eNews
Volume 14 | December 21st, 2020
Senior General Officers visit the Museum to discuss Capitol Campaign goal of Public Access
Recently the Foundation’s Capital Campaign goal of opening the Museum to public access moved another step nearer to reality. On November 16, Foundation VP for Buildings and Grounds, COL (R) CEM Maxwell, met with the Joint Base Commanding General, Brigadier General Caroline Miller and the AMEDD Center of Excellence (COE) Commander, Major General Dennis LeMaster at the AMEDD Museum. Also present were the Joint Base Civil Engineer and his Deputy as well as Randy Anderson from the AMEDD COE.

BG Miller is fairly new to San Antonio and this was her first visit to the Museum. The goal of the visit was to discuss the Foundation’s long held goal of opening the Museum to public access by constructing a new public access entrance that allows visitors to enter the Museum’s grounds without accessing Fort Sam Houston through the adjacent security gate. This new entrance would become the Museum’s new main entrance and allow public access directly from Harry Wurzbach. This change will allow the Museum to greatly expand its role in educating the public on the amazing history of Army Medicine.
COL (R) Maxwell provided a short tour of the Museum’s current rear area so BG Miller could see the existing access to the Museum without entry to FSH (this existing access is currently used for deliveries to the Museum) and so she could see the existing fencing between the Museum and the Parklane Towers. BG Miller voiced support for our plan and provided guidance to her staff to assist in moving the project forward. The Joint Base staff and the Foundation staff are working some details but we believe that with this General Officer support the project will soon be on the way to the Secretary of the Air Force for approval.

Thank you MG LeMaster for inviting BG Miller to visit the museum and thank you Foundation supporters for your continued belief and financial support to the Capital Campaign. 
Wow! What a collection this museum holds!
Did you know that the AMEDD Museum holds 13,729 artifacts to represent our 245 years of Army Medical history? That’s a lot of great stuff. But it's really even more impressive than that when you consider that some of these artifacts are “a set” or “a case” which contain multiple items. George Wunderlich, the Museum Director, estimates that if you count each individual item of every set, kit, and outfit (remember SKOs?) the actual number would be at least 168,000 items and possibly much higher! 
Like many of us during this pandemic lockdown, the Museum staff is currently seeing what’s in all the closets, storerooms, and corners of the facility. In fact, their work is part of a three-year review of all of these artifacts to identify items for de-accession and items needed for training and education missions; and to create a database of items in the collection sorted by medical specialty, general Army history, and history/ heritage classification. Part of this gargantuan effort is to support the Army Museum Enterprise’s effort to determine what is out there in the collections of all Army Museums and see if items not needed at one facility can be transferred and used at another."
The Importance of a Museum Collection is not just the preservation…   
While a major point of most Museums is to preserve and protect historical artifacts, our Museum also has a critical mission education mission. Each of the Army Medical Department Corps has, per TRADOC guidance, a requirement for specific training program with stated educational outcomes. Among our 8 Corps (Medical, Dental, Veterinary, Medical Service, Nurse, Specialist, Enlisted and Civilian) there are 126 individual personal specialties with specific training objectives that can only be met at the AMEDD Museum.

On top of all those training programs, the Museum also serves a wide-ranging community with educational and training programs to a number of military organizations and joint project programs on a regular schedule (the pandemic has impacted a number of these programs). These organizations include:

  • San Antonio Medical Center Nursing Program
  • Joint Medical Executive Skills Institute
  • Capstone Symposium
  • Medical Education and Training Campus (METC)
  • Defense Language Institute ESL Program
  • Baylor University Physical Therapy Program
  • U.S. Army Medical Recruiting Brigade
  • Texas A&M Leadership Program
  • US Army Recruiting Command - AMEDD NCO Academy
The Foundation supports this critical training mission
With all of these important training programs needing the Museum’s collection to ensure the best training and educational outcomes, ensuring the AMEDD Museum has the right collection of artifacts is crucial. That’s why the Army Medical Museum Foundation has the acquisition, preservation, and the display of artifacts as one of its main missions. From the Foundation’s beginning to today, the Foundation continues to invest in this important training mission by purchasing artifacts as they become available, talking with potential donors about gifting or loaning their historically significant medical artifacts to the Museum, and providing the funds to ensure these new acquisitions are properly displayed and preserved. Your support of the Foundation helps us ensure our premier Museum has the premier collection necessary to support the critical training and educational needs of Army Medicine. Thank you!
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Visit the AMEDD Gift Shop
Did you forget to stop by the gift shop before leaving the museum? No need to worry! You can check out the AMEDD's Gift Shop website.

AMEDD Medical Museum Foundation | (210) 226-0265 | ameddmuseumfoundation.org
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