If you’re stationed at Fort Bragg or live nearby and have base access, the JFK Special Warfare Museum is a must-visit. For those interested in war and military history, this historical museum is right up your alley. Explore three main regiments and the U.S.’s role in war history through a 3-D learning facility that’s sure to impress with each visit.

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History of the JFK Special Warfare Museum

This JFK museum falls under the jurisdiction of the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and is maintained by the United States Army Center of Military History. The original plan for the museum, which is located on Fort Bragg, was to ensure that the Army Special Forces always remembered their long heritage and respected their vital role within the greater Army. As the decades went on, the mission expanded to highlight their achievements, as well as those of PSYOP and CA units. Between 1962 and 1978, the museum was hosted by a small, humble wooden building. For some time, there was also a tiny JFK Special Warfare Museum gift shop in the building for visitors. Regardless, for a while, the museum was running low on funds and relied heavily on donations to a drop box to continue operations. At the end of the Vietnam War, many feared the museum would be demolished, as was the fate of many WWII-era buildings of the same type around the time. With an expansion of nearby roads, the museum was closed from 1978 to 1980, after which expansion began slowly yet steadily. Since then, through the nation’s varying conflicts and the ever-growing importance of special forces ops in ensuring American and allied safety, the museum expanded rapidly.

Planning Your Visit to the JFK Special Warfare Museum

Wanna experience history in person? As long as you have base access, it’s easy. To start, there’s no admission fee; everyone can access the museum for

free

. Here are the museum’s hours of operation:

• Gallery hours:

  Monday-Friday: 1100-1600

• Training Support hours:

  Monday-Friday: 0800-1600

The museum is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on all federal holidays. However, they’re open for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Veterans Day. To find the museum, simply go to the corner of Zabitosky Road and Ardennes Street, right across the road from JFK Memorial Chapel. The museum is in building D-2815. You can park either behind the museum or across the street at the chapel. Here’s the official JFK Special Warfare Museum address: 3004 Ardennes Street Stop A, Fort Bragg, NC 28310 If you’re bringing a big group in an oversized vehicle, you’re asked to call the Museum office ahead of your visit for parking information at

1 (910) 432-5272

.

Collections

There’s a lot to see at the museum. Here are just some of the items they collect for display from their three regiments (Special Forces, PSYOP, and CA):

• Equipment.
• Photographs.
• Paper ephemera.
• Weapons.
• Uniforms.
• Medals.
• Accouterments.

Many of the collected items are displayed on mannequins, giving viewers a look at what some of these items would have looked like in their own day and age. There’s so much to see at this Fort Bragg museum that there are even some items displayed on the ceilings! Suffice it to say, a visit to the JFK Special Warfare Museum is definitely worth your time, especially so if you’re a member of Special Forces, PSYOP, or CA.

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