Patton Museum Fort Knox 1940 Barracks Exterior

The General George Patton Museum of Leadership is a publicly accessible museum on

Fort Knox, Kentucky Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold rese ...

, dedicated to the memory and life lessons of General

George S. Patton, Jr. George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a General (United States), general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Mediterranean Theater ...

, and the continuing education of Junior Army leaders in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and in particular the

Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AROTC) is the United States Army component of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. It is the largest Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program which is a group of college and university-based offic ...

. The museum is administered by U.S. Army Cadet Command, Fort Knox and U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command as part of the

Center for Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Arm ...

History

The museum began as housing and storage for many captured enemy military vehicles and equipment sent to Fort Knox during WWII by Patton's

Third United States Army Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

for study. Following Patton's death in 1945, many of his personal military vehicles and equipment began to accumulate there, leading to the eventual establishment of 'The Patton Museum' in 1948. This makes it one of the longest continually operating Museums in the United States Army's Center For Military History Army Museum Enterprise. The museum collection was eventually moved to the present 45,000 sq. ft building constructed in 1972 and renamed the 'Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor'. Further improvements and updates were completed in 1992 all without cost to the U.S. Government by the privately funded Cavalry and Armor Foundation, now called the Patton Museum Foundation. The museum was renamed a third time to the 'General George Patton Museum of Leadership' following the 2010 departure of the

United States Army Armor School The United States Army Armor School (formerly Armored Force School) is a training school located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Its primary focus is the training of United States Army soldiers, non-commissioned officers, warrant officers, and commi ...

to Fort Benning as part of the

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end ...

program. The Museum's previously large collection of armored vehicles followed the Armor school to Fort Benning, to become today's National Armor and Cavalry Museum. With this major shift in the Patton Museum's collection, its mission changed to Junior Officer developmental training with a focus on the Army's ROTC and JROTC Programs whose U.S. Headquarters has been based at Fort Knox since 2012. Using the legacy and remaining personal collection of Generals George S. Patton Jr and George S. Patton IV, the Museum continues to train the Army's future and current generation of leaders.

Operating hours

Museum entry is free and open to the public Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 430pm (Eastern Standard Time) excluding federal holidays. As of 2021 the Museum is publicly accessible from highway 31W and is part of Fort Knox but does not require entry onto the military installation to access it.

Exhibits

The museum possesses a collection of over 3,000 artifacts with more than 600 personal items belonging to the late General Patton and his family to include General Patton's famed ivory-handled pistols (a

Colt Single Action Army The Colt Single Action Army (also known as the SAA, Model P, Peacemaker, or M1873) is a single-action revolver handgun. It was designed in 1872 for the U.S. government service revolver trials of 1872 by Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Compa ...

.45 and Smith & Wesson .357), his custom-built

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

living quarters van, 1938 Cadillac touring car and many more. Other featured artifacts include a variety of captured enemy small arms and equipment from Patton's service in the

Mexican Punitive Expedition The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition, but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the p ...

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and from his son, George S. Patton IV's service in the Korean and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

s. Several props are on exhibit from the 1970 film ''Patton'' as used by leading actor

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his port ...

such as the prop pistols carried and parade helmet worn by Scott in the famous opening sequence. Perhaps best known prior to 2012 for its large collection of tanks, many of these larger items accompanied the move of the Armor school and are now part of the National Armor and Cavalry Museum Collection at Fort Benning, GA. As of 2022 several tanks and unique armor pieces remain on display at the museum to include an

M10 Tank Destroyer The M10 tank destroyer was an American tank destroyer of World War II. After US entry into World War II and the formation of the Tank Destroyer Force, a suitable vehicle was needed to equip the new battalions. By November 1941, the Army requeste ...

M7 Priest The 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 was an American self-propelled gun vehicle produced during World War II. It was given the official service name 105 mm Self Propelled Gun, Priest by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine ...

, M4A3E8 and "Firefly"

Sherman Tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...

UH-1D The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of the prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and YH-40 The firs ...

"Huey" Helicopter, and German StuG III armored vehicle recovered from a swamp in Russia in 1995. Many of these vehicles are used to teach lessons at the Junior Officer Level with a focus on small unit leadership. An E-One fire truck, "FOAM161" of the Fort Myer Fire Department which was damaged in the

September 11th Attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

is also currently on exhibit. In 2012, one of the last remaining WWII barracks buildings on Fort Knox was relocated to the Museum grounds and gradually restored using donated funds. The barracks opened for public exhibition in May 2021. The two-story wooden building built ca.1940 housed a 63-man platoon with separate living quarters for NCOs. The entire ground floor including restored latrine and shower area is accessible to the general public and houses several displays depicting life at Fort Knox from the 1940s to 1970s.

References

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External links

* Museums in the Louisville metropolitan area Military and war museums in Kentucky

Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in Franc ...

Museums in Hardin County, Kentucky United States Army museums Tank museums Fort Knox

History

Operating hours

Exhibits

See also

References

External links