National Museum of the United States Army Destination
This month’s destination spotlight falls on the impressive National Museum of the United States Army
It’s hard to believe but, until now, the United States Army, the oldest branch of America’s armed forces, had no official museum dedicated to its complete heritage. That oversight has now been corrected. In 2020, 245 years after the United States Army’s birth in 1775 as a colonial militia, the National Museum of the United States Army opened in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, about 20 miles southwest of Washington, DC.
Despite years of planning, it was a bumpy road to get here. The museum’s original opening date in April 2020 was pushed back due to Covid restrictions. However, on November 11, Veteran’s Day in the United States, the mission was completed as a gala opening took place.
Commanding an 84-acre site, the 185,500 sq ft building contains 11 galleries – arranged chronologically from founding the nation in the 18th century, to operations in today’s changing world – and 1,400 artefacts to relay the story of the US Army through its impact on the individual soldier.
