"History is the last thing we care about during operations and the first thing we want afterwards. Then it is too late."
- Colonel William Ganoe, Chief Historian-Europe, World War II
Military historians have existed since the time of ancient Greece. American efforts to gather and preserve battle details originated during World War II, and have flourished since 1945. This proud tradition of documenting Army operations is carried on by today's Combat Historians.
The Combat Historian's mission is to create a historical collection for use by future writers of the Army's history. These field historians gather historically significant data and materials from the battlefield concurrent with military operations.
About the Combat Historian School
The Office of Army Reserve History is the proponent agency for the Combat Historian School (CHS), while the courses of instruction are conducted by the Army Reserve 84th Training Command. The school is responsible for Army military history detachment (MHD) and unit historian training, including all supporting ATRRS courses. The training is battle-focused and uses METL-based standards from Army doctrine.
The primary school curriculum is the Basic Combat Historian Qualification Course (BCHQC), which provides a thorough coverage of the basic concepts and techniques involved in collecting military history on the modern battlefield (historical methodology, oral history, and historical documents, artifacts and photograph collection). Through a hands-on systematic approach, personnel from all military service branches (Active, Reserve, and National Guard), as well as Department of Defense (DOD) civilians receive training on the critical skills required to perform their duties as a Combat Historian. Personnel attending the BCHQC must have a "SECRET" or higher security clearance. Upon successful completion, graduates of the BCHQC will receive a Service School Academic Evaluation Report (AER) (DA Form 1059) as qualified Combat Historians.
Combat Historians that are assigned to MHD's will be scheduled, and required to participate as a unit in a Combat Training Center (CTC) rotation or at a US Army Reserve Warrior Exercise prior to being deployed as a MHD or as a Unit Historian.
BCHQC students are required to be familiar with the following references prior to attendance.
1. - FM 1-02: Operational Terms and Graphics (Feb 2007)
2. - FM 1-20: Military History Operations (Feb 2003)
3. - FM 3-0: Operations (June 2001)
4. - FM 3-90: Tactics (April 2001)
5. - AR 870-5: Military History: Responsibilities, Policies, and Procedures (29 Jan 1999)
6. - "Tactics 101" -at- www.armchairgeneral.com/articles
Note: References 1-5 are available at the Army Electronic Publications and Forms website at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/doctrine
Since June 2008 the Combat Historian School has been accredited by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).
For more information, please contact the Course Administrator at 404-464-8882.
