Located in Ridgway Hall near the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Army Military History Institute (a branch of the Army Heritage and Education Center) is a library, archive and research facility that deals in the main with military history and strategic studies. Since its inception in 1967, the institute has collected, preserved and made available for study documents and materials pertinent to the history of the U.S. Army. Because of the many domestic and foreign influences that have shaped that history, the staff of the institute has interpreted its mission broadly. Substantial holdings relate to the U.S. Navy and Air Force, the reserve components, foreign military forces, and wars in which the United States was not involved. Many of the holdings pre-date any American army and provide sources on the evolution of the military art.

The archives contain such major collections as the papers of Nelson Miles, Tasker Bliss, William "Wild Bill" Donovan, Matthew B. Ridgway and Creighton Abrams; the personal papers of nearly every U.S. Army Chief of Staff for the last sixty years; over 250 general officer oral history transcripts; veteran surveys from the Spanish-American War to the Cold War; a complete set of the U.S. Army Signal Corps photo collections from both world wars; the curricular archives of the Army War College from 1907 - 1995; and a growing audio-visual collection. The personal papers, diaries, letters and photographs of American soldiers are the most valuable and unique parts of our holdings. This rich collection of soldier stories runs the gamut from the Mexican-American War to current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Institute hosts one of the largest military history libraries in the world. With nearly 300,000 volumes, this collection covers nearly every facet of U.S. Army and military history. The rare book collection contains several 18th century works that were once part of the original War Department library. The periodical section contains over 3,600 titles and countless issues, ranging from older copies of the Nation, Harpers, and Time to unit newspapers from the Vietnam period. The holdings include the Army and Navy Journal, various journals of the branches and services of the U.S. Army, and many foreign military publications.

The Military History Institute also holds fifty-two series of U.S. Army doctrinal, training and administrative publications. Over 300,000 field, training and equipment manuals from the early twentieth century to the present day are available for study.

The civilian scholar, military officer, student, or history buff visiting Ridgway Hall will find a prodigious amount of material. Finding aids and bibliographies may be found in the on-line research catalog. A skilled research historian tasked with providing patron assistance is always on duty in the reading room.