REQUIREMENT 1:

1. SUBJECT: Military History Detachment (MHD) Information Paper

2. PURPOSE: Inform the Brigade Commander on MHD to support their operations.

3. DISCUSSION: The MHD collects historical material during combat and

contingency operations for later use in writing the official history. The MHD provides

comprehensive historical support to the command, and MHD is responsible for

historical functions IAW ATP 1-20 (Military History Operations) and AR 870-5

(Military History: Responsibilities, Policies, and Procedures). The MHD team

encompasses a team commander (Major), noncommissioned officer in charge

(Sergeant First Class), and public affairs specialist (Staff Sergeant).

a. MHD Operations:

(1) In general, the MHD should be able to do the following functions:

 Establish a centrally managed collection plan that captures, catalogs,

and preserves relevant documents, interviews, photographs, and media for

research purposes. The MHD collection plan includes collecting historical documents

and materials related to operations or actions and photographing personnel, locations,

terrain, and activities of Army units.

 Advise and coordinate with the command historian about collecting and

keeping artifacts and the historical collection, research, and promulgation of

information.

 Execute an active Oral History Program by conducting and recording

oral history interviews to preserve accounts of events and activities during this

deployment and the evolution of the command and subordinate units.

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  Provide the Commander with prompt and accurate historical research

and analyses of selected operations, battles, activities, or problems supporting mission

requirements. MHD works include writing historical summaries and developing

annotated chronologies of activities and functions.

 Advise commanders and their staff on the employment of MHDs and

military history operations, including command and unit historians' aid in developing

plans and orders. Advising also includes coordinating the activities of MHDs with

supported and adjacent commands and units and collaboration with the history

community of Interest.

(2) In general, the MHD should NOT be able to do the following functions:

 The MHD is not a substitute for the command historian, who manages the

command history program in all aspects.

 The MHD does not prepare historical command reports, develop

command or unit histories or publications, or manage command historical files and

records.

b. MHD Importance to the Brigade:

(1) MHDs collect historical information across the force.

(2) MHDs send historical documents, materials, oral history recordings, and

transcripts collected to the Center of Military History (CMH) for processing and

archiving.

(3) The most critical aspect of MHD operations requires careful explanation and

coordination concerning the mission of directed collection. This mission needs MHDs to

focus on elements of command or unit activities that differ from the chronological

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recording of operations or actions. Chronological recording of processes or actions is

the responsibility of the command or unit historian.

c. How the Brigade can best support the MHD:

(1) The command historian will host a pre-deployment survey with the MHD

Commander to learn about our past, ongoing, and planned operations, identify key

personnel for the team, and determine logistic and support requirements for their

deployment operations.

(2) The Army will attach the MHD under Operational Control for the deployment

duration. Our Brigade must supply all the administrative, logistic, and operational

support required for the MHD to conduct its missions. When deployed, the MHD will

need logistic and security support to integrate individual historians into our subordinate

units. We must ensure that the understanding of and coordination for MHD operations is

at all levels of command.

(3) The Brigade Commander will exercise command authority over the MHDs

during the deployment, reporting to the Executive Officer to execute their specified

missions. The Brigade Commander will employ the MHD according to their capabilities

and the nature of their assigned task.

4. ENDSTATE: IAW the command historian program, MHD operations provide a

complete historical accounting of the breadth of the command's deployment history

coupled with the depth of collection afforded by an MHD for the Army Historical

Program.

5. RECOMMENDATION: Support the MHD during the deployment to enable their

full complement of capabilities for the Brigade.