The National Museum of Military Vehicles (NMMV) is partnering with the University of Wyoming to promote Wyoming tourism.
Dan Starks, the owner and founder of NMMV, is working specifically with the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Initiative (WORTH).
“With the WORTH initiative, my first thought was we can help enrich that program,” Starks said. “I would like to make sure that these luminaries know about us, and that we would like to mentor, develop, and create opportunities for young people.”
The NMMV is now just one of many local partners that will provide a series of internships for university students in the following fields of study outdoor recreation, tourism, hospitality, museum studies, and even mechanics
“We’ve created a restoration shop for the vehicles that go into the museum,” Starks said. “We got six positions there, five full-time and one part-time, and then it’s like well now we need more housing.”
Starks also notes that the museum, located in Dubois, is in a part of the state that does not have a lot of job opportunities and that the museum is just one way he, and his wife, can contribute to the community.
“In our retirement, some of the feedback we got from people is that there isn’t enough housing, and when young people get out of high school they have to leave town just to find a job,” Starks said. “So when we made the museum, we said this is part of an answer.”
The National Museum of Military Vehicles is located along Highway 26, which is en route to Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
“The real economic development challenge is ‘how do we get them to stop,’ and I said tongue-in-cheek that putting six tanks right at the driveway of Highway 26 will get someone to stop, whether they know we are there or not,” Starks said.
Last year, the NMMV saw approximately 40,000 visitors.
“We haven’t even had our grand opening yet,” Starks said. “Our main building is still under construction, with our last 14,000 square foot gallery to open on May 1st of this year.”
The grand opening of the National Museum of Military Vehicles is set for May 28, 2022, the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.
“I am thinking of it in terms of how our museum program can help the state’s initiative rather than how can the state’s initiative help us,” Starks said.
Starks said that the museum is not only an educational opportunity for students, but a way for him and his wife, Cynthia, to give back to the community and servicemen and women.
“The most gratifying reaction from veterans is when the storytelling in the museum touches them and they feel honored and respected,” Starks said. “Particularly, the Vietnam veterans are the group we can most impact right now.”
The museum works to create an immersive, authentic, and honorary Vietnam War section that ends with a spotlighted sign that reads: ‘Welcome home Vietnam veterans. Thank you for your service. Your stories of valor and sacrifice will be remembered forever by all that visit this museum.’
“There is a baby step towards making things right to a group of Americans that sacrificed more than and were treated worse than any other veteran group,” Starks said.
Working with veterans in Nevada is what actually led to the opportunity to buy the first tank Starks would ever purchase.
Starks said that with every vehicle he purchased, an extended amount of research would be put into it. Eventually, word-to-mouth brought a series of visitors to Starks’ private collection.
“My wife and I realized that this was connecting with people,” Starks said. “Then we said, let’s just do this in a public form so that way anyone can visit anytime.”
