JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas — Efforts are underway to expand the Air Force’s enlisted heritage museum here. The Lackland Gateway Heritage Foundation plans to modernize the USAF Airman Heritage Museum with a new facility to be located on what is becoming Lackland AFB’s Heritage Campus. The site location, at the North end of the parade ground, has been approved and the project programming has begun; it establishes September 2017 as the opening date for the new museum-learning center.
The new 50,000 square-foot, two-story museum will replace the current 6,778 square-foot building and will offer modern, interactive technology-driven exhibits and a more comfortable experience for visitors. The new state-of-the-start museum and learning center will remain entirely dedicated to Air Force enlisted heritage.
“The current building is older than the Air Force itself,” said Fernando Cortez, the museum’s curator. “It was built in 1942. About 85,000 people come through every year, and that’s really taken its toll on the small, aging building.”
Cortez also said the current facility’s limited floor space restricts the number of displays and the rotation of exhibits.
“Our enlisted heritage is very important,” said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy. “But the facility that houses pieces of our enlisted history and culture is just as important as what’s inside. It should be something Airmen are proud of. The legacy and heritage of our enlisted warriors past and present represent the very best our nation has to offer, demonstrating extraordinary devotion to duty, loyalty to self, family, and country, and unyielding strength of spirit and will.”
According to retired Col. Jaime Vazquez, the foundation’s president, the project will create an entirely new experience for visitors.
“The current museum is limited in exhibit space and accessibility,” he said. “Building the new facility adjacent to the parade ground will provide easy access for the approximately 3,000 family members and friends of trainees who attend the Basic Military Training graduation parade each week and for others that visit throughout the year.”
In addition, he said the new museum facility will:
· Provide the full spectrum of the Air Force’s enlisted heritage, capturing the Airman’s journey through the ages and telling the story of enlisted basic military training – plus technical training and beyond – from the early days of Air Force history up until the present
· Enhance the BMT curriculum by putting young trainees in contact with the historical legacy portrayed by the museum’s exhibits and interactive technology
· Provide an ideal setting and documentation for the conduct of historical and scholarly research in the areas of military training and leadership
· Expand the current educational programs to reach out to students and teachers across the city, state and nation
· Afford a prime opportunity for the hundreds of thousands of trainees’ families and friends passing yearly through the gates of Lackland AFB to gain a deeper understanding of the military service their loved ones have joined. Make them feel as an extended, proud participant of their journey
· Create the conditions to inspire and motivate young men and women to consider the Air Force as a noble and exciting profession and career
“Millions of young men and women have entered the gates of Lackland AFB to complete Air Force basic training or a technical training course,” said retired Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Robert Gaylor, the fifth chief master sergeant of the Air Force and one of the foundation’s directors. “If you are one of those, you have memories that will be with you throughout your lifetime. This new museum facility will honor Air Force enlisted Airmen – past, present, and future – who through their dedication, sacrifice, courage, and valor have contributed to the preservation of our freedom and way of life.”
Find out more about the new museum at www.myairmanmuseum.org.