Columbus State University is strengthening its commitment to military history education and preservation with the creation of the Lt. Gen. Harold & Julia Moore Institute for the Study of the American Military Experience.

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved the naming of the new multidisciplinary institute during its Oct. 7 meeting, following a request from Columbus State University.

The institute will focus on teaching, research and public engagement surrounding the role of the United States military in American society. University officials say the institute will build on Columbus State’s existing military history programs while helping preserve important historical records and providing additional educational opportunities for students and the public.

Columbus State’s location in Columbus places the university near Fort Benning and the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, as well as the National Infantry Museum and the National Civil War Museum. The university says those connections have helped establish Columbus State as a destination for students, historians, military professionals and academics studying the experiences of service members and the broader influence of the military on American society.

“Columbus State University is uniquely positioned to lead the national conversation about the American military experience,” said Dr. Dustin Anderson, provost and chief academic officer. Anderson said the institute will help deepen understanding of the military’s role in American democracy, preserve the stories of those who have served and prepare future leaders and informed citizens.

Dr. David Kieran will serve as the institute’s inaugural director. Kieran has been a Columbus State faculty member since 2022 and serves as the university’s Col. Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University Chair of Military History.

Kieran said the institute will give Columbus State an opportunity to further establish itself as a leading military history institution in the Southeast while encouraging members of the public, both in and out of uniform, to better understand military service and its impact on American communities and families.

The Moore Institute will also serve as a central hub connecting several military-related programs and initiatives already operating at Columbus State.

Those include the Col. Richard R. Hallock Endowment for Military History, the Myriam & Richard Hallock Distinguished Lecture in Foreign Policy & National Security Endowment, the university’s Archives & Special Collections, the ROTC Cougar Battalion, graduate degree partnerships with U.S. Army professional education programs and academic and operational partnerships with Fort Benning.

The university’s archives also include nationally significant collections documenting American military history from the Revolutionary War through the present day, including papers and artifacts connected to former Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh, Army social worker James Martin and Robert McNamara “whiz kid” Pierre Sprey.

Initial funding for the institute includes philanthropic support from the Donahoe and Foster families, including Maj. Gen. (ret.) Patrick Donahoe, a former Fort Benning commanding general, and his siblings Maureen and Keith. The funding will help protect and preserve military history artifacts and oral histories documenting generations of service members and military families.

The institute also received $175,000 in bipartisan federal funding legislation for military history preservation earlier this year, with assistance from Georgia U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.

The institute is named in honor of Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” Moore and Julia “Julie” Moore, whose lives and military service were deeply connected to Columbus and Fort Benning.

Columbus State President Stuart Rayfield described the Moores’ three decades of dedicated service as an enduring example for students and the community. She said the naming reflects the university’s commitment to servant leadership, pointing to Hal Moore’s battlefield leadership and Julie Moore’s advocacy for military families.

Hal Moore’s connection to Columbus began after his graduation from West Point, when he completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning. He returned in 1951 for the Infantry Officer Advanced Course.

Moore later played a key role in developing airmobile tactical doctrine while serving with the 11th Air Assault (Test) Division. He is best known for commanding the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment during the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley, the first significant engagement between U.S. and North Vietnamese forces. The battle later became the focus of the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, which starred Mel Gibson as Moore and was based on Moore’s 1992 book, We Were Soldiers Once … and Young.

While Hal Moore served in Vietnam, Julie Moore and their children lived in Columbus. Julie became an advocate for military families and helped push for changes to casualty notification procedures after becoming concerned about how families were notified of wartime deaths. Her efforts, alongside other military spouses, contributed to the Army establishing official in-person casualty notification teams led by uniformed officers.

Both Hal and Julie Moore are buried together at Fort Benning’s Main Post Cemetery, further cementing their connection to the Columbus military community.

Greg Moore, one of the couple’s five children, said the institute will help preserve and explain the connection between the American military and the communities and families surrounding those who serve.

“It is this connection between the American military and Americans that my parents truly loved and honored in their lives and infused into their community,” Moore said. “Our family is equally honored that Columbus State shares this conviction and purpose.”

Columbus State University plans to officially celebrate the founding of the Moore Institute and its honorary naming during a Veterans Day program on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the PowerHouse in Columbus.

The program will begin at 7 p.m. and will feature Patrick Murphy, the first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, who later served as the 32nd under secretary of the Army and briefly as acting secretary of the Army.