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9 Army Hist. 1 (1985)

handle is hein.milandgov/aryhsy0009 and id is 1 raw text is: The ARMYHISTORIAN A PUBLICATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY Number 9 Washington, DC Fall 1985 Using History at the IG: A Case for Historians on Senior Staffs .WA Wnthctwome The need foi qualified mIlitary historians on the staffs o pt inicipal general and special staff officers is one not generaly acknowledged in the Army. The Department of the Army Inspector Geneda's Agency. however, is an exception-for a variety of reasons. During the 1970s, the establishmet of inspetlors general agencies in Federal executive departments focused interest on the Army li's Agency as the oldest contin- uous operation of its kind. Old means history These new agencies had to have some concept of what camne before. With the activation of a Department of Defense Inspector General in 1978 the need to define the origin of policy and precedent within the Arsmy inspectorate became even more acute. Issues involving the relaton- ships, prerogatives, and practices of the service inspectorates had to be idenatifed and clarified as adjustments were made to accommodate the new Def ercy. In the course oi this a iv ty It became apparet that no cormprehensive record of the Army inspector General existed. Nowhere in the published o tic hI CtorIe w more than passing notice gwen to ispectors. As a resul, every time an Isue was raised action of- ficers had to conduct a hurted search through primary source documens i-, an effort to pro vide some historical background. Unfamiar with earlier tihng systems and utrained in hit- torical methods, the action olecers towev r willing-often produced partial or mi leadin' information, or spent inordinate amounts of time in attempts 1 assure accuracy. Something had to be done, and was. In late 1981, The Inspeclot General at the time, Li. Gen. Richard G. Tr ery, requested that a mili- tary historian be assigned to his agency. The historian', concentration on the research and publication of a histmy of the imspectorate would assure that a detailed, authoritative record of the Department of the Anny inspecto General's Agency would be available to those who needed it. In addition, the historian could provide support to the agency on continuing ac- tivities requiring historical research or retention. The position was established and filled. The concentration on the research, writing, and publication of a history of the inspectorate has expanded, rather than limited, the historian's usefulness to the agency. The growing knowledge of the past activities and records of the IG that the research has produced has made the position a resource in its own right. Matters of precedent and past policies can now he identified and in- corporated into curent actions with little delay. A finder's guide supplementing current records managemetn dta has been developed on 1G ties held by the National Archives and Records Ad ministration, allowing ready reference to I material from 1814 to the present. Research on a history of the inspectorate ha alo led to the identification of IG-related material outside the Insprectin /fEngineer Treops Washmgon Barruek 1892. By WT. Trego.

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