Military History Institute

Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute

The Military History Institute

The U.S. Army Military History Institute, located in the new Army Heritage Complex, located on Army Heritage Drive, is a national asset and a treasure of America's military heritage. The mission of the Institute is to acquire, preserve and make available material on the history of the Army. The holdings include 285,000 books, 1,000,000 photographs, and archival material exceeding 6.5 million items. In addition, the Institute has a superb collection of military publications, ranging from General Orders to Technical Manuals.

A. Research Help

The Staff of MHI is another asset. Their knowledge of the holdings, familiarity with research questions, and a solid grounding in their subject areas provide researchers assistance of the highest order. The historians, archivists, curators and librarians deal with nearly 30,000 research inquiries each year and have achieved a national reputation for service. Army War College students pursuing historical topics should begin at the Research and Reference Desk. Research assistance, reference bibliographies on hundreds of topics and other finding aids are available there.

B. SRP's and Advanced Courses

Every subject has an historical dimension. Students can find a great deal of background, obtain insights into a given issue, or unfold explanations by delving into the history of that subject. The Strategic Research Program topic can be purely historical, or a contemporary topic can be developed through its historical background. In either case the holdings of MHI and the assistance of its professional staff can help to shape the project. Advanced courses in military history can come alive through the vast holdings of MHI. Whether it is the letter of a combat soldier to his family or the operations orders prepared for a great battle, material in the MHI collection provide the personality, the context, and the extra dimension to historical research. Students may delve into the papers of hundreds of America's most renowned soldiers, to include Bradley, Ridgway, Westmoreland, Abrams, DePuy, Starry, Wickham, Thurman, and Vuono.

C. Oral History

The Army War College and the U.S. Military History Institute sponsor an Oral History option in the Communicative Arts Program, which gives participants a chance to enrich their professional development by interviewing a senior Army leader to create transcripts of permanent historical value for the Archives of the Military History Institute. Oral history projects are either biographical or focused on special topics. More information about this year's oral history program is available by contacting Professor T.L. Hendrix at MHI.

Oral History Program.

D. MHI On Line

The Military History Institute is located in the Army Heritage and Education Center on Army Heritage Drive. The staff is available without appointments for walk-in patrons from 0800 to 1600, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

All email can be addressed to USAMHI

Visit the Military History Institute web site for more information.
AHEC

"Through a careful and objective study of the significant campaigns of the world, a professional officer acquires a knowledge of military experience which he himself could not otherwise accumulate. The facts of a given battle may no longer serve any practical purpose except as a framework on which to base an analysis; but when the serious student of the military art delves into the reasons for the failure of a specific attack -- or soberly analyzes the professional qualities of one of the responsible commanders of the past - he is, by this very activity, preparing for the day in which he, under different circumstances, may be facing decisions of vital consequence."

General Dwight D. Eisenhower