Clio Muses

On 23 February 1991 VII Corps crowded against the Iraq border. At that time, it was the largest United States Army Corps ever deployed in the field. VII Corps included 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), 1st Armor Division, 3rd Armor Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the 11th Combat Aviation Brigade, and hundreds of combat and combat support units. In round numbers, VII Corps had over 1,500 M1A/2 Abrams tanks, over 1,500 M2/M3 IFV (Bradleys), over 300 attack helicopters, over 600 artillery cannons and MLRS’, and over 147,000 soldiers. It had taken only 108 days to move this august force from Europe and the United States to the border of Iraq and ready it for battle. VII Corps was not alone. Left and right the entire might of the coalition forces were coiled for the attack. The United States Army XVIII Corps. The British 1st Armored Division. The French 6th Light Armored Division. The 1st United States Marine Corps Division. The 2nd United States Marine Corps...

Operation Desert Storm, 1991 On 21 February 1991 I was the Commander of the 326th Military History Detachment (USAR) attached to VII Corps and assigned for operational purposes to 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), 1st Brigade, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor configured for the operation as TASK FORCE 2-34. The ground war would begin in three days. My mission was to support the Department of Army’s combat oral history program (in accordance with AR 870-5; FM 101-10-2, Ch 15; DA PAM 870-5; and FONCON, 7 Dec 90, William Stacy, FORSCOM historian). In other words I was to design and execute rigorous oral history collection projects, supplemented by photographs, documents and personal notes as possible, that would capture the individual recollections, and unit histories of supporting and engaged Army units. Over the next several days I will share with you some of my personal and professional experiences as an Army field historian commanding a Military History Detachment during Operation DESERT S...

Historians always have projects. History is such a vast and complex field that it is nearly impossible to wade in the waters for very long without finding research and writing projects to do. Some projects develop from the desire or need to produce a particular product (a course essay, a paper, a presentation, a book report, and so on.). Other projects may result from asking a specific question or a set of related questions in which one is interested. What was the cause of the Cold War? When did it start? When did it end? Did America really win it? My three front-burner history projects are: · Designing a college level American History, 1877 to the Present course in various sub-packets for semester and quarter in-class use, a distance learning package, text package, reading lists, selected documents, photos, music, art, charts and graphs and so forth. The preliminary design calls for exportability, flexibility and thematic structure. · Second project is to contin...

The purpose of this blog is to share my historical research; to provide data, documents and research that might not be available from other sources; and to explore how the Internet can spread and exchange knowledge. Clio is in Greek mythology the Muse of History and thus this blog's title is a play on words. There were nine sister-goddesses who sponsored the arts and sciences. Not unlike contemporary celebrities, the Greek Muses made exciting appearances, but left the work of meaningful intellectual exploration to us humans. By extension, the English word "muse" means to ponder, to reflect, to mull, to think about old ideas in new ways. Musing about history, however, is not a dull activity one does while dozing on a sunny beach. History is not musty arguments over the past; as the important American author William Faulkner once wrote, that past is not over yet. By that he meant that the past or our remembrances of the past only make sense in the present. The French histor...