FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Aug. 28, 2024) -- A group of Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets immersed themselves in a monthlong cultural property protection internship at Fort Drum, hosted by the Environmental Division’s Cultural Resources Section.
From learning about the indigenous cultures of the North Country and visiting local battleground sites, to exploring cultural centers and museums to meet with subject-matter experts, the students covered a lot of ground.
They even spent some time discovering what’s underneath it.
On Aug. 12, the cadets joined Meg Schulz, Fort Drum archaeologist, and her team to a potential timber harvest location in Training Area 14A. The archaeologists previously discovered decorative fence wire that might have cordoned off a small family cemetery and returned for further assessment.
“This type of fencing is just something you wouldn’t ordinarily see out there, and it’s odd enough to make us want to look into it further,” Schulz said.
They used ground penetrating radar equipment to scan for anomalies under the soil and mapped out a grid of the area.
“You don’t really know what’s down there until you ‘ground truth’ it,” Schulz said. “And the GPR is a good way to find out if something is there without disturbing the site.”
Afterward, the group moved to a location near the Pine Camp Trail for a shovel test survey. While sifting through dirt, it didn’t take long for the cadets to find pieces of stone tool material, in addition to old roofing nails.
Having absorbed that hands-on knowledge, they met with military engineers working near the Ammunition Supply Point to review the types of artifacts they may encounter underground.
“Whenever Soldiers are working out there, it’s a really great opportunity to teach about the balance between building the berms you need to pass inspection but also being careful in this archeologically sensitive area,” said Dr. Laurie Rush, Fort Drum Cultural Resources Program manager.
When Rush developed the Cultural Property Protection Internship Program (CPPIP) in 2012, the goal was to educate future military officers on how to identify and respect other people’s sacred sites and objects of value.
“There’s a clear relationship between respecting the cultural property heritage and identity of local communities where you are operating in a deployed environment and your potential for mission success,” she said. “Everything we do, and everything the cadets see and learn during this internship, relates to that.”
Trinity Cooper, an ROTC cadet from Siena College, said that when leaders fail to inject CPP into mission planning they risk the loss of lives and resources. She said this internship gave her a chance to tackle complex real-life issues and examine them from all angles.
“The entire internship was a thought exercise,” Cooper said. “We developed soft skills that are crucial to performing well in the service and doing right by others. Not even in my own program were the Army values consistently emphasized as much as they were with this internship and Fort Drum’s incredible civilian staff.”
Rush took the cadets to an indigenous gathering place and asked them to identify features that might be culturally significant. This led to a discussion about how they would respond when encountering something similar during a deployment.
“Quite often, and especially at the local level, you need to have situational awareness,” Rush said. “What does an outdoor mosque look like? What do the markers of their buried dead look like, so you don’t drive your vehicle in the middle of a cemetery. If that happens, the people of that community will not be happy to have you there, and that often exacerbates the conflict – even without having a clue that you destroyed their sacred place.”
Cooper said this was one of the most impactful learning experiences during her internship.
“This is a site that predated the creation of what we now call the North Country that was being utilized as a ceremonial place for later generations,” Cooper said. “It’s a perfect example of collaboration and consultation resulting in mutual understanding, and it just filled me with such a sense of wonder and hope for the future that I wish I could share with others.”
Cooper said the visit to the Ganondagan State Historic Site near Rochester was a fascinating experience.
“We had an amazing conversation (over two hours long) with a museum specialist at the Seneca Bark Longhouse, where he answered all of our burning questions,” she said.
Before that stop, the group met with Dr. Alexander Smith at the State University of New York Brockport archaeological field school to see the Frost Town project.
During the Revolutionary War, American troops waged a campaign against the Haudenosaunee and Seneca people for their alliance with the British. Soldiers settled in this area after the war, and it became a logging town until timber resources diminished in the late 1800s, rendering it a ghost town by the 1920s. Today, Frost Town serves as a site for students to learn history and practice archaeological research and excavation.
Rush said she was impressed with the cadets’ response to the internship program and how they never failed to make every moment an opportunity to learn.
“There was a genuine level of interest and appreciation throughout that I don’t think I have ever had before,” she said. “Every day, they would ask these excellent questions that showed they were really thinking about the material.”
When heavy rain prevented them from an outdoor excursion, Rush brought out training material she developed for a presentation at the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Vicenza, Italy.
“I would normally cover this in about two hours, but we went strong all day,” she said. “Great questions, and an excellent discussion that was really fun.”
During a video conference to discuss cultural heritage issues in current conflicts with a panel of experts, the cadets spoke with Air Force Capt. Madison Wells, who had interned with Rush several years ago.
Wells, an intelligence officer, briefed on how identifying heritage sites in an area of operation is incorporated in the intelligence-gathering process.
Rush said she wanted the cadets to meet an internship program alumnus to see how it can make a difference in their careers.
“Being able to read the cross-cultural landscape is not limited by any course of study, or branch of service, or occupational specialty,” she said. “You can be an intelligence officer, a legal adviser, or a chaplain and have a huge role to play in this world.”
“For me, that’s why we offer this internship,” Rush added. “It’s an investment in the future of the Army. We want to provide them with learning opportunities they might not otherwise have and knowledge that will make them better leaders for their Soldiers.”
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