Archaeology often includes working with multiple organizations to conduct research, establish preservation and management plans, and make sites accessible to the public. I have spent years cultivating many partnerships to achieve these goals. Some examples of the partnerships can be seen below.
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s (DPAA) mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation. To help accomplish this mission, the Partnership and Innovations Directorate of DPAA creates relationships and partnerships with organizations that can assist. One such partnership is with East Carolina University. As part of our partnership, I have led missions to Saipan and Italy.
For more about this visit DPAA Partnership.
Task Force Dagger Foundation (TFDF)
Task Force Dagger Foundation (TFDF) is a non-profit that helps Special Forces operators and their families. East Carolina University formed a Joint Recovery Team (JRT) with TFDF in 2018 in order to provide medically retired Special Forces veterans with hands-on training in WWII history and archaeological and run field missions in support of DPAA.
Visit the Task Force Dagger Foundation page for more information on this partnership.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
In 2017 I developed War in the Pacific: Difficult Heritage with Dr. Anne Ticknor (College of Education), and Dr. Anna Froula (Department of English) to explore, understand, and personalize war and conflict heritage for Pacific Island veterans. The project supports NEH’s Standing Together initiative for “helping Americans to understand the experiences of service members and in assisting veterans as they return to civilian life”. This project then led to a second NEH grant-funded project with Dr. Anne Ticknor, Saipan’s Land and Sea: Battle Scars & Sites of Resilience, which will give 72 K-12 teachers the opportunity to learn about the WWII in the Pacific. Teachers will be guided on methods to incorporate WWII heritage and narratives in their teaching.
For more information on these two projects, visit NEH Dialogues on the Experience of War, and NEH Education Project: Saipan’s Land and Sea: Battle Scars and Sites of Resilience.