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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Current Historiography

6. Official Histories

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. (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

12. Questions? Nicholas J. Schlosser nicholas.j.schlosser.civ@mail.mil