Center For Army Lessons Learned

Commander's Guide to Operational Records and Data Collection Center For Army Lessons Learned

The Center of Military History (CMH), Records Management and Declassification Agency (RMDA), and Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL) are all repositories for a unit's operational records and data. They have jointly prepared this handbook to provide the commander clear guidance pertaining to the preservation and disposition of his unit's important operational records and data. The role of the commander is simply to comprehend but difficult to achieve. Primarily, it is a matter of personal interest. The commander's priorities become the unit's priorities, and the unit does only those things the commander inspects and believes are important. If the commander insists that the records and operational data sources are maintained, preserved, and retired appropriately, they probably will be. Have staff standing operating procedures been set up? Is there one person whose additional, specified duty is to ensure that the records are kept and retired? This is not just a "make-work" administrative chore; it is essential to the long-term preservation of the unit's history, part of the commander's responsibility to take care of their Soldiers, and required by law and regulation. After establishing the need to keep operational records, the commander must set the procedures in place to do it regularly (and inspect to ensure it is done regularly). This handbook is designed to give the commander some handy checklists of exactly what types of records CMH, RMDA, and CALL need; how to preserve records for the staff and for these collectors; and what to expect when these collectors show up at your tactical operations center. In short, the purpose of this publication is to assist in the understanding the importance of operational data and records; the critical need to preserve these records to protect Soldiers, improve doctrine, and capture unit history for all time; and the commander's role in making this happen.