National Museum of the US Army

I visited another military museum while on my way home from Florida.  I visited the National Museum of the US Army at Fort Belvoir, VA which is just a few miles south of Washington, DC.  Its easily accessed and near I-95.  In this post, I’ll give a brief review and share some photos.  I was going to make a video of my visit to share but I needed prior approval from the Museum to produce a commercial video (posting a video on YouTube is considered commercial).

Museum Overview

The museum is free to visit but requires an advance reservation to obtain entry.  General Admission reservations are easy to make from the museum’s website.  At the museum entrance, there is airport type security to go through to gain access.  The museum has numerous volunteers and docents to help guide you.

While the museum is on Fort Belvoir, signage and directions off I-95 are good and the access road to the museum is open to the public.  There is plenty of free parking. The building is impressive from the outside.

What’s Inside

While the outside of the museum is huge, the space devoted to the museum is not as large as I expected.  There are several good historical display areas depicting the history of the US Army from various time periods – colonial times to present.  One thing stands out – the museum is very focused on the people of the Army.  Its shows many biographical displays of veterans from all time periods.  These bios are well written and very impressive.  It’s my opinion that these bios are a highlight of the museum.  It’s humbling to read and reflect on the heroic actions that men and women of the Army took to defend our country and to aid their fellow soldiers.

FYI – Women in the Army are given equal space as are people of color and historical veterans.  (A DEI theme is evident and the people bios are focused on lower ranks.  This is not a criticism, just an observation and its good to see.)

While I’m writing about people – there’s little info on key US Army leaders other than George Washington.  I didn’t see much on Scott, Grant, Pershing, Marshall, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Bradley, or Powell.

There are many historical displays featuring small arm weapons and period uniforms.  Two key artifacts on display are George Washington’s sword and the sword that General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, ending the Revolutionary War.

It took me took me 90 mins to go through all the period displays.  The display areas are not as large or extensive as some other military museums that I’ve visited.

There’s a store in the museum as well as a cafe for snacks and lunch items.  The cafe was closed when I visited.

What’s Missing

As you enter the museum, there is a large wall that lists all the major US Army campaigns in our country’s history.  Its an impressive list and another place to ponder all the soldiers who gave their lives or a portion of their life participating in these campaigns. 

In the museum space there’s much attention paid to the Revolution era and the Army’s impact on society.  But there’s limited displays on some major campaigns of Army.  I was expecting to see more on –

• D-Day
• The Army Airforce in WWII
• Korea
• The Civil War 
• Western campaigns
• Iraq

Also, another subject I found missing – I didn’t see info on the structure/branches of the Army.

• JAG, Cavalry, Armored, Aviation, Engineers, Quartermaster – nothing 
• No info on command structure, ranks, key command figures..
• No info on volume of personnel, housing, bases
• Very little info on the Medical Corps – saving lives, Army hospitals, support for veterans

There could have been info displays on these subjects that I missed or didn’t see.

Overall

I found the museum informative and it does a good job highlighting the significant contributions that the US Army has made to our country. We are blessed to have so many men and women who serve/served to protect our freedoms and way of life.  I like that it highlights people over equipment, weapons of war, and artifacts.  This is something I’ve not seen highlighted in other military museums.

Here’s a list of other military museums I’ve visited in my travels that are impressive in what and how they present historical content.

• National Museum of the US Air Force – Dayton, OH – extensive aircraft displays.
• Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum – Abilene KS – perhaps the best military museum I’ve visited on WWII
• West Point Museum – West Point, NY – extensive collection of military artifacts
• US Cavalry Museum – Fort Riley, KS – a great museum focused on the history of the US Cavalry
• Quartermaster Museum – Fort Gregg-Adams, VA – good museum on the role and history of the Quartermaster Corps