U.S. Army Field Manuals are published by the United States Army's Army Publishing Directorate. As of 27 July, 2007, some 542 field manuals were in use.[1] They contain detailed information and how-tos for procedures important to soldiers serving in the field. They are usually available to the public at low cost or free electronically. Many websites have begun collecting PDF versions of Army Field Manuals, Technical Manuals and Weapon Manuals.
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Use of the US Field Manuals
Lately, most of the US Field Manuals have been submitted to the public domain.[2] This has given civilians the possibility of learning from them. Especially for people training survival skills (e.g., survivalists, adventurous travellers and tourists and poor people e.g., subsistence farmers in the third world), the US Field Manuals are providing a valuable resource. The presence of the document in the public domain has also allowed terrorists to use the manual for training purposes.[3][4]
Wikifying the Field Manuals
According to The New York Times (8/14/09), the Army has started to "wikify" certain of its field manuals - allowing any authorized user to update the manuals. See the Times article at: [1]
List of selected field manuals
- FM 1 - "establishes the fundamental principles for employing landpower." Together, it and FM 3-0 are considered by the U.S. Army to be the "two capstone doctrinal manuals."[5]
- FM 3-0 Operations - The operations guide "lays out the fundamentals of war fighting for future and current generations of recruits."[1]
- FM 3-0.5.130 Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare. Establishes keystone doctrine for Army special operations forces (ARSOF) operations in unconventional warfare.
- FM 5-31 Boobytraps - Describes how regular demolition charges and materials can be used for victim-initiated explosive devices. This manual is no longer active, but is still frequently referenced.
- FM 3-21.8 The Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad
- FM 3-24 Counterinsurgency - Published December 2006.
- FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual - Used to train survival techniques.
- FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation - Used to train interrogators in conducting effective interrogations while conforming with US and international law. Updated in December 2005 to include a 10-page classified section as a result of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal. Replaced in September 2006 by FM 2-22.3 Human Intelligence Collector Operations.
- FM 21-20 - covers the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT)
- FM 27-10 (2005) - Cornerstone of rules of war for the US Military.
- FM 3-25.150 (Combatives)
- FM 22.5 (Drill and Ceremony)
References
- ^ a b http://www.onthemedia.org/episodes/2007/07/27/segments/82947 On the Media, 27 July 2007
- ^ US Field Manuals in public domain
- ^ Improvised Munitions Handbook Field Manual benefiting terrorists and translated in Arabic
- ^ Improvised Munitions Handbook benefiting terrorists
- ^ FM 1 Preface http://www.army.mil/fm1/preface.html
See also
External links
- Incomplete list of active field manuals at army.mil
- Field Manuals online at globalsecurity.org
- What's an Army field manual? by Slate
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