Photo By Maj. William Carraway | First Lieutenant Bryant Wine, a military historian with the Georgia Army National...... read more read more
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The 78th Troop Command’s 78th Troop Sustainment Battalion held a departure ceremony for the Soldiers of the 161st Military History Detachment Dec. 2, 2018 at the Clay National Guard Center in Marietta, Ga. The 161st MHD is in the final stages of preparation before mobilizing to Europe on a mission that will have far-reaching implications to how future generations of Soldiers and academics understand today’s events as tomorrow’s history.
“Our mission is to collect and preserve historical data of current and previous Army operations in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve,” said 1st Lt. Bryant Wine, the military historian who will lead the 161st MHD collection efforts. “The United States has increased its military presence in Europe since Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Along with reassuring our European and NATO partners, the presence of American forces in Europe also serves as a deterrent to Russian aggression.”
An MHD is a small, independent team that supplements the collection of historical material for deployed Army units for use in writing the official history of operations. The 161st MHD is ordinarily composed of one officer and two non-commissioned officers, but personnel assignments fluctuate due to mission requirements. In addition to Wine, the MHD will be staffed by non-commissioned officrs trained in interviewing, document collection and preservation, photography and database management as well as an officer who will facilitate MHD operations.
During the departure ceremony, Wine, who works as a history teacher at Johns Creek High School in his civilian capacity, explained the role the MHDs and historians play in recording the Army history.
“The Army uses historians in all combatant commands and contingency operations to write the Army’s official history,” said Wine. “Historians rely on the primary source data collected by MHDs in order to write their manuscripts that eventually become the Army’s history.”
The 161st Military History Detachment was organized September 1, 2011 and federally recognized November 22, 2011 as one of 25 military history detachments. As of 2018 there are 36 MHDs of which two are in the Army, seven are in the Army Reserve and 27 are in the Army National Guard.
In January 2015, the 161st MHD was activated and mobilized to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait where the unit served as the first military history detachment assigned to collect the history of Operation Inherent Resolve.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Lt. Col. Catherine Cherry, commander of the 78th TSB offered comments in support of the 161st MHD Soldiers and their families.
“We are very excited to support you going forward,” said Cherry. “The battalion staff and I are here for you night and day. This is an amazing opportunity, and I have no doubt you will succeed.”
| Date Taken: | 12.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2018 10:37 |
| Story ID: | 301973 |
| Location: | MARIETTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 312 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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