The land where U.S. Army Garrison Fort Moore lies has a rich history dating back more than 15,000 years when the earliest Americans from the Clovis Indian culture first arrived. The site was occupied by tribal groups moving between the coast and the mountain for millennia.
Add to this historical archaeological base the thousands of sites from European and American settlers, the establishment in 1918 of an Army post in World War I and the expansion of the site through World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam eras, and Fort Moore’s Cultural Resources Management team has an important responsibility to preserve, protect, and honor the past.
Part of that duty recently included redesignating the installation as Fort Moore – honoring Hal and Julia Moore. Lt. Gen. Hal Moore was a decorated and highly regarded officer known for his command of U.S. forces at the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam. His wife Julia was equally distinguished as a leader of Army family programs and changed how the military cares for the widows of fallen soldiers. The original past name was Fort Benning which had honored Confederate general Henry Benning. Benning was an anti-abolitionist from Columbus, Georgia.
The redesignation effort was more than just changing some signs, and the CRM team was fully engaged in marking the transition appropriately. The Fort Moore CRM team was actively involved in directly supporting the process and community engagements related to the redesignation of Fort Benning to Fort Moore.
The team helped identify potential candidates and compiled information on those individuals to help support the community engagement efforts that ultimately resulted in the Naming Commission choosing to name the installation after Lt. Gen. Hal and Julia Moore. In addition, the CRM team was responsible for identifying all assets and resources on the installation which also required renaming in accordance with the Naming Commission’s report.
“Our Cultural Resources team is both very active and well-regarded for the work we do,” said Brent Widener, Environmental Division chief. “As part of the name change, our team was also tasked with identifying all assets with a connection to the Confederacy, as well as organizing and updating memorialization records and ensuring a range of honorable personnel were considered for the potential naming of assets on Fort Moore.”
One notable characteristic of the Fort Moore Cultural Resources Program is its effective use of Army Alternate Procedures, a streamlined agreement that allows CRM staff to work regularly with Tribes, state historic preservation officers, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to guide its work. The agreement helps all parties focus on projects of concern versus routine Army actions without CRM significance.
“Cutting through so we can together review and work issues that matter to all of us has been very beneficial in building trust, improving efficiency, and creating working partnerships,” said Ron Hobgood, Cultural Resource Program manager. “In all, we have more than 20 tribes and organizations that we work with, and together we are building great bonds and doing the important conservation work we need to do while keeping in mind the vital training mission we serve at Fort Moore.”
Building on the AAP success, the CRM team also leverages indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts which allow Fort Moore to respond to cultural resources issues more efficiently and to more quickly begin projects to address them. In addition to moving forward on several projects, a recently completed contract task order included provisions for Tribal youth to participate in excavations of Upatoi Town, an historic American Indian site. It was at Upatoi Town where the plow was first introduced to Muskogean speaking Indians.
“We, as a team, strive to build relationships and shape our procedures to reflect that, and to build true partnerships,” said Britt Horton, Planning and Support Branch chief.
Paying attention to the possibilities of historical significance, where others might not, has paid dividends in recovering rare artifacts. For example, the CRM team identified a rare military artifact disregarded as a piece of trash. The “trash” turned out to be the only known surviving T40 Whizbang, a tank-mounted multi-rocket launcher briefly utilized during World War II.
“We were able to recover the Whizbang and deliver it to Fort Moore’s Armor and Cavalry Collection, where there are now plans to display it alongside a Sherman tank,” said Mike Ecks, archaeologist.
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