Embedded Files
At the end of the Seventies the US Army found itself at a low: Counterculture had successfully convinced the US public to withdraw from the Vietnam war, which was seen as a defeat by conservatives - and abroad. Demoralized, outnumbered and outgunned by the Warsaw Pact, it was questionable if the US Army even had the capability to protect its closest allies in case of a war in Central Europe.
In response the Army launched a huge effort to improve professionalism, discipline, and morale. In the span of a few years, long before Reaganites splurged money into "Star Wars" and other technological unicorns, the US Army managed to turn itself from a defeated mass of conscripts to a professional force led by well-motivated and knowledgable officers, that were loathe to have another Saigon happen to them - or a My Lai, for that matter.
The field manuals on this site were all written and published between 1976 and 1980 and exclusively deal with Military Occupational Speciality (MOS), which is the knowledge a soldier needs to have to serve in a modern army with all its interwoven technologies. From the Advanced Hawk Repairer to the Armored Cavalry Crewman to the Tuba Player of the military band, the Army defined kill levels, laid out progression steps, and trained and re-trained its soldiers. Commanders received their own manuals (marked CM) to monitor and foster their soldiers careers.
So while these documents only indirectly touch upon doctrine and tactics, they do allow a very clear and up-close look on the inner workings and the state of the US military forces in the 1980ies. Of course not everything was suddenly well in 1980, but these documents attest the dedication the US military had to face its challenges and to solve the problems it faced.
If you have any further unclassified field manuals that are missing, we would be grateful for an email and the permission to add these to the collection.
About this website
About this website
This Website is part of the Online Doctrine Library. Other parts of the Library can be accessed by following the links below:
US Army Field Manuals from World War Two
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