, it seems like it's never in shadow that the sun is just coming.
Is that right?
It is positioned.
It is positioned so it comes over on the East and sits in the West and it just so there's
always color and light and movement outside reflected on the museum.
It's so impressive, but it's also very welcoming.
You feel like when you come in the front door, it's very welcoming in that front area.
Let's talk about that lobby.
So our lobby.
Yes.
And so, you know, really, part of the reason that it's welcoming is the fact that the way
we tell the story here, the comprehensive history of the Army, the Army's relationship
with our American society is through those individual soldiers.
So when you arrive outside, you actually begin walking into the museum with the soldier story
pylons and they're outside, they're welcoming you to the museum, they're marching through
that incredible lobby and into formation.
And the lobby is a feature of our space.
It's a gathering space, we have the campaign streamers up above illuminated.
So again, there's always that light and movement.
We have the campaign wall that reflects those streamers and what they represent and it's
just a part of that story, a part of that comprehensive story.
Well, it's so beautiful.
As you say, you walk through the column and then you come into the exhibit area.
Yes.
Let's talk about these exhibits.
I mean, they are stunning from their realistic, they're gorgeous.
I don't care if you're five years old or eight and five years old, everybody just, their
jaws drop when they walk in.
They actually do.
We hear that a lot.
We hear that a lot.
And that is, that's so heartwarming to see our visitor's reaction to that.
So our exhibits, yes, we use humanistic cast figures, we are cast figures, we're modeled
with real soldiers because they know how to stand, they know how to hold a weapon, they
know how to do soldier tasks and that's what we're depicting.
And then just throughout the entire exhibit, whether you're going chronologically through
the galleries to learn the army's history or if you're in army and society or other spaces
within the museum that we have exhibits, they're all just world-class exhibits filled
with wonderful artifacts, provenance to individual soldiers.
Well, I overheard some individual soldiers the other day and they were talking about,
yes, that was where I was, that's what the tank looks like.
They walk around and really share with their families their experiences through your exhibits.
They do and that's a part of our mission.
You know, our primary mission is our public education, educating our American citizens
on the army's history, on the American soldier, making that connection.
I love it when retirees, veterans currently serving soldiers come here because they recognize
this place, right?
They recognize when they go into one gallery in the era that they serve.
That is, that is their equipment that they carried.
They are meeting friends for the first time that served in that era as well and they are
making that connection with each other and their families.
Well, I think the educational aspect that you talk about, I noticed something, G-STEM
or the educational center, explain what that is.
So we took a little liberty with STEM, science technology and gender and math and we added
to the front of it, geography.
Oh, geography.
So G stands for geography because, again, the army is a ground force and geography is so
vital and important to a soldier's skill set and their ability to navigate in an environment
that possibly they've been literally dropped into.
Absolutely.
But the children come in and I mean, adults can go in there too.
Absolutely.
It looks like they start very young but then go into skill sets of adults.
That space, we call it the experiential learning center.
That is open to visitors of all ages and everybody can enjoy the activities that are contained
within that space.
I mean, not only is it interactive, there is, it's interactive throughout the museum which
is wonderful.
Yes.
But I know you also have outreach programs.
What are those?
We do.
We do.
We have outreach to schools, to retirement centers, to across the world.
We outreach to the Department of Defense Education activity in schools across the world.
And so we have not only virtual programming that we launch here from the museum.
We have in-person education and outreach and then a program that is called the Rucksack
program.
Rucksack.
Rucksack.
Rucksack.
So soldiers carry a Rucksack and that is an outreach program at to the schools where
we take items of soldiers' equipment and go to a classroom, bring it out of the Rucksack,
talk about it, explain how a soldier uses it, and why it's important to a soldier.
In our experiential learning center, we have what we call the training center and that
has five simulators that are free and that are led by a soldier avatar.
Well, so let's remember that Army history is American history.
We are telling the story of America and through our virtual programming that we do from the
museum here, we are able to reach out across the world and we're able to share that history.
