MREC-07 · MILITARY RECORDS LIBRARY
Deck Logs, War Diaries & Operational Logs
MREC-07: Contemporaneous or near-contemporaneous command/platform chronology showing location, movements, incidents, operations, weather, watches, casualties, or other unit activity.
What this record can establish
Where a ship/unit was; what the command recorded; dated operational events; officer lists or remarks when the record series includes them.
What it does not establish automatically
A command log usually proves platform or unit activity, not a particular individual’s presence, sortie, injury, or personal conduct unless the person is named.
Preservation package
Whole dated log segment; cover/title pages; date and page locator; repository/series; named entry plus surrounding context; any officer list or annex.
Minimum source metadata
- Stable source ID and record class
- Creator or issuing office
- Document date and covered period
- Subject identifiers
- Repository and exact locator
- Provenance or acquisition note
- Proposition supported and express limits
- Evidence-status code and derivative/OCR/transcription lineage
Evidence testing
- Identity: Is the record tied to the correct person, unit, platform, or event?
- Chronology: Separate document date, effective date, event date, and covered period.
- Institutional purpose: Understand why the record was created and what it was designed to record.
- Corroboration: Seek independent records; copies and derivatives from one source do not create independence.
Evidence status key: D1 direct primary; D2 corroborated primary; S1 authoritative secondary; S2 credible secondary; I inference; C conflict; U unverified; N negative research result.
Connected Life Record chapters
- MLR-06 — Career, Assignments & Deployment
- MLR-08 — Medical, Injury & Disability
- MLR-09 — Vehicles, Travel & Transportation
- MLR-14 — Death
Related navigation guides
Retrieval and authority status
This page defines the evidence family and preservation method. Repository-specific access rules, privacy limits, request forms, retention schedules, service/era differences, and governing authorities must be verified for the particular record before treating retrieval instructions as final. Start with current official repositories and the linked Navigation Guides.
