Working group releases museum report

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Carl Norman
  • Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  Independent working group officials, tasked to review the Air Force Museum's operational procedures, released their findings Nov. 18. The working group was assembled after museum artifacts turned up lost or missing.

Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche chartered the working group Sept. 15 to review the museum's collection-management program, including its written guidance, processes, staffing, facilities and supervisory oversight.

The group, headed by retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cunningham, recommended that the museum's chain of command and the responsibilities within the chain be clarified and that the current board of advisers be replaced by a board of directors. They recommended assessing the grade level of the museum director's position to determine if it should be elevated to senior-executive level. They also recommended proper manpower be provided to handle the ever-growing museum workload and that people in the museum system be afforded training and education opportunities.

The group took a hard look at museum security, recommending that officials emphasize and provide necessary resources for a stronger security program. This would begin with a comprehensive security review at the museum and other locations where the collection resides.

Working group officials felt the museum staff could make much better use of technology for inventory control, records management and collection presentation. They also suggested updating the Air Force policy statement to reinforce the importance of the museum's mission and that the museum be renamed the National Museum of the Air Force.

The museum plays a very significant role in maintaining Air Force heritage and future support, said Dick Anderegg, the Air Force Historian. Many of the items on display are one of a kind and irreplaceable.

"If they're not preserved here, they likely will never be preserved," Anderegg said. "It's important for our future generations to be able to come see what a P-35 (pursuit plane) looks like, then to walk into another building and see an F-4 (Phantom) and wonder 'how did they get from there to here?' History seldom gives us the whole story, but history, properly done, gives us the right questions to ask.

"There are people who are actively serving in the military, but (there) are hundreds of others who have never served," he said. "We want all those people to see this museum (so that they) can walk out the door with a better understanding of their Air Force." (Courtesy of Air Force Materiel Command News Service)