Army Heritage Days at the AHEC

This past weekend (May 21st and 22nd) was “Army Heritage Days” at the Army Heritage and Education Center (AHEC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Sheila, Meaghan, and I went on Saturday, of course, along with about four thousand fellow military history buffs. It was awesome.




The event was held mainly on the Army Heritage Trail, that I recommended you visit last September. However, the AHEC Foundation also unveiled a new building at the complex that houses a multi-purpose meeting room, and new museum area, and…wait for it…a museum shop and bookstore!

This event drew reenactors from every era of American Military History. Some, naturally, were better than others. But everyone did a great job and shared their enthusiasm for their favorite period of history. My special favorites were the World War I reenactors. Why? First, they were not overweight, [sorry reenactors, you’ve got to look the part, there are way too many chubby Civil War soldiers out there.] Second, they were dirty, [if you are bright and clean, you are not looking realistic, unless of course you are reenacting being in a parade or something.] And third, they really knew their subject [some of you German soldiers were a little weak, hit the books!]

I have traveled around quite a bit, and I have never encountered another place like the Army Heritage Trail, where people can look at, climb on, and immerse themselves in, military history like this. The WWI trench is my favorite; I also like the Vietnam Firebase. I also get to look at a WWII era tank destroyer, which I encountered in my research for my book on the 509th Parachute Infantry during WWII, but had never seen one before.

AHEC Under Threat of Closure

So why would someone want to close this facility? That’s right, the AHEC has been placed on a list for consideration to be closed. The archive materials would go to the Center for Military History at Fort McNair (who says they don’t have room for it) and the museum collection would go to the planned Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir (which hasn’t been built yet and still needs to raise close to $50 million in additional funds to complete). If the AHEC is indeed closed, it will take effect in the 2013 budget year.

Normally, I try very hard to not be political. Oh, I have opinions, but I don’t like to debate because I find that most people argue with their emotions and are pretty short on facts. I must make an exception in this case, however. It is true that I am biased in favor of keeping the AHEC open. I do research there. I enjoy visiting there. But there are valid reasons to protect this facility from the budget ax.

The AHEC provides jobs for Cumberland County. The AHEC brings tourist dollars to Cumberland County. Moving the research material to congested downtown D.C. is in fact inhibiting access to it. Removing the exhibits on the Army Heritage Trail will sadly remove a valuable, one-of-a-kind education resource. Here’s one more for you: It reportedly costs $6 million a year to operate the AHEC. In the recent spending cut mania our country finds itself in, it sounds like that would be big savings. But as the DOD budget goes, that’s like one of us regular folks buying a pack of gum. We’d be able to run the AHEC for years if we would just bring our forces home from Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya, a few days early. Why are people crying out to save a few dollars by closing facilities that add to the quality of life, yet ignore our troops overseas and the massive debt we are piling up in order to accomplish…what?

Go visit the Army Heritage Trail!

You haven’t heard from me since we’ve moved to Maryland, but I swear I haven’t been on summer vacation. Along with my day job at Wave of the Future, I have posted a new unit history over at Military Vet Shop, researched a couple more, and started volunteering at Harpers Ferry NHP. In addition, we’ve been making a lot of day trips, hikes, and bike rides to historic sites. For the last six weeks, we have been visiting old haunts and finding some new ones. I am overdue in telling you about them and I thought I start with one of my favorites (if you can even pin me down to a favorite), the Army Heritage Trail up at the Army Heritage and Education Center (AHEC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Back in June, I told you about doing research at the AHEC. I was back there again in August looking up some information for a history of the 11th Light Infantry Brigade (yet to be written, sorry). My daughter Meaghan was with me, so I thought it might be fun to walk around the Army Heritage Trail before we left. The Army Heritage Trail is a walking path through a series of outdoor exhibits that you can walk through, touch, climb on, and otherwise immerse yourself in military history of different periods. I had not walked out there since 2006 when the AHEC had opened a replica of “Redoubt #10” from the Battle of Yorktown. They have since added an interpretation of a Vietnam Firebase and a World War I trench system. The Heritage Trail also has displays of a WWII barracks compound, a Civil War artillery display, and a blockhouse from the colonial era as well as many others.

