The United States Army Medical Service Corps

Principal Attempts at Writing the MSC History

1. Early Efforts. 1953 to 1957:

a. 1953: Col. Robert L. Black, MSC, writes 31-page draft.

b. 1954: 1st Lt. R. W. Bamberger, MSC, writes 74-page draft.

c. 1957: Maj. Gen. James P. Cooney, MC, `Some Notes on the Historical Development of the Medical Service Corps,` U.S. Armed Forces Medical Journal 8 (February 1957): 254-63.

2. 1958 MSC History Project. 1958 to 1964: Official Army multi-author project begun 13 November 1958 with first meeting of The Surgeon General`s Advisory Editorial Board for the History of the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, held at The Historical Unit (THU), Forest Glen, Md. THU later becomes a division of the U.S. Army Center of Military History (USACMH).

3. 1965 MSC History Project. 1965 to 1977: Single-author project begun 11 June 1965 with meeting of the Advisory Editorial Board at THU. Maj. Joseph Israeloff, MSC, appointed as author of MSC history through World War II. Three revisions are attempted.

a. 1969: 2d Lt. Frederick W. Obermiller, MSC.

b. 1973: Mr. Dwight D. Oland.

c. 1975: Colonel Israeloff. Assigned to USACMH, he retires in 1976, taking the draft into retirement for revision.

4. 1978 MSC History Project. 1978 to 1982: Mr. Oland is tasked to rewrite the volume on 7 July 1978. Brig. Gen. Douglas Kinnard, Chief of Military History, terminates the incomplete effort in July 1982, ending its status as an official U.S. Army project of the USACMH.

5. 1983 MSC History Project. 1983 to 1995: Single-author project approved on 1 May 1983 as a complete restart by the Office of the Surgeon General. Maj. Richard V. N. Ginn, MSC, is designated as author and assigned to the task full-time from 1 August 1983 to May 1986 as Special Assistant to the Chief, MSC. He moves to Belgium in 1989 and takes the project with him through five subsequent assignments.

a. 1990: USACMH Panel meets on 14 November and makes recommendations for revision of the manuscript.

b. 1992: Brig. Gen. Harold W. Nelson, Chief of Military History, on 26 February approves revised manuscript for publication. CMH contracts with an editor who defaults. A contract with a new editor is let on 31 January 1994, and the edited manuscript is furnished to CMH in February 1995.