Every year the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center accomplishes its mission with the aid of its talented volunteers. Volunteers perform duties in the archives and museum, support our patron service activities and help with events. There are many different Volunteer opportunities at the USAHEC. Some of them include:

Research Volunteers: The USAHEC receives hundreds of research inquiries from all over the United States and from around the world each year. Our dedicated corps of Volunteer researchers responds to these inquiries on a daily basis.

Archival Volunteers: Qualified Volunteers and Interns help the USAHEC by processing books, assisting the conservation staff, and archiving several important collections, including our tens of thousands of military publications.

Docent (tour guide) Volunteers: Docent Volunteers are one of the USAHEC's most important public-facing aspects. Our docents act as tour guides in the Visitor and Education Center and outside on the Army Heritage Trail, and help visitors find their way around the USAHEC campus.

NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OR TRAINING IS REQUIRED to volunteer at USAHEC. Training is provided to volunteers as needed, and of course, we encourage those with specialized experience to donate their time and effort to the USAHEC mission! The USAHEC appreciates the valuable service our volunteers perform and we recognize that service through our annual luncheon, awards plaques and other special programs. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the volunteer coordinator via email or phone: 717-245-4491.

Through our academic internship program, the USAHEC offers students opportunities for college credit, as well as the chance to gain experience outside normal academic programs. Currently, the USAHEC's academic internship program is unpaid. Undergraduate and graduate student opportunities for credit or experience provide hands-on training in applied history as practiced in a working repository. Opportunities are based on the USAHEC's needs, staff availability, and student interest. At this time, internship opportunities are available in many different areas within the organization. These include working with Visitor and Education Services guiding tours, leading education programs and creating educational materials used later by visiting students. Other opportunities include collection processing (cataloging, boxing, using preservation techniques, inventorying), conservation work, processing photograph collections, and working with audio/visual materials. Academic backgrounds or experience in the fields of American, military, public, and applied history are helpful.

All applicants (for credit or experience) need to submit an application form and a letter of interest. For academic credit, students must also provide a letter of recommendation from a faculty member. The intern and the USAHEC will work out a mutually agreeable schedule and complete a written agreement outlining responsibilities. Please click here to see a list of available internship positions at the USAHEC.

For USAHEC summer internship opportunities: Note that applicants interested in summer internships (May through September) should provide all application materials by the end of February each year. Responses will be provided by the end of March. This is necessary because of the limited number of opportunities available. Applicants interested in working outside of this period should apply no less than 60 days prior to start of proposed internship. To discuss current internship opportunities, please email the internship coordinator or call 717-245-3803.