Com-Central.net

Gentlemen,

John Hutterer, the President of the Ft. Snelling Military Museum, has finally had the time to check out all the photos I've posted and has read your comments. I've taken the liberty of pasting his e-mail to me below for your edification. John is open to 1-to-1 constructive comments and criticism and really, you won't meet a nicer guy.

"Bob,

Just a note to thank you for posting all of your photos to the AFV board. I finally had a chance to look at them. I had to forward your email to my home computer and then view the photos there, since the company that I work for decided that I can't look at the AFV website from our business computers. No big deal, but it added a few days to the time it took me to look at them. I noticed that some of the members of the forum had comments regarding the museum. Most were complimentary, and a couple were not so nice. Can't please everyone it seems. I would be happy to answer any questions that forum members might have, on a one-to-one basis, if you want to post my email address there. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to read every posting to the forum, so I can't respond as the postings appear.

If you would like to come out to the museum for another photo shoot, please feel free to do so. We can probably open up some of the artifacts so that you can get some interior pictures. Only a small number of the artifacts have been restored to the level that the V100 and Stuart have, but most of them still have all of the working parts installed.

John

John Hutterer
Sr Eng Lab Tech
Smiths Medical MDPM
1265 Greyfox Road
Saint Paul, MN 55112
Tel: 651-628-7107
Fax: 651-628-7406
www.smiths-medical.com
E-Mail: john.hutterer @ smiths-medical.com"


I'd guess that anyone from this DB who finds himself in the environs of Minneapolis/St. Paul and has the time to visit the FSMM would have the opportunity for providing input and having a good photo shoot.

Donations are always gratefully accepted. Just a theory, mind.

Bob,
Well, you can pass on that we don't call ourselves "curmudgeons" for nothing! We might seem brutal in our crotchitiness, but knowing what is required to bring and keep these vehicles in even a mild state of restoration, we have nothing but respect for those who try to keep collections from becoming artificial reefs or scrap metal. Considering the lamentations you hear about the state of the vehicles sitting in the elements at Aberdeen or Richardson Tank Park at Ft. Knox (not to mention the ones sprinkled around post there, or out in the sun at Ft. Irwin, where there are NO tanks indoors, and only one at Aberdeen), our (and my) comments have to be taken in context when considering the Ft. Snelling Military Museum. Fact is, we're all disappointed that all these vehicles can't be housed indoors in environmentally controlled conditions but the reality is, that's impossible. I wish I was as close(?) as Bob Smart, who is himself an hour and a half from where he can volunteer his efforts to a museum, or I'd gladly do so. Sadly, I'm a good 2-3 hours from anything like a grouping of tanks, and travel for a living.

The collection at Snelling is huge, and they've done a stellar job at restoring a few and preserving many from destruction. What we might can do as a group is raise awareness of this collection and maybe do something to improve the condition of what they have so we all have less to complain about and more to offer.

Does the collection have a "foundation" for financial contributions for the collection...

-From one Medical Technololgist and Laboratorist to another....(apparently)
Doug Kibbey, MT(ASCP)

Unfortunately this collection - which has a fine volunteer staff - is also likely to be a victim of BRAC. The reserve outfit & likely the collection is slated to go to Fort McCoy - which has a decent outdoors collection but no staff to speak of...

Neil

- Neil_Baumgardner

Unfortunately this collection - which has a fine volunteer staff - is also likely to be a victim of BRAC. The reserve outfit & likely the collection is slated to go to Fort McCoy - which has a decent outdoors collection but no staff to speak of...

Neil

Which places several of the current larger collections in uncertainty...Knox, Aberdeen, and now this one. You can read on several forums about concerns that people have about when and if these collections will be available for viewing as they go into storage/transport/limbo awaiting facilities on the "other end" which might or might not materialize. There is reasonable concern that some vehicles might disappear from view for indefinite periods, if not forever. The concern is not unreasonable.

- Doug_Kibbey

Sadly, I'm a good 2-3 hours from anything like a grouping of tanks, and travel for a living.

Your lucky - I'm either a long ferry or flight away from the nearest armour collection. If I really pushed it and the connections were just right I could get to Bovvy in about seven hours...

John Hutterer saw Neil's post and has this general reassurance to offer regarding the disposition of the FSSM collection.

"Bob,

Thanks for passing on the URL, and for posting my comments to the AFV board. I may end up joining the board on my home computer, just to take advantage of the knowledge base there, since we really only have a few members who are very knowledgeable about AFV's.

In response to the gentleman who asked if there is a foundation to support the FSMM...the volunteer organization is the financial arm of the museum. If someone is interested in making a contribution, the address is Fort Snelling Military Museum, 511 Constitution Avenue, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, 55111. We are an all volunteer group. Nobody receives any form of compensation for their work for the museum. Every penny that we earn goes to the operation of the museum and the restoration of the artifacts.

It is true that there is a possibility that the artifacts may be moved to Fort McCoy, but we hope that this will not happen. The 88th Reserve Readiness Command will be moving to Fort McCoy, but there will be an Engineer Brigade Headquarters coming in to take their place. There will still be a military presence at Fort Snelling. A representative from a higher headquarters came through about a month ago and evaluated both the FSMM and the Fort McCoy museum. The FSMM got much higher marks because it has an active volunteer group, it is open to the public on at least a limited basis, it has operational artifacts, and it is continuously working to restore more of the artifacts in the collection. Combine that with the fact that it would cost in excess of a million dollars to move the collection even the short distance to Fort McCoy, and it seems reasonable to believe that the museum will stay at Fort Snelling for a while yet. No promises, of course.

I would guess that Mr. Kibbey and I do share something in common in our jobs. I work in the R&D Department at Smiths Medical in Saint Paul. We manufacture patient-portable drug infusion pumps and I work in the Mechanical Engineering side of the lab, testing the design concepts that the Engineers come up with.

Thanks for passing on my comments. I'll have to try to find the time to sign up for the AFV board at home.

John

John Hutterer
Sr Eng Lab Tech
Smiths Medical MDPM
www.smiths-medical.com
E-Mail: john.hutterer @ smiths-medical.com"