Fort Sill is retiring its iconic Artillery Half Section, the installation’s historic equestrian ceremonial unit, and plans to continue downsizing or perhaps close the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark Museum.
The actions were attributed to Army-wide modernization and resource alignment efforts. “This transition allows Fort Sill to better allocate resources in support of the Army’s evolving mission,” a spokesman said.
According to Stars and Stripes, a daily American military newspaper that report on matters concerning members of the U.S. armed forces and their communities, “It’s part of an ongoing shift from the counterterrorism operations of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan toward the national security threats from China, Russia and Iran.”
“We are working diligently to identify suitable new homes for the [Half Section’s] horses and will keep our community partners informed throughout this process,” the Fort Sill spokesman said.
The changes “do not affect the Fires Center of Excellence’s core priorities: transforming in contact, expanding Initial Military Training capacity, and providing unwavering support to warfighting readiness,” the spokesman continued. “Fort Sill remains committed to honoring our legacy while advancing our mission to train and equip the force for the future fight.”
The U.S. Army plans to sunset Military Working Equid (MWE) programs across multiple installations, including Fort Sill’s Field Artillery Half-Section.
According to the Army’s Office of the Chief of Public Affairs (OCPA), installation commanders will have one year to transfer, facilitate adoption, or donate the MWEs to vetted owners, as mandated by federal law. Half-section Soldiers will return to their units upon completion of the transfer.
Additionally, OCPA says, “Fort Sill will have six months to provide a disestablishment plan to Headquarters, Department of the Army; all plans and proposals not using Army appropriated funds will be considered.”
“We know how much the Artillery Half Section and Fort Sill’s National Historic Landmark Museum mean to this community and our nation’s history,” said Gene Love of Lawton, a retired lieutenant colonel and a board member of Friends of Fort Sill, a local nonprofit. “If this truly is the final decision by the Army, Friends of Fort Sill, along
Turn to FORT SILL, p5 with community partners, will look at private funding options to preserve the Artillery Half Section.”
Army transforming “In support of Army transformation and a focus on directing resources toward readiness and lethality, the Center of Military History has begun a consolidation and reduction of Army museums, a process that will continue through Fiscal Year 2029,” Army officials announced.
The Army Museum Enterprise (AME) will reduce from 41 museum activities at 29 locations to 12 field museums and four training support facilities at 12 locations.
“In the current AME, a substantial maintenance backlog and insufficient staffing prevent our museums from reaching their fullest potential as educational and historical resources. These challenges also pose significant risk to our ability to care for the Army’s priceless artifact collection, which is one of the world’s largest.”
The future Army Museum Enterprise is designed to “best support Soldier training and public education within our available budget and professional staff.” The consolidation plan “ensures the widest possible access to the highest quality museums within available Army resources.”
Specific closure dates and procedures have not been determined, the Army stated. The Center of Military History “is committed to maintaining communications with affected local communities and commands, and to addressing stakeholder concerns.” As soon as a timeline of closures and consolidations of specific museums is set, “we will provide the information.”
Local and area residents “have heard about the Army’s plans to close the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark Museum (FSNHLM),” said Brenda Spencer-Ragland, a Realtor who previously served as president and chief executive officer of the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce after serving for 33 years with the U.S. Army as a senior civilian.
“These are the buildings around the Old Post Quadrangle from its founding as a Cavalry post. There are no current plans to close the Field Artillery Museum or the Air Defense Training Support Facility. We hope that the plan to leave these two museums alone remains in place.”
The heritage of southwest Oklahoma “is closely tied to” the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark Museum, Spencer-Ragland said. “It is a local, state and national treasure.”
She urged supporters of the half section and the museum “to write our congressmen and senators and request their support in reversing this decision before it is too late. We are being informed that the Secretary of the Army may soon visit Fort Sill, so there is some time sensitivity involved if you wish to join our campaign.”
Following are some talking points you can include if you desire and to help you with any other advocacy you may choose to engage in,” she wrote.
• The FSNHLM is the most complete, original Indian Wars fort in existence in the U.S.
• Its primary mission is Soldier education for Basic Combat Trainees via general Army history.
•Since the first of this year, 5,745 BCT Soldiers have been through the facilities. The projected number for Fiscal Year 2025 was 18,000, increasing to 22,000 in FY26.
• The secondary mission is accountability of a tremendous collection of artifacts. The facility had already begun a downsizing of this collection. Most of those were items that did not have direct historic ties to Fort Sill or the southwest Oklahoma area.
Since 2015 the collection has decreased from 25,000 items to 15,000. The plan is to reduce by another 6,000, for a total of 9,000 remaining items.
• The Army is not going to achieve any significant savings by closing the museum, because the buildings are a national landmark and cannot be demolished. These historic buildings will still require upkeep and maintenance.
Bands downsizing “Just like the recent loss of the 77th Army Band, we are concerned over what seems to be ‘death by a thousand small cuts,’” Spencer- Ragland wrote.
Although at least one local critic blamed the loss of Fort Sill’s band on the Biden administration, Stars and Stripes reported that the Army broke up four of its active-duty bands “as the service adjusts what jobs are most needed given its smaller size and the prospect of looming wars.”
At Fort Sill and three other U.S. installations, the bands checked their inventory and distributed it to other bands in the Army, National Guard and Reserve while also making certain that every musician was reassigned. The four Army bands didn’t have the reach of other bands or could be backfilled by bands in the Army Reserve or National Guard, the Army said.
There are 51 bands in the Army National Guard and 13 in the Army Reserve, according to the service. Military bands date to the Revolutionary War, and their heraldry and tradition have a strong hold in the armed forces.
Each of the four Army bands hosted one final farewell concert for the community. The 77th Army Band at Fort Sill closed operations with its farewell concert on Sept. 20, 2024, at McMahon Memorial Auditorium in Lawton, concluding 69 years of musical excellence at Fort Sill.
“It’s always sad to the band,” said Lt. Col. Treg Ancelet, commandant of the Army School of Music and chief of Army Bands. “It hits home for a lot of these alumni, even current soldiers, because this is part of their identity and they have so much pride in that.”
The 164 Soldiers affected were reassigned to the other 17 bands that remain in the active-duty Army, many of which were operating below their authorized amount of band members of about 42 soldiers, Ancelet said.
Many types of units have been operating with fewer soldiers than authorized because the Army’s roughly 445,000 soldiers have been working within a force structure made for 494,000.