Photo By Airman 1st Class Victoria Moehlman | Peter Coffman, 325th Fighter Wing historian, looks over a World War II document at...... read more read more
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As technology continues to advance, there is a growing disconnect from traditional learning. At the intersection of innovation and preservation stands Peter Coffman, 325th Fighter Wing historian, who is a part of spearheading a revolutionary approach to keeping history alive by turning it digital.
Through vivid interactive maps, immersive storytelling and the power of visuals Coffman’s project, History turned Digital, takes historical archives, and turns it into a web format offering a fresh approach to learning history. He aims to make the 325th FW’s history more accessible and memorable for today’s Airmen and history enthusiasts alike, providing deeper context to missions of the past.
“I was inspired to do something like ‘History turned Digital’ to create what I call the traveling history class,” said Coffman. “[Since] we’re a digital society now a lot of people are more visual, instead of it being just written words, there are pictures alongside graphs and interactive maps. People can learn some background relating to the 325th Fighter Group in World War II, or the 95th Fighter Squadron, part of the 82nd Fighter Group…getting to see the whole arc of the journey.”
Coffman emphasizes that making history accessible through digital platforms can help Airmen connect with the legacy of their predecessors and create an understanding of their unit’s history.
“It’s important for Airmen to be able to relate to their history because so much of what we’re doing going forward has a component that is relatable in history, something we can learn from,” stated Coffman. “We’re doomed to repeat failures if we don’t learn from our mistakes. From those events, we can learn what not to do, but also what was the source of our victory, what was it that made this moment different and excel. We always focus on the mistakes, but sometimes the victories also need to be remembered.”
By turning history digital, the stories and achievements of units such as the 325th FW and the 95th Fighter Generation Squadron are preserved in an accessible, interactive format. This helps ensure that the contributions and sacrifices of past Airmen are not forgotten and can be easily shared with future generations.
“The digital history format makes it portable so that a young gentleman or lady sitting at home telling their family and friends about the history of their unit… can actually bringing it up on their smartphone or tablet,” mentioned Coffman. “The young Airmen today…often walk around and think ‘What I do is not really historical.’ Well, it will be. And if you go through life with the idea that your making history, you tend to take a little bit of deeper pride in what you do.”
Coffman designed websites as a strategic and educational tool for Tyndall, the Air Force and the local community. He expressed that the website would be an ongoing project with updates, but the website link would never change. Access to these digital archives for 325th FW can be found at https://arcg.is/1LLnvD0 and the 95th FGS at https://arcg.is/15Gz1a1.
| Date Taken: | 09.18.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2024 22:01 |
| Story ID: | 481478 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, History turned digital preserving Tyndall's past, by A1C Victoria Moehlman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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