Photo By Lt. Col. Brett Walker | Civil Affairs soldiers from the 353rd CACOM partnered with graduate students from SUNY...... read more read more
Cooperstown, NY – Graduate students, overseen by their professor, shared insights with Army Civil Affairs soldiers on the best techniques for preserving cultural artifacts in conflict zones this month. The civil-military partnership event took place in Cooperstown, New York, on April 12th and 13th, 2024.
The State University of New York at Oneonta provided the academic participants; eleven in all. The 43 military participants were members of the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion. This is the ninth consecutive year SUNY Oneonta and the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion have engaged in a shared training program focused on safeguarding cultural artifacts.
The first day began with a lecture by Dr. Cindy Falk, PhD, Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Material Culture at SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies, and her class. Then the civilian and military participants cooperated on a lab component involving hands-on artifact preservation. On the second day, the soldiers and students worked together to complete a training exercise that required them to identify, collect, preserve and transport artifacts in accordance with the techniques they learned on the first day.
“Graduate students at the Cooperstown Graduate Program plan the classroom portion of the training as part of the Culture and Collections course, but they participate as both presenters and role players in a volunteer capacity that allows them to use and expand their knowledge and skills,” said Professor Falk.
The 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion is one of the battalions within the 353rd Civil Affairs Commands. The soldiers of the 353rd CACOM are Army Reservists with expertise in complex socio-political issues. Civil Affairs soldiers contribute to global stability by advising U.S. leaders, as well as foreign nations, on nuanced topics such as preservation of cultural artifacts, infrastructure development, court administration and international economics.
“Working with civil affairs soldiers has demonstrated to me the important cultural work that the U.S. Army is doing around the globe and the many skills from adjacent fields that can be applied to cultural heritage,” said Falk.
As the name implies, a significant part of the mission for civil affairs soldiers in the 353rd CACOM involves working with civilian authorities. Dr. Falk is a civilian authority in two capacities: she is, of course, an academic authority on the preservation of cultural artifacts, but she is also a governmental authority inasmuch as she is the deputy mayor for the Village of Cooperstown in which this training took place.
“Working with SUNY Oneonta graduate students allowed the unit to vary our training scenarios, while building rapport with an academic community who may have limited interaction with the military,” said Maj. Andrew Coody. “We appreciated their insights on cultural preservation best practices, and they expressed gratitude knowing their expertise will now be shared worldwide wherever the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion is called to serve.”
The partnership between Dr. Falk’s graduate school program and the 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion began in 2015 when ISIS was targeting cultural property in places like Palmyra. Since that time, it has evolved to include information about African and Eastern European culture, both tangible and intangible. Modifications to the program are based on the requests of the soldiers. In the years ahead, Dr. Falk hopes to involve more faculty and explore options for formal credentialling for soldiers in cultural property protection.
It is not only the military that is benefiting from this Army-Academia partnership. While the soldiers learn much from the SUNY students, the students also learn from the soldiers.
“The Army Civil Affairs training allows us to gain experience with cultural property and practice our skills in presenting information to broad audiences,” said Cosette Veeder-Shave, a second-year student at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. “We learn so much during the entire process, from the research down to the day of and working with the army.”
Even the professor has picked up some helpful techniques through her work with the military, including the “hot wash” methodology of quickly critiquing an event immediately upon its conclusion.
“I have begun to apply the idea of a hot wash in my classes as a form of immediate assessment, something we talk about a lot in higher ed but often struggle to implement,” said Dr. Falk.
With violent conflicts raging in many historically significant parts of the world, there is a need for soldiers with highly developed competencies in recognizing and recovering culturally significant items. It is training opportunities like this one in Cooperstown this month, along with a recent training program at the New York Metropolitan Art Museum (www.dvidshub.net/news/446460/preserving-cultural-identities-civil-affairs-soldiers-train-met), that develop those critical competencies.
The 353rd CACOM is principally comprised of senior soldiers and officers with particular expertise in a broad range of skills in civil-military matters used for furthering peace, security and stability. For more information, visit https://www.usar.army.mil/USACAPOC/353rdCACOM/.
U.S. Army story by Lt. Col. Brett Walker, Public Affairs Officer for the 353 CACOM.
| Date Taken: | 04.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2024 11:01 |
| Story ID: | 469750 |
| Location: | COOPERSTOWN, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 142 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Grad Students And Army Civil Affairs Soldiers Partner To Improve Artifact Preservation Techniques, by LTC Brett Walker, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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