U.S. Army Field Manuals

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.

1 Use of the US Field Manuals
2 Wikifying the Field Manuals
3 List of selected field manuals
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Use of the US Field Manuals

At least one field manual is in the public domain.^[2] Especially for people training survival skills (e.g., survivalists, adventurous travellers and tourists, poor people, e.g., subsistence farmers in the third world), the US Field Manuals may be a valuable resource.

Wikifying the Field Manuals

According to The New York Times (14 August 2009), the Army has started to "wikify" certain 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."^[3]
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 This manual is no longer active, but is still frequently referenced.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 3-21.20 – 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 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
^ U.S. Army. "US Field Manuals in public domain". Faculty.ed.umuc.edu. http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~nstanton/FM27-10.htm. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
^ FM 1 Preface http://www.army.mil/fm1/preface.html

External links

Army Publishing Directorate homepage at army.mil -Free Field Manuals and other publications in .pdf format.
Inventory of Field Manuals available at the US Army Heritage & Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
500 Field Manuals online at survivalebooks.com
Incomplete list of active field manuals at army.mil
Field Manuals online at globalsecurity.org
What's an Army field manual? by Slate
The U.S. Army Stability Operations Field Manual The U.S. Army, with forewords by Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell, IV, Michèle Flournoy, and Shawn Brimley and a New Introduction by Janine Davidson. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 2009.