Oral History in the U.S. Army

Oral History in the U.S. Army Robert Mages Chief, Oral History Branch U. S. Army Military History Institute Army Heritage and Education Center 950 Soldiers Drive Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013-5021 717.245.4054 robert.mages@us.army.mil http://www.usahec.org

Army Heritage and Education Center Outline • Introduction to the Army History Program (AHP) • Defining Army Oral History • Oral History in the U.S. Army: Programs and Uses • Existing challenges and the way ahead

Army Heritage and Education Center AHP Rules of the Road Army Regulation 870–5 Historical Activities Military History: Responsibilities, Policies, and Procedures Headquarters Department of the Army Washington, DC 21 September 2007 UNCLASSIFIED • Doctrine and regulation define roles and scope of work. • General guidelines common to all. • Not prescriptive, allows for decentralized execution and flexible response to unit needs.

Army Heritage and Education Center AHP Rules of the Road Army Regulation 870–5 Historical Activities Military History: Responsibilities, Policies, and Procedures Headquarters Department of the Army Washington, DC 21 September 2007 UNCLASSIFIED “Military history is the collective memory of a unit or an entire armed force . Its use by units and individuals can teach valuable lessons from their recent past or provide unique insight into more distant times. This enhances unit performance and increases esprit de corps.” FM 1-20 Military History Operations “The AHP includes all historical activities within the active Army, the Army National Guard of the United States, and the U.S. Army Reserve. The mission of the AHP is to preserve, critically interpret, disseminate, and teach military history; provide historical advice; and stimulate historical mindedness within the Army and throughout the nation.” U.S. Army Regulation 870 – 5 “Military History”

Army Heritage and Education Center AHP - The Players • Center of Military History (CMH) • Military History Institute (USAMHI) • Combat Studies Institute (CSI) • Major Command Historians (MACOM) • Combatant Command Historians (COCOM) • Army Component Command Historians (ACC) Related Organizations Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) Operate in a Joint Environment Relationships are NOT hierarchical. Each organizations coordinates with and supports the other in order to accomplish the overall mission.

Army Heritage and Education Center AHP - The Players Schools & Institutes ACCH & MHD COCOMS MACOMS

“The lessons of war are painfully learned, yet with war over are quickly forgotten until it is time to begin learning them again by the same painful process as before. They can at least be chronicled by the historian, to facilitate the relearning.” Mark S. Watson

Army Heritage and Education Center Defining Army Oral History “Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events.” American Oral History Association “Oral history activities, an integral part of the Army History Program, focus on persons, events, and topics of historical interest to the Army. They are conducted to obtain historical information that may not otherwise be recorded. Oral history materials are official Army records.” U.S. Army Regulation 870 – 5 “Military History”

Army Heritage and Education Center Defining Army Oral History Oral History has been a primary source for military historians since ancient times. Thucydides – Pioneered the use of Oral History by interviewing soldiers and statesmen for his work “The Peloponnesian Wars” S.L.A. Marshall - The father of U.S. Army Oral History. He conducted post combat interviews, debriefing soldiers immediately after battle during World War Two.

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army PURPOSE • Augment the record by capturing information not often found in official documents. • Provide background information on important decisions. • Preserve and impart important lessons learned. • Document important personal insights and anecdotes. • Shed light on personalities and interactions that contributed to decisions and shaped events. Properly executed and researched oral history products can make significant contributions to the record

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army DESCRIPTION & DIRECTION • Center of Military History (CMH) provides guidance and oversight for all Army Oral History activities and programs. • Oral History is practiced across the U.S. Army. Each unit or organization executes programs relevant to their mission. • Army Oral History programs and products are an integral part of the AHP. Without these materials, reconstructing many events in the Army's history would be difficult. • U.S. Army Oral History products and publications = Edited Transcripts. The U.S. Army has accumulated a wealth of oral history interviews that have helped preserve the record of its activities in peace and war.

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army TYPES OF ORAL HISTORY Biographical: Focuses on an individual’s life and career. Army Historians usually conduct this type of interview after the individual has retired from government service. Subject: Concentrates on obtaining information about a single event or topic. Exit: Conducted near the end of a person’s tour in a particular assignment and centers on the issues and decisions unique to that job. After-Action: A specialized form of a subject interview. Its objective is to preserve information about military operations in the field. An “interview” is not considered an Oral History.

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army SIGNIFICANT PROGRAMS Combat After-Action Interview – Conducted in the field by Military History Detachments. Operational Lessons Learned – Collects important information from senior staff officers and commanders Senior Officer Oral History – Comprehensive examination of the lives and careers of retired, senior officers.

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army PRODUCTS & USES • Oral History material is used in nearly every AHP publication. • Oral History collections and lessons learned volumes are distributed throughout the force.

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army PRODUCTS & USES

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army Accessing the collections Combat Studies Institute, Operational Lessons Learned (OLE) transcripts can be found online http://cgsc.leavenworth.army.mil/carl/contentdm/home.htm

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army Accessing the collections U.S. Army Military History Institute Oral History Transcripts can be found online http://www.ahco.army.mil/site/index.jsp

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army CURRENT CHALLENGES • Digitization and multi-media. • Classification and access. • Sharing across organizations and programs.

Army Heritage and Education Center Oral History in the U.S. Army CONCLUSION • The U.S. Army has a long tradition of utilizing oral history to build the historical. • Oral History programs seek to obtain historical information that may not otherwise be recorded. • Oral History products are widely used in the preparation of official histories and internal studies. • Oral History activities and programs are an integral part of the AHP.

“It often happens that those who discuss war, taking the weapon for the starting point, assume unhesitatingly that the man called to serve it will always use it as contemplated and ordered by the regulations. But such a being, throwing off his variable nature to become an impassive pawn, an abstract unit in the combinations of battle, is a creature born of the musings of the library and not a real man. Man is flesh and blood; he is body and soul. And, strong as the soul often is, it cannot dominate the body to the point where there will not be a revolt of the flesh and mental perturbation in the face of destruction.” Colonel Ardant du Picq

Oral History in the U.S. Army