By Priscilla Campbell

Stephanie Bandy began her ORISE appointment at Fort Hood, Texas in February of 2000 with an assignment to develop and implement a Public Outreach and Education program for the Fort Hood Cultural Resource Management Team. Bandy, equipped with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Texas A&M, a certificate in historic preservation from Goucher College, and a master’s in anthropology from East Carolina University, was up to the task. “An integral part of any successful cultural resource management program is public outreach,” says Bandy. “This is especially important when conducting CRM for the military. We recognize the fact that many of our military personnel view us as an impediment to the training mission, and it is our job to heighten their awareness about the resources on the installation and their significance.” 

This is a bit of an understatement. Fort Hood, located between Waco and Austin, Texas, covers 220,000 acres (349 square miles) and is a premier training facility for the Army. Training activities include tank and mobile infantry maneuvers, artillery firing, helicopter tactical training and large scale mock offensives. Co-existing with this heavy military usage are 1,102 prehistoric archaeological sites and 1,120 historic archaeological sites. Fort Hood’s cultural resources team maps, certifies, registers and preserves these sites in a carefully orchestrated program that integrates appreciation of cultural resource assets with the Army’s large-scale training mission. Bandy’s role includes instructing a portion of the soldiers’ mandatory Environmental Management Course and scheduling VIP tours for commanders and upper level staff during archaeological excavations on Fort Hood lands.

Bandy notes, “It is also important to interact with the general public and the schools. This is

 one of the many ways the Army can give something back to the community and provide expertise for school programs.”  Over the past 18 months, Bandy has developed a variety of school programs, including classroom curricula, in-class presentations, teacher workshops, and school tours of the Fort Hood CRM lab and archaeological sites. Bandy also gives talks at local museums, historical and archaeological society meetings. She serves as point of contact for the former residents of Fort Hood lands who had to move out of the area when the Army acquired the property in the 1940s and 1950s. Bandy provides information about family properties and cemeteries, listening intently when former residents reminisce about living in the area. Bandy periodically coordinates with Range Control to identify lulls in training maneuvers and ensure former residents safe access to their old homesteads and cemeteries.

Fort Hood’s CRM Team actively participates in Texas Archaeology Awareness Month, hosting exhibits, lunchtime seminars, and opportunities to work in the field with practicing archaeologists. In conjunction with the installation’s Environmental Division, the CRM Team helps to sponsor a week-long Earth Day celebration targeting elementary school children. With soldiers as tour guides and chaperones, more than 500 children participate in hands-on activities and tour environmental displays.

Of her ORISE experience to date, Bandy reports, “Implementing the Public Outreach Program has bettered my skills in public relations, teaching and marketing, as well as archaeology. My mentor has worked to include me in projects, meetings and daily operations of the CRM program so that I may gain management experience.” 

Bandy’s mentor, Dr. Cheryl Huckerby, is a former ORISE participant who understands the value of a quality research participation experience, both for the participant and for the host facility. Huckerby says of Bandy, “Stephanie’s skills, dedication to preserving our heritage and understanding of the military mission creates a dynamic presentation that holds people’s interest and encourages them to get involved. ORISE provides opportunities to refine skills through active participation and particular training opportunities that are not always available in the workforce. The combination of these experiences enhances innovation and new ideas for Fort Hood’s CRM public education program.” 

Bandy, who has up to 15 months remaining as an ORISE participant, plans to develop an interpretive center and nature trail in partnership with Fort Hood’s Natural Resources Division; expand school programming to include field trips to historic structures, sites, and cemeteries on the installation; establish student participation in oral history interviews with former residents; and design a “train the trainer” summer workshop for local teachers. For more information about Bandy’s projects at Fort Hood, contact her at Stephanie.Bandy@hood.army.mil.