It was the WWI trenches that we probably enjoyed the most. Meaghan is 26 now, and not at all a history geek like me. Nevertheless, she says that being able to walk through something like this brings history to life. You should have seen her running around taking pictures. We’ve only included a few images here. You absolutely have to experience this exhibit (and the whole trail) for yourself. The signage is excellent. The trench “system” includes a mortar pit, an aid station, troop sleeping area, and officer’s command post. If you peer over the top of the trench, you can see the German concrete bunker across “no man’s land.” Then leave the American trench, and walk through an underground tunnel to observe the Americans through the window in the German bunker.

The AHEC is open M-F from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm for research or to view indoor museum displays. Weekend hours are available from April to October. The great thing about the Heritage Trail is that it is open every day from sunup to sundown. On summer weekends there is usually a reenactor event. Check out their website for details and directions.

We honor our vets by not forgetting them. One way to do that is by learning what they went through and what their experiences were. If you’ve got friends and family that you want to hang out with, but aren’t really into history, try out the Army Heritage Trail. It is kids-of-all-ages friendly and I guarantee that fun learning will take place. You never know, with hands-on history they just might be engaged in a way you’ve never seen before.

Next post: Bicycling on the C & O Canal!

The Army Heritage and Education Center

In my last post, I told you about my research trip during the first week of May. I started with the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. In this post, I would like to tell you about the Army Heritage and Education Center (AHEC) in Carlisle, PA. This was actually my first stop during my research trip for photos and primary documents on the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.

The AHEC is several things in addition to a repository for primary source documents pertaining to military history. Originally, (and still its primary function) the AHEC was created to support the Army’s War College at Carlisle Barracks. In 2002, they moved to their current campus, off base, so you don’t have to have your vehicle and ID checked to park there. If you visit, plan an extra afternoon to visit the museum and the Army Heritage Trail. The trail is a walking path of about a mile that has interactive exhibits that are recreations from army history. For example, you can go into Redoubt #10 from the battle of Yorktown, get into a WWI trench, or walk through a WWII era tarpaper billet.

The fact that the AHEC is a library as well as an archive makes it a “first stop” for researching military history. Before you visit in person, look at several of the AHEC’s online resources, like their list of finding aids and the online catalog. Finding aids have been created for many unit histories and military history subjects. These documents are available online. With these finding aids and the online catalog, you will know what secondary works are available as well as primary source documents. Looking for secondary sources through interlibrary loan with your local public library will save you days of research time at the AHEC. Knowing the primary source material available will help you determine if you need to visit in person, and if so, estimate how many days you will need in the library.

When you enter the main building of the AHEC, you will have to sign in with security before going in the research library. Lockers are provided to store your coat and any carry cases. You can only bring laptops, cameras, writing paper, and pencils into the research room. A research assistant is available to help you fill out your “pull request” from the library. Don’t try to go it alone, use their expertise. The staff is extremely knowledgeable, very friendly, and eager to help you with your project.

While all libraries and archives have similar procedures, they also differ from place to place. Unlike NARA, at the AHEC you cannot bring in a flatbed scanner. I use a small digital camera to take pictures of documents (reproduction costs would kill you) that are too lengthy to take notes on. I used the same camera at AHEC to reproduce photographs. A photo station is set up in the research room for this purpose. You mount your camera on a photo stand and adjust two studio lights beside the table on tripods. I at first had my doubts, but this system worked beautifully. For textual items, I just set my camera to a “copy” preset and use it handheld. I reproduced 13 photographs and over 200 pages of documents in one long day at the AHEC.

I am a huge fan of digitizing primary documents so we don’t have to travel to an archive to look up this information. However, I know we will never be able to put every document and picture held in repositories online. There is just too much. You have to travel to where it is stored. Also, there is just no beating the thrill of holding the document in your hand, or to read the contents in its entirety for yourself, unedited and not interpreted for you by someone else. Again, I urge anyone who is interested in any subject to visit the appropriate archive and look up the information. I do not consider myself to be a scholar, an academic, or an intellectual. No one asked me what my qualifications or reasons were before allowing me access to any materials at either the AHEC or NARA. It is our history. Go get it.

Picture credits from the top:

• Screen capture of AHEC website, 6/1/2010.
• WWII in-service airborne recruiting poster, AHEC.
• Text document from William B. Breuer Collection, AHEC.