Strategic placement: New Fort Drum museum meshes into the community

As one enters the new 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum, a large map on the left is hard to miss, with its banner asking, “Where in the World is the 10th Mountain Division?” Magnetic tags of units can be placed around the globe, following the most deployed division in the Army.
But for years, civilians and veterans have also asked, “Where in the world is the Fort Drum museum?”
Its new location strategically addresses that accessibility issue.

On Thursday, museum director Joseph E. “Sepp” Scanlin, said the museum’s former location on base became an issue especially after the attacks of 9/11, when military bases nationwide went on lockdown to the public with gates and fences installed.

“Then, it’s episodical that people come in,” Scanlin said. “That doesn’t only affect the general public. Veterans don’t necessarily have an ID card to get on base, particularly World War II veterans. So we were missing a huge part of our audience. And this happened across the Army.”