The real problem with Army records not being collected is that the Army Records Management and Declassification Agency (RMDA) that was created after the 1990-91 Gulf War records fiasco has NOT, repeat NOT done the job it was created to do i.e. collect all of the Army's records from overseas combat operations. The GS-15 head of RMDA has maintained for the last 15 years that his agency 'only writes records management policy, we do not enforce it or collect unit records. It is up to units to collect and preserve their own records.' I was in RMDA when it was created, and its sole reason for being created was to ensure that there was an organization to collect and preserve the Army's combat records. CMH's records collection was done on an adhoc basis and done because we saw the RMDA had no interest in doing its primary mission and reason for being created in 1998.
Ping to anyone and everyone interested in military history of the US campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 thru today, 14 June 2017.
....and in another decade when the senior Army leadership is made up of the captains and lieutenants from OIF/OEF, they’ll be wishing they had their old combat histories to brush up on.
That’s what happens when wars last 4 times as long as WWII, have no strategy, and no goals, and no leaders.
Ping.
Thanks for posting this and for your explanation at post #2.