[1][2] USCBS is a membership organization governed by a board of directors composed of prominent cultural property professionals in the areas of law, museums, libraries, archivists,[3] conservation, archaeology, education and architecture.

USCBS Board members, Nancy Wilkie and James Reap, serve on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee[4] of the U.S. Department of State.

It functions in a similar capacity as the Red Cross (which provides humanitarian relief), by supporting U.S. implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention, which requires the protection of cultural heritage in danger from armed conflict or natural disasters worldwide.

A group of cultural heritage professionals have "gathered together under the banner of the US Committee of the Blue Shield",[8] bringing their civilian skills to help the military where they are lacking in personnel.

[14] On September 10, 2013, USCBS issued a letter to President Barack Obama which requested that cultural property in Syria be protected and that the trade in its looted artifacts be prohibited.

This legislation, which became law in 2016, imposes import restrictions on cultural materials removed illegally from Syria after March 2011, the beginning of the civil war in that country.

The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti created a situation where volunteers and members of USCBS traveled to the area and were instrumental in setting up a conservation center to help protect cultural artifacts affected by the quake.