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United States Army Ordnance Training Support Facility

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The entrance to the museum, with a T-12 Cloudmaker in the foreground
Outdoor display includes dozens of tanks
German Krupp K5 Railway gun "Leopold" (aka "Anzio Annie")
One of only two surviving Elephant (Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Ferdinand) tank destroyers
Marder III (Sd.Kfz.139) Tank Destroyer
Panzer IV
8.8 cm FlaK 41
16 in Coastal Defense Gun
12.8 cm FlaK 40 Zwilling anti-aircraft gun
Indoor museum includes hundreds of firearms

The U.S. Army Ordnance Museum is a museum located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Aberdeen, Maryland, USA but is being transferred to Fort Lee in Virginia.

History

The mission of the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum is to acquire, preserve, and exhibit historically significant equipment, armaments and materiel that relates to the history of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps and to document and present the evolution and development of U.S. military ordnance material dating from the American Colonial Period to present day.

Established in 1919 and officially opened to the public in 1924, to exhibit captured enemy equipment and materiel, the Museum was located in Building 314 of the Aberdeen Proving Ground and operated by the U.S. Army until 1967. Co-location with APG provided convenient access to the equipment being delivered to APG for testing after World War I. In 1965 local citizens formed the tax-free Ordnance Museum Foundation, Inc. to establish and operate a museum of these military artifacts. The Foundation is not affiliated with the U.S. Army, nor the Department of Defense. The Foundation began operation of the Museum in the early 1970s, upon opening at its current location in Building 2601 on the Aberdeen Proving Ground and operates the Ordnance Museum until this day.

The museum consists of two parts: a large outdoor collection of field military equipment and weaponry, covering a 25-acre (100,000 m2) park, and an indoor museum displaying firearms and explosives from many militaries worldwide, along with histories of their development.

Hours and Entry Requirements

As of September, 2010, the museum is closed to all visitors due to relocation efforts. The outdoor museum is open to visitors seven days a week, from 9:00am to 4:45pm, excluding most federal holidays. The indoor museum is no longer open, and will not reopen again at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Visitors must report to the Visitor's Center at the Rt. 715 East gate of Aberdeen Proving Ground to request a pass. This pass entitles the bearer to drive directly to and from the museum. It does not allow the bearer to visit anywhere else on the base. As this museum is on an active military base, one needs to have their vehicle's registration (or rental documents). Each adult will need to have a driver's license or picture ID. Children will not need to have such documentation. Foreign nationals are allowed to visit on a passport.

Note

The museum has announced plans to move most of its collection to a massive, all-indoor museum at Fort Lee, south of Richmond, Virginia, in 2011. The museum’s move from Maryland to Virginia was directed by the 2005 round of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. As of July, 2010, the T-12 Cloudmaker bomb has been dismantled and removed. Additionally, many tanks and artillery pieces have been removed from their displays.

Museum Foundation

A Ordnance Museum Foundation has been established with future plans to improve the museum through the construction of a 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) indoor exhibition area and maintenance facilities.

The Ordnance Museum Foundation, Inc. was formally incorporated in the State of Maryland as Charity #8849 in December 1991 as a non-profit, tax exempt corporation. This status as a non-profit tax-exempt corporation was recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as an authorized 501(c)(3) corporation in the Spring of 1992.

Dr. William Atwater is the former director of the museum.

Exhibits

The outdoor collection features over 200 various tanks, military vehicles, Self-propelled guns, munitions, and numerous mortars and artillery pieces from World War I era forward. A very small number of the tank exhibits have mesh covered windows cut into their armor exposing the interiors for viewing, but also leading to exposure and damage from the elements.

Sample outdoor exhibit artifacts include (not all-inclusive):

Tanks and Self-Propelled Artillery

Artillery pieces

Munitions

  • "T12", the largest conventional bomb ever built [1] (U.S. 44,000 lb (20,000 kg) bomb), before moving it stood outside the front entrance to the museum building.

The indoor portion of the Ordnance Museum contains a large collection of firearms, shells, hand grenades, cartridges, and educational displays. Numerous examples of artillery and mortars are on display, as is a 1942 Jeep and a M5 Stuart tank equipped with the "Rhino" Culin cutter for use in hedgerows.

Other Army museums

See: National Museum of the United States Army#Other Army museums

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ Baltimore Sun, 02 August 2005, Army Museum Drafted for Move
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