Writing Official Histories in the Digital Age The Surge Campaign, 2007-2008 Dr. Nicholas J. Schlosser Histories Directorate Conference of Army Historians 26 July 2017

The Tan Books: Iraq Subseries Iraq: Army Operations in the Persian Gulf (1990–2001) Invasion: Planning Through Execution (2001–2003) Combined Joint Task Force–7 (2003–2004) Multi-National Force–Iraq (2004–2006) Multi-National Force–Iraq (2007–2008) Multi-National Force–Iraq (2008–2009) U.S. Forces–Iraq (2010–2011) Building the Iraqi Army The Coalition Forces Land Component Command (2003) Order of Battle Pictorial Record

A Work in Progress The Center of Military History is currently establishing new standard operating procedures for writing official histories The Tan Books will be the first series produced under these new procedures The source base for histories of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom is comprised predominantly of digital records

Official History “Official history is an authoritative, documented study that draws on the Army’s experience to enhance perspective and understanding. As such, it goes beyond journalistic accounts and the memoirs of generals and decision makers. More than a chronicle of events, it explains why the Army did what it did.” —Tan Books Concept Plan

Current Historiography

Official Histories

Source Locations Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, PA Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC Combat Studies Institute, Ft. Leavenworth, KS Combating Terrorism Center, USMA, West Point, NY National Defense University Archive, Ft. McNair, DC Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC United States Government Accountability Office, Washington, DC Institute for the Study of War, Washington, DC

Sources Records acquired by Military History Detachments and Command Historians Oral histories obtained by field historians Career interviews Records submitted by units Personal papers CRS and GAO Reports on the state of the Iraq War

Sources Unit After Action Reviews Briefings Operations Orders, Planning Orders, Execution Orders, Fragmentary Orders Emails and PST Files Campaign and Operations Plans Oral Histories Videos (Interviews, gun camera footage) Intelligence Summaries Story-boards Battle Updated Assessments Captured Records

Challenges Digital documents often exist as they were collected by the MHDs Briefings frequently provide lots of data, but little context Units use a variety of formats for After Action Reviews and Lessons Learned Reports Historians of OIF need to be their own archivists Research driven by search terms and phrases Time Scholars need to be disciplined with regards to the scope and depth of the history they are writing

(Re)setting the Narrative There is no such thing as a “definitive history” Primary focus is on the major corps, division, and brigade-level operations Supporting operations (logistics, civil affairs, detention, medical, aviation) will be addressed in the history, but are not the focus Producing the Tan Books will require input from the entire Army historical program

Questions? Nicholas J. Schlosser nicholas.j.schlosser.civ@mail.mil 202-685-2058