DVIDS – News – Fort Meade tanks relocate to Texas, Georgia

Fort George G. Meade, Md. — Nearly three years after the Fort Meade Museum closed a contractor group moved three tanks from the vacated constructing April 18-19, 2022, so that they could possibly be transported to new properties and as soon as once more function instructional instruments.

The Liberty Mark VIII and M-3A1 Light Tank will grow to be a part of the U.S. Army Armor & Calvary assortment at Fort Benning, Georgia, and the FT17/M-1917 hybrid Light Tank can be on show on the 1st Cavalry Museum at Fort Hood, Texas.

“In 2018, the Army Museum Enterprise was directed by the Secretary of the Army to reform the artifact collection and the AME operational footprint,” mentioned Lt. Col. Torrance L. Conner, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Army museums deputy director. “This is a four-pronged effort that includes consolidating museums at multi-museum installations, downsizing the art and artifact collection, reducing the facility footprint across 30 installations, improving management of sensitive items, and optimizing museum programs and education efforts. Fort Meade was one of those locations.”

The Armor Training Support Facility employees assessed the three armor macro-artifacts to decide their historic significance and determine the place to rehome them.

“The U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection housed in the Armor Training Support Facility at Fort Benning is the direct descendant of the AEF Tank Corps and the Fort Meade Tank Corps,” Conner mentioned. “As the primary armor collection for the U.S. the Armor TSF was a primary choice for the Mark VIII. The Armor TSF is a very large new building, and the Mark VIII would be kept inside, protected from the elements for the rest of its life.”

In addition, the Armor TSF may even be house to the M-3A1.

“The tank will provide an educational platform of the engineering of the early tanks to the present tank, to give them an idea of how far we came in history,” mentioned Jay Michael Auwae, U.S. Army Center of Military History transportation officer.

The FT17/M-1917 is touring roughly 1,500 miles to grow to be a everlasting fixture on the National Mounted Warfare Museum, which is at present beneath building at Fort Hood. It can be displayed within the museum’s rotunda.

“This pristine artifact will also be kept inside a museum and pay homage to mounted warfare,” Conner mentioned. “The NMWM at Ft. Hood was selected due to its Armor background and it is the headquarters of the III Armored Corps, which was activated in May 1917 in France.”

Removing the three tanks from inside the previous museum and loading them onto semi-truck beds for transport throughout the nation required quite a lot of logistical coordination.

“This is the best 1918 Mark tank in the world,” Auwae mentioned. “We didn’t drag it at all during the movement. It was railed to the left and railed forward.”

The motion of the tanks will guarantee they’re not shut in a darkish constructing however can as soon as once more be a visual reminder of Army historical past.

“Every day when we are training Armor soldiers and cavalry troopers at the Armor TSF, we address the significance that these vehicles played within the history of their day, the development of the vehicles technical systems and how they influence today’s technology, the tactics that would play an important role in WW-II, ballistics of the weapon systems, and the human factor of these machines,” mentioned Len Dryer, U.S. Army Armor & Cavalry Collection, Armor TSF director. “The machines additionally introduce science and easy physics to the Soldier on a simple-to-perceive stage.

For information in regards to the Army Museum Enterprise, go to https://www.historical past.military.mil.