United States 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. They contain detailed information and how-tos for procedures important to soldiers serving in the field. Starting in 2010, the US Army began review and revision of all of its doctrinal publications, under the initiative "Doctrine 2015". Since then, the most important doctrine have been published in Army Doctrine Publications and Army Doctrine Reference Publications, replacing the former key Field Manuals. Army Techniques Publications, Army Training Circulars, and Army Technical Manuals round out the new suite of doctrinal publications. Not all FMs are being rescinded; 50 select Field Manuals will continue to be published, periodically reviewed and revised. 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.
Use of Field Manuals
Numerous field manuals are in the public domain. Especially for people training survival skills the US Field Manuals may be a valuable resource.
Wikifying the Field Manuals
According to The New York Times, the Army has started to "wikify" certain field manuals – allowing any authorized user to update the manuals. This process, specifically using the MediaWiki arm of the military's professional networking application, milSuite, was recognized by the White House as an Open Government Initiative in 2010.
FM 6-22 "The tenets of Army leader development provide the essential principles that have made the Army successful at developing its leaders."
FM 1, The Army – "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."
FM 3–0, Operations – The operations guide "lays out the fundamentals of war fighting for future and current generations of recruits."
– 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 This manual is no longer active, but is still frequently referenced.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 34-52, Intelligence Interrogation – Used to train CIA 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.
