Museum Technician Stephanie VanderKnyff poses on a tank outside the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum at Fort Jackson. The museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary. (Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office)
The U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum at Fort Jackson, S.C., celebrates its 50th birthday on Thursday. Founded in 1974, the museum has documented the history of basic training and preserves and displays thousands of items from the base’s history.
The museum seeks “to educate through collecting, preserving, and interpreting artifacts representing the history, heritage, and culture of the Army and Fort Jackson,” according to a service news release.
The museum is one of four on Fort Jackson: the U.S. Army Chaplain, U.S. Army Adjutant General’s Corps and U.S. Army Finance Corps museums also call the base home.
Today, about half of all soldiers train at Fort Jackson, making it the largest Army basic combat training base.
An early diorama at the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum shows how soldiers ate chow in the field. (Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office)
“While reaching our 50-year milestone is a significant achievement, our work here is far from complete. As long as there is a U.S. Army, our museum will be dedicated to preserving the history of how civilians are transformed into Soldiers,” Fort Jackson Museum Director Henry Howe said.
Historic tanks, weapons, vehicles, uniforms and everyday items from a soldier-in-training’s life are on permanent exhibition at the museum. Special exhibits also routinely come and go to the museum. About 90,000 people visit the museum annually.
Plans to improve the Fort Jackson museums are currently in the works. Museum admission is free and open to the public weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Soldiers crowd the Post Exchange in a building that now houses the U.S. Army Basic Combat Training Museum. (Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office)
Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss visits with museum curator Judy Matteson. Doss trained at Fort Jackson with the 307th infantry Regiment, 77th Infantry Division during World War II. (Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office)
Clayton B. Kleckley, museum director, instructs trainees, circa. 1970s. (Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office)
