What is DBCC CHECKIDENT current column value DBCC CHECKIDENT output includes a "current identity value" and a "current column value". I can see that "current identity value" is the identity that will be assigned to the next row. But what is the "current column value" referring to?

My routine works like this (pseudo):

dbcc checkident ('TableA')
set identity_insert on
insert TableA select TableB where status = 'X'
delete TableB where status 'X'
set identity_insert off
dbcc checkident ('TableA')


The current identity value of both DBCC statements is the same. The current column value seems to be the highest ID recovered. But what does it mean?
Not sure what you mean by "recovered" - current column value tells you the maximum value in the table. It's meant to show you when the maximum value is greater than the value SQL Server assigned last (and from which it determines what it thinks it's going to assign next, even if in practice this isn't always true). Example:

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.smudge(id INT IDENTITY);
GO
-- insert 11 rows
INSERT dbo.smudge DEFAULT VALUES;
GO 11
DBCC CHECKIDENT('dbo.smudge'); -- 11, 11
GO
-- delete the largest id
DELETE dbo.smudge WHERE id = 11;
GO
DBCC CHECKIDENT('dbo.smudge'); -- 11, 10
GO
-- reseed the table
DBCC CHECKIDENT('dbo.smudge', RESEED, 1);
GO
DBCC CHECKIDENT('dbo.smudge'); -- 1, 10
GO
-- insert another row
INSERT dbo.smudge DEFAULT VALUES;
GO
DBCC CHECKIDENT('dbo.smudge'); -- 11, 11
GO
-- insert a much higher row
SET IDENTITY_INSERT dbo.smudge ON;
INSERT dbo.smudge(id) VALUES(255);
SET IDENTITY_INSERT dbo.smudge OFF;
GO
DBCC CHECKIDENT('dbo.smudge'); -- 255, 255
GO
DROP TABLE dbo.smudge;
GO