What Is The U.S. Army’s “Treasure Room?”

The Army has a large stockpile of outdated, outmoded weapons stored at Virginia’s Ft. Belvoir – but not because it expects to ever use these old weapons. The firearms, and thousands of other military artifacts, are in a storage facility awaiting the completion of The Center of Military History. (See our October 2014 post about this museum.)

The storage facility, fondly referred to as the Treasure Room, contains some very unusual items in addition to old weapons, and Business Insider lists some of the most exceptional, including:

• Uniform items belonging to the Buffalo Soldiers, the legendary African American soldiers who served on the American frontier immediately after the Civil War.
• Enemy flags and propaganda captured in wartime.
• Paintings created by active-duty soldiers, depicting their interpretations of war and military life.

Business Insider’s story includes a video showing some of the historic artifacts in their current storage racks, with commentary from some of the dedicated historians and artists who work in the facility – an inspiring preview of the collections which will eventually be available for public viewing.

Photo © Daniel Thornburg – Fotolia