FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
The U.S. Army Transportation Museum sits in plain view, on the right side of Washington Boulevard with an array of displays to wave at before exiting Fort Eustis after a hard day's work. However, what is visible from the road in the form of historical vehicles and the front of the building doesn't come close to telling the whole story of the museum's displays, diversity or its overall size.
It takes a good look, maybe even a tour, to appreciate everything the Trans. Museum encompasses, offers, and strives for on a daily basis.
"Everyone just knows us as 'The Museum,'" said David Hanselman, Trans. Museum director. "For a lot of folks, it's just a place they drive by to and from work every day. But, folks who stop by realize what we really do offer. The sole purpose for our museum, like every other Army museum out there, is to educate Soldiers. For us, that's educating Soldiers on the history of the Transportation Corps, which we do through classes, organized tours and general visitation."
Hansleman added that more than half of the museum's visitation comes from the general public.
"For them, we not only educate them on the history of the Transportation Corps, but for many of them, we are the Army story," he said. "They may not know anything about the Army. To them, we represent what the Army does."
In addition to being a hot bed for education and Army transportation history, the museum is also a haven for various events and activities, including the annual Halloween-themed "Night at the Transportation Museum" event, which was held Oct. 24.
"For our Halloween event this year, we had about 600 people attend," said Dina Linn, Trans. Museum technician. "It was a huge success and a great way for people to become more aware of the museum. If people come for that event, they are more likely to return and check out what else we have to offer. We also offered arts and crafts and face painting this year."
Linn also said the museum gets a lot of volunteers from the Eustis community.
"The Spouses Club helps us," she said. "Echo Company has sent us a plethora of volunteers, and the Living Historians supported us again, making exhibits come to life."
Linn said the museum is also incorporating more outreach, having set up a booth at information fairs throughout the year.
The museum also hosts a monthly Regimental Induction Ceremony designed for new Transportation Officers Basic Leaders Course students.
"They come down here and go through a formal process of being welcomed into the TC regiment and it culminates here at the museum," Hanselman said. "We do a specialized tour and go through a formal ceremonial process for them. Folks are welcome to watch the proceedings. We've been doing it since April and it's been a great success, establishing the new Soldiers into the Transportation Corps. It makes them feel like part of something historic."
The event takes place in the museum's newly renovated Regimental Room - an auditorium that gets plenty of use, according to Hanselman.
He said the auditorium is getting used for events such as promotion, change of command and retirement ceremonies.
"We have a lot of folks who are looking at that room for holiday events, classes and presentations," he added. "It's really gained in popularity. We're here to support the community and this is one way do that. It's a very nice looking room."
According to Linn, a lot of people don't know that the museum features a research library.
"I answer up to 900 research requests per year," she said. Requests include subjects such as geology and military service records, and come from sources such as senators, National Geographic and other branches of service.
Also part of the museum's archive is a historic film collection.
"We have almost 300 16-millimeter and 8-millimeter films, which we're converting to DVD," Linn said. "Eventually we hope to be able to put them online and make them more accessible to the public."
As the museum continues to undergo change and take on multiple projects, it also offers volunteer opportunities.
"There's a lot of Soldiers who actually get promotion points for volunteering," said Hanselman. Volunteer opportunities vary based on how much time a person has or is able to give to the museum, according to Hanselman.
"The more time they're willing to put in as a volunteer, the more in depth the project may be," he said. "Some folks may just want to come in and do a couple of hours, so what we give them would be a little more basic."
Whether folks show up to volunteer or just to visit or take in an event, they may be surprised at how vast the establishment is - especially if it's their first peak inside.
"One of the biggest comments we get about the museum is people not knowing how big it is," Hanselman said. "The other comment is every time someone comes here, they say the museum has changed. That's a great thing. That helps bring back repeat customers. We're always striving for that."
While there's plenty of change and activity going on inside the museum, there are some alterations that are easy to see from the outside.
"Some of the obvious changes that are going on here at the museum that folks see as they drive by, is the construction in the rail yard," Hanselman said. "We're putting a pavilion roof over the entire rail yard. The roof is the size of a football field. It's 300 feet long by 150 feet wide. That's a big roof. That's what all the construction is out there."
He said the project should be completed in a few months, weather permitting.
"We also expanded our gallery area that increases our current operations gallery," Hanselman said. "We're currently replacing the perimeter fencing around the museum to improve the aesthetics. There are constantly things going on here to improve the museum. That's what we'd like folks to understand. We just got two new artifacts in. We're constantly working on the collection."
One thing Linn said that separates Trans. Museum from other Army museums is that everything is created in house.
"A lot of museums have contractors do the work or look outside to have exhibits made, but we do it here," she said. "We have a workshop in the back."
Hansleman said that the museum is pretty proud of its in-house production.
"When people see these exhibits and find out we do it ourselves, they're pretty impressed," he added. "And we do it all on an extremely limited budget." For more information on all things U.S. Army Transportation Museum, call 878-1548/1115.