The National Museum of the United States Army: Tradition and Modernity in the Presentation of Historical Military Collections in the Context of Shaping National Identity and Protecting Historical Memory

This article critically analyses the mission, governance, exhibition strategies and security model of the National Museum of the United States Army (NMUSA), focusing on the institution’s role in shaping national identity and managing historical memory. The study draws on a March 2026 study visit, participant observation, semi-structured expert interviews and institutional and legal documents. The museum’s official statements and staff accounts are treated as empirical material requiring interpretation rather than as neutral descriptions of reality. Using Laurajane Smith’s concept of authorised heritage discourse, Tony Bennett’s analysis of the museum as an apparatus of cultural governance, Sharon Macdonald’s concept of difficult heritage and Robert N. Bellah’s theory of civil religion, the article examines how NMUSA legitimises the US Army through narrative selection, inclusive representation, institutional authority and emotional experience. The analysis finds that the museum makes previously marginalised soldiers visible but generally incorporates histories of segregation, discrimination, Japanese American internment and colonial violence into a reconciliatory narrative of loyalty, reform and national unity. Its immersive and multisensory technologies can increase accessibility and engagement, but they also create conditions for identification with the soldier’s perspective, the gamification of military action and the marginalisation of civilian suffering and political responsibility.