HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS can fill the role of a military history detachment for a short period . Historians rarely have a chance to witness firsthand history in the making and the creation of the records they use as the foundation of their research . The chance to observe a theater army in action was unique , and we witnessed the skill and professionalism of U . S . Army soldiers , civilians , and contractors . I am proud to have had the privilege of working alongside them to help build a historical record of their accomplishments .
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the policy or position of the U . S . Army Center of Military History , the Department of the Army , the Department of Defense , or any agency of the U . S . government .
1 . Army Techniques Publication ( ATP ) 1-20 , Military History Operations ( Washington , DC : U . S . Government Publishing Office [ GPO ], 9 June 2014 ).
2 . Center for Army Lessons Learned ( CALL ) Handbook No . 09-22 , Commander ’ s Guide to Operational Records and Data Collection : Tactics , Techniques , and Procedures ( Fort Leavenworth , KS : CALL , March 2009 ).
3 . Collecting operational unit records helps facilitate soldier care by preserving records useful for processing benefits claims or conducting research studies .
4 . U . S . Army Central ( USARCENT ) perpetuates the lineage of Third Army , organized in 1918 , which saw extensive combat in Northern Europe during World War II . In 2006 , Third Army was redesignated as USARCENT . See “ Lineage and Honors ; Main Command Post and Operational Command Post Headquarters , United States Army Central ,” U . S . Army Center of Military History ( CMH ) website , 5 April 2011 , accessed 2 November 2016 , http :// www . history . army . mil / html / forcestruc / lineages / branches / army / usacentral . htm .
5 . “ U . S . Army Central / Third Army History ,” USARCENT website , accessed 27 October 2016 , http :// www . usarcent . army . mil / About-USARCENT / History /.
6 . Joint Publication 3-31 , Command and Control for Joint Land Operations ( Washington , DC : U . S . GPO , 24 February 2014 ), x . “ The designation of a JFLCC [ joint force land component commander ] normally occurs when forces of significant size and capability of more than one Service component participate in a land operation and the JFC [ joint force commander ] determines that doing this will achieve unity of command and effort among land forces .” A CFLCC [ coalition forces land component commander ] performs the same functions , but within a multinational force .
7 . ATP 1-20 , Military History Operations , 3-4 . Additional information on the organization and employment of military history detachments can be found in ATP 1-20 , chap . 4 , and Army Regulation ( AR ) 870-5 , Military History : Responsibilities , Policies , and Procedures ( Washington , DC : U . S . GPO , 21 September 2007 ). 8 . ATP 1-20 , Military History Operations , 1-2 . 9 . Ibid ., 5-7 . 10 . AR 25-400-2 , The Army Records Information Management System ( ARIMS ) ( Washington , DC : U . S . GPO , 2 October 2007 ). The U . S . Army in World War II series can be found on the CMH website ,
Notes
last modified 27 May 2011 , accessed 2 November 2016 , http :// www . history . army . mil / html / bookshelves / collect / usaww2 . html .
11 . William M . Yarborough , “ Undocumented Triumph : Gulf War Operational Records Management ,” The Journal of Military History 76 ( October 2013 ): 1431 – 32 ; CALL Handbook No . 09- 22 also contains a discussion on the breakdown of Army records management and its manifestation during the Persian Gulf War .
12 . AR 25-400-2 , The Modern Army Recordkeeping System ( MARKS ) ( Washington , DC : U . S . GPO , 15 October 1986 , now obsolete ). Subsequent editions of AR 25-400-2 were published before it was superseded by ARIMS .
13 . For additional information on operational records management during the Gulf War , see Yarborough , “ Undocumented Triumph : Gulf War Operational Records Management .”
14 . U . S . Army Center of Military History , U . S . Army Center of Military History Strategic Plan , 2015-2019 ( Washington , DC : U . S . Army Center of Military History , 2015 ), 4 . CMH has transferred a record copy of the Global War on Terrorism collection to the U . S . Army Records Management and Declassification Agency for accessioning to the National Archives and Records Administration .
15 . For more information about individual historians and teams , see ATP 1-20 , Military History Operations , para . 3-16 . Additional guidance relevant to our mission is in ATP 1-20 , chaps . 4 , 5 , and 6 . 16 . Ibid ., 6-5 . 17 . A fragmentary order is an abbreviated form of an operation order . 18 . Raising situational awareness by meeting leaders and attending regular meetings was recommended by ATP 1-20 , Military History Operations , and by former Army historians who had been deployed .
19 . For a list of the types of documents Army historians collect , see ATP 1-20 , Military History Operations , 5-1 – 5-2 .
20 . The requirement for military history detachments and field historians to send a copy of their collection to CMH is prescribed in AR 870-5 , Military History , para . 4-7 c ( 3 ), p . 10 ; see also ATP 1-20 , Military History Operations , 4-7 .
21 . Mailing records classified SECRET by official mail is authorized per AR 380-5 , Department of the Army Information Security Program ( Washington , DC : U . S . GPO , 29 September 2000 ), para . 8-3 .
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