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.
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Use of the US Field Manuals
Lately, most of the US Field Manuals have all been submitted to the public domain [2]. This has given people 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. This publication in the public domain however, is also providing a double-edged sword and is also benefitting terrorists, and rioters [3][4]
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 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 This manual is no longer active, but is still frequently referenced.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 7-8 Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad
- 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. Recently updated to include a 10-page classified section as a result of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal.
- FM 21-20 - covers the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT)
- FM 27-10 (2005) - Cornerstone of rules of war for the US Military.
- FM 21-76-1 Survival, Escape, and Rescue
- FM 3-24 (Counterinsurgency)
- FM 3-25.150 (Combatives)
- FM 3-21.5 (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 benefitting terrorists and translated in Arabic
- ^ Improvised Munitions Handbook benefitting terrorists
- ^ FM 1 Preface http://www.army.mil/fm1/preface.html
See also
External links
- Complete list of active field manuals at army.mil
- Full listing of Unites States Army field manuals at enlisted.info (multiple pdf files)
- Field Manuals online at globalsecurity.org
- US Army Survival Manual
- Various Field Manuals along with some "Marine Corps Warfighting Publications", the USMC equivalent to the FMs.
- What's an Army field manual? by Slate
