Military history has long been seen as a study in tactics throughout history, on short, what went wrong and what went right on the battlefield. The ancient Byzantine scholar Urbicius wrote what could well have been the first military manual around the 500AD. Addressed to Anastasius I, it was called the Tacticon and is a manuscript of infantry tactics. These military manuals are a preservation of history at the time they are written.
Modern US Army Field Manuals
Ever since German general Baron Von Steuben instructed the shattered Colonial Army at Valley Forge, the US has used regulated field manuals. Von Steubens own book, originally titled Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, was the first and official textbook of the US Army from 1778 until 1812. It was commonly known as the army's Blue Book and today all US military guides could trace their lineage to this work. Today more than 800 US field manuals exist on every subject from water purification, to how to change the battery on your night vision goggles, to cooking the perfect steak in the field.
The Ultimate Guide to US Army Combat Manuals
Editor Jay McCullough has compiled an immense single volume work from Skyhorse publishing entitled The Ultimate Guide to US Army Combat Skills, Tactics, and Techniques. This work is a one-volume encyclopedia of 952-pages and is the size of a large metropolitan phonebook. With more than 500 illustrations of charts, maps, diagrams, and tables, it is richly illustrated. Broken into three general sections on Hand-to-Hand Combat, Combat Weapons, and Region Specific Combat, the volume is easy to follow and combines the knowledge base of numerous publications in one cover.
Detail of the Ultimate Guide
The Hand-to-Hand Combat section covers 183 pages and is a good primer on basic and advanced ground fighting techniques, takedowns, strikes, and group tactics. In US Army Basic training this section is covered over the course of several days. Nearly half of the book is dedicated to Combat Weapons where the user is instructed in the use of everything from the M16 rifle to combat pistols, grenades, claymore mines, and sniper rifles. Finally, the Region Specific Combat section encompasses three one-hundred page chapters on combat in the jungle, desert, and urban environments each.
In closing
The book overall is well presented with an audience of those interested in military tactics and procedures in mind. Its point of view is not from a single author, but from a panel of them and their specialization shows. While you may not be interested in the finer points of setting a Claymore mine, for instance, the section on navigating and tracking in the jungle itself may be worth the price of admission alone. Dry reading for those not in this realm of interest, it is taken directly from US Army Field Manuals and is not for the layperson. However should you have even a passing interest in modern combat, this book could be for you. .
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