The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center is a museum located in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it o ...

, just outside the Maneuver Center of Excellence at

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama– Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employee ...

. The 190,000-square-foot museum opened in June 2009. The museum chronicles the history of the United States Army Infantry from the American Revolution to current operations. It exhibits artifacts from all eras of American history and contains interactive multimedia exhibits. The National Infantry Museum emphasizes the values that are meant to define the Infantry, as well as the nation: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. In addition to galleries, the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center also consists of: * Officer Candidate School (OCS) Hall of Honor **OCS Hall of Fame * Ranger Hall of Honor **

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

Hall of Fame * DownRange Combat Sims and Paradrop VR Simulator * The Fife and Drum Restaurant *opening times vary* * Giant Screen Theater * Heritage Walk * Inouye Parade Field * Memorial Walk of Honor * Vietnam Memorial Plaza
Global War on Terrorism Memorial
* The Soldier Store Gift Shop * World War II Company Street. Until April 2008, the museum was housed in the former Post Hospital on Fort Benning. Space and conditions for the museum’s collection was inadequate. In 1998, the 501(c)(3) National Infantry Foundation was formed to plan, raise funds for and to operate a new museum. The National Infantry Museum Foundation has since formed a formal partnership with the Army to manage the facility and its contents. The National Infantry Museum does not receive federal, state or city funding. Through its lease agreement with the National Infantry Museum Foundation, the Army reimburses the foundation for approximately 30 percent of the museum’s annual operating expenses. There is no admission fee. The museum relies on donations, memberships and revenue-generating attractions such as th
Giant Screen Theater
DownRange simulators, Fife and Drum Restaurant, Soldier Store and event rentals to cover operating expenses. The museum is located on a 155-acre campus adjacent to

. The campus includes Inouye Field, sprinkled with soil from the battlegrounds of Yorktown, Antietam, Soissons, Normandy, Corregidor, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and a 2,100-seat stadium which hosts graduations of Army trainees. The graduations are open to the public. World War II Company Street is a collection of seven buildings constructed at

from 1940-1942. They have been refurbished as they were in the 1940s and are open for tours on weekends & by special arrangement. The buildings include a chapel, barracks, mess hall, orderly room, supply room, and the sleeping quarters and headquarters building used by Gen. George Patton while he commanded the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Benning prior to his deployment to North Africa in 1942. The Vietnam Memorial Plaza contains a ¾-scale replica of the Vietnam Wall on the Mall in Washington, D.C.
The Global War on Terrorism Memorial
dedicated in October 2017, includes the names of more than 7,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines killed in action since 9/11. A 13-foot steel beam pulled from the wreckage of the World Trade Center and donated to the museum by New York City firefighters is featured in the design of the memorial. The museum received a Thea Award for excellence from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2011, USA Today’s 2016, 2020 and 2021 Readers’ Choice Award for Best Free Museum, and TripAdvisor’s Hall of Fame recognition for continued excellence.

Gallery

File:Wide stadium (16671520803).jpg, Fort Benning Graduation at Inouye Field. File:Heritage walk (17104222210).jpg, Heritage Walk File:International Stage 04, Propaganda (5143384684).jpg, Propaganda Gallery File:Last 100 Yards 31, Desert Wars (5142791895).jpg, "Infantry Operations in Iraq" Gallery File:US Army 53614 CSA visits Ft. Benning.jpg, A National Infantry Museum guide starts a presentation on the infantry's history

Notes and references

* Putnam, Walter,
Powell salutes soldiers at museum opening
, ''

Military Times Sightline Media Group, formerly Gannett Government Media and Army Times Publishing Company, is a United States company that publishes newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications about the U.S. and other militaries. The company's '' ...

'' (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

), August 2, 2009. * Williams, Chuck,
Colin Powell speaks at Infantry Museum grand opening
, ''

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer The ''Ledger-Enquirer'' is a newspaper headquartered in downtown Columbus, Georgia, in the United States. It was founded in 1828 as the ''Columbus Enquirer'' by Mirabeau B. Lamar who later played a pivotal role in the founding of the Republic of T ...

'', June 20, 2009.

External links

*
National Infantry Museum
historical marker {{United States Army history museums Military and war museums in Georgia (U.S. state) Museums in Columbus, Georgia United States Army museums