The mission of the Veterans Curation Program is to provide veterans with employment and job training through the rehabilitation and preservation of archaeological collections that are owned or administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and are considered part of our Nation’s patrimony. Most of these collections were excavated during the construction of reservoirs and other associated water control projects from 1947 to 1985. The VCP provides vocational training and temporary employment to disabled veterans, while simultaneously providing the Corps with a viable means of rehabilitating a portion of its archaeological collections to meet federal standards.

In 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District’s Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections (MCX-CMAC) implemented the VCP. There are currently four full service VCP laboratories, located in Alexandria, Virginia; Augusta, Georgia; St. Louis, Missouri; and San Mateo, California. Additionally, the VCP has two satellite locations at Texas State University’s Center for Archaeological Studies and at the University of Arkansas Museum.

Since the inception of the program, 700 veterans have been trained and employed by the program, with 91% of veterans have obtained employment or enrolled in colleges, universities, and certificate programs after leaving the program. Veterans have been hired by government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private corporations. Training offered through the VCP includes database management, report writing, digital assets management, digitizing records, records management, photography and scanning, objects inventory and tracking, and objects and records processing. 

* Numbers updated as of May 2022