FORT BELVOIR, Va. – The Army Reserve officers worked with swift efficiency.
For most of the afternoon, they meticulously and carefully documented the carefully packed cultural treasures from the Smithsonian museum in Pinelandia – a country about to be besieged. Their mission – evacuating important items from the museum – went well.
But then an aloof security guard, preoccupied with lunch, inadvertently passed his foot across a precious painting propped up on the table.
The room was silent. Then the museum’s collection manager had a secret. The officers had a problem.
Later, Captain Blake Ruehrwein, 40, of Rehoboth, Mass., said: “The failure of our force to protect the artifacts while we were handling them.
Thankfully for the officers, it was all a training exercise in a museum and a fictional country. The instructors later said that the seemingly intentional mistake would help them learn how to deal with the crisis and keep their minds on course, the trainers later said.
In fact, the trainees are 21 cultural experts with special expertise in everything from African history to space computing. A few are international cultural property officers who are here to train and network. The remaining 15 members of the academic and artistic management staff are being transformed into Army Monuments Officers.
Their fees? Work with military capabilities to identify and preserve cultural treasures around the world that are threatened by conflict, like the Monument to the Second World War Man who restored millions of artifacts. items looted by the Nazis.
Corine Wegener, director of Smithsonian Cultural Relief Initiative, a partner in a 10-day training program. “All are soldiers.”
At a graduation ceremony on Friday, after a long bureaucratic delayClass members are expected to be officially appointed as part of the first new monumental male and female class in modern times in a generation.
The ceremony followed intensive training that included courses in first aid and forensic documentation, emergency preparedness, and the nuts and bolts of war zone conservation – how to dry , handling and salvaging damaged items.
“I am both exhausted and energized,” said Captain Jessica Wagner, 34, of St. Louis, Mich., who specializes in heritage preservation and repatriation of cultural assets.
On Wednesday, at Smithsonia, with pressure and a ticking clock, officers developed a detailed cataloging system for recording entries. An employee carefully placed the foam inside a ceramic item as a cushion, then wrapped it in tissue paper and closed the lid. Lacking additional paper, he uses a box cutter to shape a piece of cardboard that he can wrap around objects.
Across the room, a nervous gallery manager yelled at another employee trying to hold onto a painting: “We can’t tape it up. this! “
Once they are in the field, officers will not directly hunt down the missing artwork, but will instead act as a set of academic liaisons for military commanders. and local government. For example, they might offer advice against an air raid on a certain location or suggest efforts to prevent looting in an area where land fighting has begun.
“The ability these new Men and Women bring is a better understanding of the environment so commanders can apply resources in the right direction,” said Colonel Scott DeJesse, a Reserve officer. The military, one of the leaders of the effort said.
“If you want to build stronger partnerships, this is how you do it,” he added. “Through trust, through showing we care about you.”
The specialists will be part of the Army’s Civil and Psychological Operations Command, headquartered in Fort Bragg, NC. That may entail working in war zones where team members can be shot. Therefore, the training.
Captain Ruehrwein, an Air Force veteran who works in education and outreach at the Naval War College Museum in Newport, RI, said: “The risks of putting yourself in your shoes The dangerous way to protect cultural heritage is very worthwhile. and the value of art to everyone. “
The efforts are reminiscent of those of the Men of the Ruins – 345 (mostly men but There are also a few dozen women) who applied their artistic expertise abroad between 1943 and 1951. Together, they traced millions of works of art, books and other valuables stolen by the Germans during the period. war. Their story was captured and relayed in the work of Robert M. Edsel and eventually formed the basis for a 2014 George Clooney film.”hero monument. “
In 2019, the Smithsonian Institution and the Army Civil and Psychological Operations Command agreed to join forces to protect cultural property in conflict zones and develop a training program for Reserve Soldiers. Civil.
The training was supposed to start in 2020, but The pandemic has played a part in hiring delays and bureaucracy slowed the process. During the Second World War, the Monument Men were soldiers who had enlisted and happened to have the necessary specialized skills. In this iteration of the program, the military has, for the first time, brought in civilian cultural heritage experts directly into its ranks.
Another new class of experts may soon follow, Ms. Wegener added.
It has been almost 20 years since Ms. Wegener worked as an art, monuments and archivist. in Baghdad as part of a very small team. She knew the military needed professionals with extensive training in civilian affairs. And fortunately, she said, officials agreed.
“Here, for me, does my dream come true,” she said. “You don’t have to wait for something bad to happen. Now you have this network that we created – and they are creating so they understand each other and train together. We are helping to deliver this capability around the world. “
Six of the 21 in the current Army Relic Officer class, including Captain Ruehrwein and Captain Wagner, are newly appointed officers directly. The other nine participants were in the Army Reserve when they signed up for the training, and either transferred to command or are in the process; the last six are international cultural property protection officers in their national armies.
Captain Wagner has worked in education and public outreach for a number of cultural institutions, including most recently the U.S. Naval War College Museum. Years ago, while in graduate school, she said she spent time researching things at the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Unit since World War II for her thesis.
“Am I willing to do that?” she recalled asking herself.
In an email this week, after a day of training, she admitted that wearing the uniform still “feels a little uncomfortable for me”. Building military habits like greetings, using polite titles, and taking off hats in the home can sometimes seem alien. And Captain Wagner and her colleagues will eventually have to pass one of the Army’s physical diagnostic tests.
But in this group, Captain Wagner said, she found her “person”.
“If you had asked me five years ago if I had been in the United States Army, wearing a uniform, sitting in Smithsonian Castle surrounded by army soldiers around the world, discussing the best defense. cultural heritage in conflict or not, I wouldn’t believe it,” she said. “But here we are.”
Graham Bowley contributed reporting.
