Culver Military Academy’s distinctive artillery trucks are being restored thanks to anonymous gift

Culver Military Academy’s distinctive M35 2-ton, and M37 ¾ -ton trucks, used by generations of cadets to learn to drive manual-transmission vehicles, will be refurbished to make the 70-year-old vehicles more reliable after the school received a six-figure anonymous gift to pay for the work.

The restoration work is being done after it became increasingly difficult even for Culver’s adept motor pool staff to keep up repairs needed for a fleet of 14 Korean War-era vehicles that are driven hard by cadets.

“We have an average of 30 cadets a year who have never driven a stick in their lives learning to drive on them,” said Master Sgt. Deane Norris, the Artillery battalion military mentor.

The Artillery program at Culver, one of the top boarding schools in the United States, is unique. Artillery alumni Christian Knutzen ’93 and Scott Brooks ’93 did research and could not find another high school where students drive large military vehicles and fire cannons.

 “It’s a great opportunity for character development,” Knutzen said. “That transition of being young men driving these five-gear, huge gasoline-powered machines, while being responsible for keeping cadets in the back safe while driving around at 25 to 30 mph is a big responsibility.”

Knutzen said he and Brooks began talking about the need to raise funds for the aging fleet when they were on campus for their 30^th reunion two years ago. Knutzen called Brooks several months later and told him he was going to contact school officials about that plan and he wanted Brooks to join him.

“I want to work together to move something forward and give back to the school. He totally agreed and came on board,” Knutzen said.

Andy Seddelmeyer, Ed.D., deputy head of schools, said the aging vehicles were keeping the school’s motor pool crew busy, so school officials began looking for companies who refurbish old military trucks.

They identified three companies in Indiana, North Carolina and Memphis, Tennessee, that could do the work, including refurbishing the engines, repairing the transmissions, replacing gauges, wheel seals and wiring, as well as replacing rusting metal on the truck bodies and worn out wood on benches and other areas of the trucks and installing power steering and disc brakes. Each company spent at least seven hours at Culver inspecting the trucks.

“We want to make sure that not only that the trucks run, but we’re able to count on them not only for 2025, but for 2035 and 2045,” Seddelmeyer said.

After the bids were submitted, the Memphis company was selected.

Culver’s Development Office engaged with a donor who agreed to pay the entire cost, Seddelmeyer said, adding “We are very grateful for this donor’s generosity with Culver.”