INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Trident Challenge is among the new displays the Navy SEAL Museum unveiled on Monday, April 20 at a reception celebrating its $2.2 million expansion. The interactive display gives folks a chance to try their hands at planning SEAL missions. Those whose missions fail go back to BUD/S Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training.
“We’ve taken the museum to another level,” Rick Kaiser, executive director, “Now it’s a first-class, professional [museum]. It’s impressive.”
The museum, soon to celebrate its 30th anniversary, is also planning a fourth building on its campus at 3300 N. State Road A1A, North Hutchinson Island. An additional cost of $4 million, and another $4 million to set it up with displays. Local state representatives and senators are trying to get the Florida Legislature to establish funding for the expansion.
Kaiser said the museum has about 13,500 square feet of indoor exhibit area. Among its displays are the Maersk Alabama lifeboat. SEAL snipers famously saved Captain Richard Phillips from Somalian pirates on that lifeboat in 2009. Last November, the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Night Stalkers, flew a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk to the museum for display.
New displays include more SEALs weapons, and lots of history about the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011. SEALs killed bin Laden during a raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
“We have a new 9/11 display and it explains how 9/11 affected SEAL teams and Special Forces,” Kaiser said.
This is the museum’s third expansion. The first was in 1992. The second was in 2012.
Fort Pierce is where the Navy established its Amphibious Training Base in 1943, and the Navy Scouts and Raiders — the predecessors to SEALs — were born. By the time the training facility closed, about 140,000 trainees went through it.
About 60,000 people visit the museum annually. In February, Michael Howard, former executive director, openly advocated in the press for moving the SEAL museum to Virginia or California. Kaiser said no one with a vote is backing the plan. “The museum is in Fort pierce to stay, and now there is a lot more to see.”
The museum is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from 12 to 4 p.m. It’s on the web at www.navysealmuseum.org.
On Monday, May 25, the museum will have a Memorial Day commemoration, starting at 10 a.m. Seating is limited, so early arrival is suggested.