New museum exhibit chronicles Transportation Corps' participation in Southwest Asia conflicts over 10-year period

Courtesy Photo | Capt. Erik J. Anthes and Capt. Michael A. McCrory view displays at the Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom Exhibit July 24 at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Joint Base Langley-Eustis. The exhibit focuses on the Transportation Corps' participation in Southwest Asia over a 10-year period. It took nearly 18 months to complete.  

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VA, UNITED STATES

07.31.2014

Story by Terrance Bell  

Fort Gregg-Adams

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. – If you think the focus of a museum is solely about the past, Brig. Gen. John P. Sullivan may have an issue with your assumption.

Sullivan, the chief of transportation, speaking before roughly 100 people gathered here July 24 for a Transportation Museum exhibit opening honoring the corps’ contributions to the wars in Southwest Asia, said the history chronicled in the facility isn’t merely an “exercise in nostalgia” but has much to do with the future.

“Our museum and this exhibit are all about connecting the current generation of Army transporters as well as future generations with those who have preceded them,” said Sullivan, also the Transportation School commandant. “It’s about teaching the hard-won lessons of previous conflicts, and more than anything, it’s about reminding those of us currently serving in uniform of the sacrifices and the accomplishments of our predecessors that calls each of us to a higher standard of service.”

The Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom Exhibit boasts 5,000 square feet of displays, artifacts and equipment to help tell the story of the corps’ contributive participation in the conflicts. Retired Maj. Gen. James Hodge, former CASCOM commanding general, was the guest speaker for the ceremony. He said, during his speech, the corps’ accomplishments were many and mighty, and the exhibit does a good job in detailing them.

“Their tremendous efforts (museum staff) have really brought to life the OIF/OEF story as it relates to our transporters,” said the former officer who held several in-theater, high-profile positions during the conflicts. “The new wing will make our museum current as far as that chapter of the conflict goes.”

Museum Director David Hanselman said the exhibit is organized as a walk-through that covers 10 years, marking major movements, conditions of war and outcomes.

“Schematically, it’s a chronological history of our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said, noting the start of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003, respectively. He added that visitors will not only get a logistics history lesson but an in-depth feel for the men and women who served in the region.

“If we did our job right,” he said, “they’re going to feel and see what their sons, daughters, husbands and wives – their family members that served over there – saw and what they felt. You’re not going to feel that 100-percent, obviously, unless you were there, but they’ll get that sense that that’s what it was like to be over there during that time frame.”

Following the formal proceedings, the new wing was opened to the public. Attendees browsed the exhibit that features full-sized vehicles, mannequins in period uniforms, and equipment and interactive displays. Sgt. Maj. Jason Runnels, who served in Southwest Asia a total of 56 months, said he thought it captured the crux of the corps’ participation in the conflicts.

“It is pretty realistic, and I think it hits on some key points,” said the Transportation Corps Proponent sergeant major. “It also has some intricate details that were pretty neat like the cellphones for backup communications – I hadn’t thought about it in a while – but, yeah, it is the one we used. I think it is a good representation of certain segments of what the fight was like across a big time span. Ten years is a long time to cover.”

Runnels also said he thinks the exhibit will go a long way in helping the public to comprehend the intricacies surrounding the deployments and operations.

“I think they will have a link to what we went through and how things changed,” he said. “It’s like how the current generation of Soldiers look at exhibits from Vietnam or World War II. You try to have an appreciation for those who came before you and hope they (future generations) have that same appreciation.”

The U.S. Army Transportation Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.transportation.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/museum.htm or call [phone].

• Date Taken: 07.31.2014
• Date Posted: 07.31.2014 08:39
• Story ID: 137825
• Location: JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VA, US