U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield Trains the 353d Civil Affairs Command at Ft. Bragg
Dr. John Russell teaches Functional Specialty Team members from the 353d Civil Affairs Command how to recognize an archaeological site.
Members of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield and its partner organizations, the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina earlier this month to provide cultural property training for the 353d Civil Affairs Command, an Army Reserve unit undergoing pre-deployment training. Among their many missions, Civil Affairs units have responsibility for cultural property issues in the military theater of operations. Although more than ninety percent of Civil Affairs personnel are in the Reserves, enabling the military to draw on civilian expertise not found in the active duty force, there are few cultural property professionals among their ranks. Large scale military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, countries with significant cultural resources, mean that Civil Affairs operators are often confronted with cultural property damage issues that require some basic knowledge and resources. Very much like the first aid training all military personnel receive, Blue Shield training provides an overview of cultural property protection as well as contacts to call upon for additional expertise once in theater.
On this day trainers included USCBS president and Minneapolis Institute of Arts associate curator Cori Wegener, who led off with a presentation on the history of cultural property at war, including lessons learned from her own work as part of the Civil Affairs Arts, Monuments, and Archives team that assisted the Iraq Museum after it was looted in 2003. Independent conservator Barbara Roberts represented the American Institute for Conservation, providing an overview of emergency assessments, basic conservation issues, and safe object handling. Dr. Brian Rose, president of the Archaeological Institute of America and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, provided a historical overview of the region’s rich archaeological record. Finally, Dr. John Russell, vice president of both the USCBS and the AIA, provided a detailed discussion about the recognition and protection of archaeological sites.
The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield and its partner organizations offer cultural property training to any military unit. either at home station or during mobilization training. The training is free of charge. For questions or to schedule training, please contact Cori Wegener at cwegener@uscbs.org or call 612-839-7654.