So not only do we focus in highlight soldiers and their stories, we're highlighting the
history of the Army, which again is our nation's history.
Well, I can't recommend this museum enough to everyone.
I think it should be part of the school requirements to come here.
Thank you so much for sharing your time today.
Thank you so much.
And I would like to just add that the museum is free, you know, coming in is free, parking
is free.
And so if you're in this local or regional area, come visit us.
There is no reason not to come to the National Museum of the United States Army.
Thank you.
Paul, I've been to a lot of museums across the United States and it's seen a lot of exhibits,
but yours are so realistic.
They're incredible.
I know the pressure was on to do it.
Tell me about that process.
Yeah, we pay attention to detail, which is very important, especially at the Army Museum.
So we used a lot of soldiers, real soldiers that come and help us with the displays to
make sure that it's authentic as possible.
Well, I can imagine if they come in and they spot something that wasn't correct, you'd
hear about it.
Right.
Yeah, we have very critical audience who wants to see, you know, how the Army is being presented,
but it's very helpful to get that feedback, especially early on when we're doing the exhibits
so we can portray more accurate history in the Army.
So you've got a tableau.
Let's walk through the process, you know, the decision is made.
We've got this artifact, we're going to use this, or we've got this piece of history
that we need to show.
What's the process?
It's a long one.
You know, you have an artifact or you have an idea or story, but you have to develop that.
You have to do a lot of research and also, like I said, reach out to others to kind of
validate that story.
So once that gets validated, then it's sort of a, from a design perspective, how an object
is going to be displayed, graphic panel, do we need a video, do we need certain lighting
to support it.
So there's so many different elements going to just one small display.
Did I hear that there was a corporal on patrol that you weren't happy with the figure when
it was delivered?
Right.
So the cast figure of a female soldier is very clean, sort of pristine.
There's no dirt, there's no grime, there's no grit.
And for me, that's disingenuous, right?
That's not representing a soldier's experience, certainly a female soldier experience who's
on patrol in a dirty, dusty, grimey area.
She needs to look like that, no different from her male counterparts.
This figure depicts a soldier on patrol during the surge campaign.
A female MP, she wears the universal camouflage pattern, Army Combat uniform, typically worn
by soldiers in 2007 and 2008.
She's carrying an M249 light machine gun.
At the time, women were not authorized to serve in the combat arms positions.
During the Iraq war, however, soldiers had to be prepared for IEDs or ambushes at any
place in time, regardless of specialization.
Well, I am here to see this incredible soldier figure behind me.
I was very fortunate to be able to participate in modeling for its creation.
I deployed to Iraq twice.
I feel like this figure reminds me most of my deployment of 708.
We lived with the Iraqis.
We went on missions with the Iraqis.
When you deploy, you're there and you're like, "This is just awful, it's not fun."
When you come back, you have become such a bigger, broader person.
And my little girl, who was not yet conceived, now here she is, and she gets to see me.
And many years later, she can come back and again, see me at 35.
And that is, that is definitely me.
Well let's talk about the tableau behind us.
This is incredible.
Yeah, so behind us is the M382 Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
It was the one in Iraq, sort of the march to Baghdad from Kuwait to Baghdad, during what
is known as called Operation Dungarut.
So this vehicle, and the crew that was on this vehicle saw heavy combat during that
time period.
And it just shows not only the technology, but just what the soldiers had to kind of
endure.
If you were to go inside this vehicle, it's very tight, very cramped, very loud and dirty.
It just gives you a little glimpse of what they went through.
I also see that, I mean it's so realistic, there's even some of their litter.
So once again, we brought in real soldiers to outfit this vehicle.
So when we first got this, it was clean, there were no duffel bags, no cantines, no writings
or things on the vehicle, but they came in and sort of dressed it up as it would have
looked like during that invasion in 2003.
