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U.S. Army NCO History
The history, evolution, education, institutions, traditions, personalities, ranks, professional development, and experiences of Army noncommissioned officers.
Explore the lane →Research · Writing · Curation
Follow the evidence. Preserve the record.
Military Research Group is an independent research and publishing platform exploring the soldiers, institutions, places, and stories of military history through archival research, field investigation, historical writing, and curated source material.
Current focus
Three research lanes.
MRG follows a deliberately focused set of interests today while remaining flexible enough to follow worthwhile questions wherever the evidence leads next.
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Army Leadership & Institutional Development
Leader development, professional military education, institutional evolution, enlisted development, organizational change, and selected contemporary research.
Explore the lane →03
Military History in Place
Military history examined through communities, landscapes, local institutions, cemeteries, Federal authority, preservation, Civil War, Reconstruction, and related subjects.
Explore the lane →Latest writing
Research notes, essays, and analysis.
The MRG Substack is the living discussion arm of the platform, including military-history investigations, Army leader-development analysis, source discoveries, field notes, and developing interpretations.
Sep 8, 2026
From I.am.NCO to Military Research Group
So long, I.am.NCOAs a concept, I.am.NCO was underpinned by the premise that the U.S. Army Noncommissioned Corps deserves an external body to guard the profession, just as the Bar Association does for lawyers and the Medical Association does for doctors. I…
Read on Substack →Nov 26, 2024
The Trouble with D&D
Discourse1 Noun: written or spoken communication or debate:Thanks for reading I.am.NCO! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Verb: speak or write authoritatively about a topic: Similar: [discussion, conversation, talk…
Read on Substack →Nov 22, 2024
New Sgt Major Insignia for Everybody
Proposed rank titles for sergeant major, a modified insignia for the SMA, and the addition of nominative sergeant major insignia. By Daniel K. ElderIn case you missed the news, A noteworthy change happened to the enlisted stripes of the Army recently when CSM…
Read on Substack →NCO
HISTORY
ARCHIVE
HISTORY
ARCHIVE
Related collection
NCOHistory.com
MRG’s NCO-history work is supported by a separate digital archive containing Army NCO documents, publications, articles, photographs, historical references, and difficult-to-find enlisted material curated for researchers and the public.
The standard
Evidence before conclusion.
MRG favors primary sources whenever practicable, distinguishes documented fact from interpretation and inference, acknowledges uncertainty, and allows new evidence to change previous conclusions.
A useful unanswered question is preferable to a confident unsupported answer.