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Explaining British Military Vehicle Manual indexing

This pages sets out what EMER, Army Code Numbers and AESP means, and what they are.

Outline

REME was formed from the RE at the start of WW2.

ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING REGULATIONS, or EMERs were introduced during WW2, as before that it was more simple mechanical transport and equipment, and they just had bulletins, and information sheets. EMERs formalised how the information was set out.

AESP were first introduced in 1978, and the only EMER to be transferred to an AESP was for the Series 3 Land Rover. Everything purchased from 1978 onwards had an AESP. Some AESPs are just the manufacturer’s publication with an AESP front cover.

This is why there are AESP for the Bedford MJ (introduced from 1980 onwards), but not for the MK (introduced 1970) of the early 70s.

EMER were deemed obsolete in Sept 2016, as they hadn't been updated for 10 years, and were disposed of in Sept 2017.

Vehicles of the 60s and 70s, like the Stalwart and Bv202, were disposed of in 1993, with all documentation being destroyed at that time. As there is no AESP for these, then documents can't be obtained from MOD 

The Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Regulations (EMERs)

Until the formation of REME, information on equipment appears to have been issued to interested parties in the form of "pamphlets". These had long been a feature of Army life and covered every conceivable facet of that life, primarily as training and reference aids. From the formation of the REME, a new form of document appeared, presumably borne out of a desire to rationalise the documentation into a standard form which would be used throughout the new organisation. This was the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Regulation, the EMER, which covered, in a standardised way, all aspects of the equipment's maintenance. The EMER being launched during WW2

Information Categories

Each EMER is divided into up to ten parts:

Not all EMERs have all the parts and the author has never seen examples of parts 5 or 8. There are also a number of complications with the part names, quite aside from the issues of renumbering dealt with below.

Originally, there were four "levels" of repair known colloquially as "Unit", "Field", "Intermediate" and "Base" but referred to as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Echelon Repairs. The higher the number, the more complex the repair. Thus unit repairs would be carried out in situ, field repairs at a local workshop or LAD (REME Light Aid Detachment) and base repairs would mean sending the kit back for repair. However, these divisions were very flexibly applied, so parts 3 and 4 are usually found together. Wartime EMERs usually refer to the echelon numbers, later EMERs to the common names.

As noted above, EMERs in the A section do not follow this part numbering convention.

Army Code Number - Air Publication

Army Code Number is the publication number for any manual, guide or instruction that is not covered by EMERs, These being such things as User Handbook, Complete Equipment Schedule, etc.

The RAF have their own publication numbering title, known as Air Publication.

A number of commonly shared items will have Army Code and Air Publication numbers on the front cover.

Army Equipment Support Publications (AESP)

In 1978 the MOD launched the AESPs to replace the EMERs

What are AESPs

Army Equipment Support Publications (AESP) provide user/operator, maintenance, repair, installation and cataloguing information on a vast range of Army equipment but excludes aircraft.

AESP Structuring Referencing and Indexing

Information Categories

AESPs use eight categories of information commonly known as the Octad. The combination of categories and levels permits a logical presentation of information for the planning staff, user/operator and repair authority for any item from a complex system to a very simple equipment.


Category 1 - Purpose and Planning Information, Equipment Support Policy Directive.

This category is divided into two sub-categories and contain the information required by operational and planning staffs to assess the suitability of material for use in a particular environment and or situation.

Category 2 - Operating Information, Aide Memoire and Training Aids.

This category is divided into three sub-categories, shall contain the information required by personnel to enable them to operate a system or item including instructions for setting up operating, making user adjustments, emergency procedures, functional tests and remedial actions

Category 3 - Technical Description

Describes the technical principles of design and operation and functioning and inter-relation of the various parts of the system.

Category 4 - Initial Installation and preparation for Special Environments.

This category is divided into two sub-categories and contain the information required for the installation of the system/material.

Category 5 - Maintenance Information and Instructions.

Contains information required for fault diagnosis, repair and calibration of the equipments/systems

Category 6 - Maintenance Schedules

Contains concise statements of the work to be done on material at stated interval of time.

Category 7 - Illustrated Parts Catalogues, Commercial Parts List and Complete Equipment Schedules.

Lists and illustrates items of material and designed as an aide to the identification of parts of the equipment.

Category 8 - Modification Instructions, General Instructions and Service Engineering Modification Instruction (RAF only).

This category is divided into three sub-categories and shall contain all the detailed information required by all maintenance levels to comply with a modification instruction.

Information Levels

Information Levels are used to avoid any misunderstandings or ambiguities with "repair level" terms. It ensures that an author knows to home to write and the recipient is told what is relevant. AESPs define 4 levels.

Level 1 - User/operator requirements

Level 2 - Unit maintenance

Level 3 - Field maintenance

Level 4 - Base maintenance

Combinations of Information

AESPs allow all categories and sub-categories to be combined.