So just even little details like a crumpled water bottle, which something they would throw
out of the vehicle after, they used it to the duffel bags that are hanging off the vehicle.
Those little things resonate not only with veterans and soldiers, but with visitors as
well.
Oh, I'm sure.
And you'll also touch on Afghanistan, I see.
Tell me about that.
That's how Blow was very important to put together, because it's probably one that a
lot of veterans from Afghanistan kind of recognize or connect with the most.
So we want to be very, very careful how we presented that, the type of equipment they
were wearing, the weapons that we're using.
But more importantly, to get that realism, we cast real soldiers, right?
They know how to stand, they know how to hold their weapon, they know how to sort of the
movements that they make so we can get it as realistic as possible.
It gives that table a more realistic feel, but also it resonates with our visitors when
they're coming through the exhibit.
And I'm sure you hear responses from A to Z.
Yeah.
You know, right, it's just like, wow, I didn't know, you know, this was, you know, part of
the Army's story.
I didn't know that they carried the oldest type of equipment and how it evolved from,
you know, from the Revolutionary War up until now, the changes in technology, from weapons
to equipment, to what they wore is quite striking, and it's interesting to hear that.
And more importantly, when you see veterans bring their families and say, well, I wore
that jacket, or I remember, you know, being in that location, and them sharing their stories
with their family is very, very powerful.
So the purpose of our museum is to reach visitors who may not have known anything about the
arm.
So we want to connect with them in a very intimate way.
So the displays, the exhibits are very, very intimate.
You're very close to those tableaus, so you get a sense of what they went through.
So, you know, for a visitor is they, you know, maybe they haven't, you know, they're going
to serve in the military, but they may have went to the same school that a soldier went
to or from a same town, and so they form that connection quite easily.
So you don't have to be a veteran or a soldier to come and enjoy this museum or experience
this museum.
It's for everybody.
And I think it is for everybody, and I'm recommending everybody come and see it.
Thank you so much.
The Museum's Higgins Boat is one of six remaining that are confirmed to have landed at Normandy
on D-Day.
The Higgins Assault Boat landed more Allied troops on beaches in Europe and the Pacific
than all other types of landing craft combined.
Designed by Louisiana boat builder Andrew Higgins, these small boats could carry 36 combat-loaded
troops or a jeep and 12 men.
The boats were constructed with plywood hulls and could slide onto a landing beach, lower
the front ramp, discharge cargo and troops, and quickly turn around in the surf to pick
up another load.
Helicopters made as big an impact in Vietnam as mechanized forces did in World War II.
In Vietnam, where there were no front lines or secure rear areas, the helicopter provided
capability to quickly move troops and supplies around the battlefield.
The Huey was the iconic helicopter of the Vietnam War.
It was a versatile aircraft flying a wide variety of missions including air assault, cargo
transport, medical evacuation, search and rescue, electronic warfare, and ground attack.
This aircraft was used as a gunship by the 129th Assault Helicopter Company between 1966
and February 1969.
The Army was the first to move the ship to the west of the United States.
This tank, known as Cobra King, was the first to break through the enemy lines in best
stone as part of the Battle of the Bulge.
The M4 Sherman Tank was the iconic American tank of World War II.
An industry produced roughly 53,000 M4 Sherman tanks during the war.
The M4 Sherman Tank was the first to move the ship to the west of the United States.
The Army Theatre provides visitors with an immersive introduction to the U.S. Army and
to the Museum.
The film of Noble Deeds explores what it means to truly be an American soldier.
It includes footage of soldiers and current Army operations along with recreations of
some of the Army's most significant battles.
The theatre's 360-degree screen and external sensory elements envelop the viewer in sight,
as well.
The connection between the American soldier, the U.S. Army, and our nation is undeniable
from the earliest days of colonial militia to today's most powerful ground force in
the world.
We salute our nation's soldiers past, present, and future.
Thanks for joining us on Museum Access, where every visit is an adventure.
I'm Leslie Mueller.
See you next time!
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