Although this event is over ten years old, it was our first time at this event.  Army Heritage Days is sponsored by the US Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) at Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, PA.  It was a much bigger event than we expected and was very well organized by the USAHEC staff.

The grounds were an existing walking path set up in chronological order outside the main museum and conference center.  There were stationary exhibits and the reenactment units were staged close to these exhibits.  Thus, the WWII soldiers were camped around the tanks and field pieces of the WWII era.  The Revolutionary units were camped at the reconstructed Redoubt #10 of Yorktown fame.  The Vietnam era units were grouped around the helicopters and tanks of that conflict.  There were no Napoleonic exhibits but we, and the 3eme Regiment d’Infanterie de Ligne, were camped between the Revolutionary camps and the Civil War camps.  The largest contingent was for the American Civil War.  It included an artillery unit that gave a firing demonstration on Sunday.  Continental light dragoons gave a riding and sword demonstration on Saturday.  We were impressed with the collection of armaments such as tanks, field guns (both German and US) and vehicles on display.

In addition to the stationary exhibits and the field demonstrations, there were frequent fly-overs of helicopters from Vietnam, and a C-47 and P-51 from WWII.

We set up our camp and exhibits in a manner similar to our Military Through the Ages (MTA) exhibit.  We were staffed by Jim Tate, Rich Miller and Bill Goumas.  The steady stream of spectators kept us busy both days.  It was estimated that we had over 3,000 spectators for the weekend.  Many people were familiar with the Sharpe’s Rifles book series and asked very good questions.  We discovered that many of the students from the Army War College at Carlisle came to the event with their families.  Most of the military were field grade officers and had an excellent grasp of military history to include European history.  Many spectators asked for our recruiting brochure.  There were several spectators who seemed to be interested in reenacting with us.  A lady from the Harrisburg, PA chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, wanted to contact us later to make a presentation to a chapter meeting.  Glenn Kaye of the Victorian Rifles stopped in to introduce himself, and explain the shooting competition of the VR group.

There were a dozen sutlers in attendance.  We met Roy Phillips (Tinman Roy) who is an excellent tinsmith.  There were two colonial craftsmen who were demonstrating the technique for rifling a gun barrel.  Another craftsman was carving wooden spoons.

We were allowed to camp and cook on the site.  The staff was very good about communicating with us and giving us news, firewood and straw.  The only misfortune  was a sudden summer rain and windstorm that arose at 3 PM on Sunday afternoon.  The staff alerted us to the incoming storm and allowed us to strike our tents and pack our gear as quickly as possible.

Based on the spectator interest, the publicity and exposure we gained at this event, it would be to our advantage to attend this event again.

Respectfully Submitted,

James Tate

Sjt, 95^th Rifles, 1^st Battalion, 2^nd Coy