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Basic Field Manual
Soldier's Handbook

FOREWORD

    You are now a member of the Army of the United States. That Army is made up of free citizens chosen from among a free people. The American people of their own will, and through the men they have elected to represent them in Congress, have determined that the free institutions of this country will continue to exist. They have declared that, if necessary, we will defend our right to live in our own American way and continue to enjoy the benefits and privileges which are granted to the citizens of no other nation. It is upon you, and the many thousands of your comrades now in the military service, that our country has placed its confident faith that this defense will succeed should it ever be challenged.
    In the transition from civil life to the life of a soldier you may, at first, feel somewhat confused. It is the purpose of this handbook to help you over these rough spots as rapidly as possible and to lay the foundations for your successful career as a soldier.
    Making good as a soldier is no different from making good in civil life. The rule is the same and that is-know your own job and be ready to step into the job of the man ahead of you. Promotion is going to be very rapid in this Army. Be ready for it. You will have little time to learn the duties of a noncommissioned officer after you become one. You will be expected to know those duties and show that you know them. At a moment's notice you may have to take charge of your squad as a corporal-and in a critical hour. In the same way when you are a sergeant you cannot tell under what conditions and at what hour you may have to take the place of your lieutenant. You want to know what is expected of you and be ready to do it.
    The things that a trained soldier must know, and the way in which they are done, will be taught you as rapidly as you can absorb them. The basic military information is described and explained in this handbook so that it may be available constantly to you during the first weeks of your service. By mastering the contents your future progress will be much more rapid.
    In making yourself an efficient soldier you are helping to build a defense for our country that nothing can destroy. You are repaying your obligation to the United States for all the benefits of the past and are declaring your faith in our future. If you will make a part of yourself the following characteristics of the good soldier, you will be doing your part in upholding the glorious reputation of the Army of the United States:
    Be obedient. - Obedience means to obey promptly and cheerfully all orders of your commissioned and noncommissioned officers. At first you cannot be expected to know the reason for everything you are ordered to do. As you remain longer in the service and you understand more of the reasons for military training you will find that everything has been figured out as the result of experience in the past. Ways and methods which have been successful in the past are continued until some new way proves to be better, and then the change will be made. Cheerful obedience leads to a better performance of your duties. It makes it easier for all of your comrades to do their part. It means better teamwork.
    Be loyal. - Loyalty means that you must stand by your organization through thick and thin. Boost your organization at every opportunity. Be loyal and true to your officers, your noncommissioned officers, and your comrades. In this way you will be loyal to your country.
    Be determined. - Determination means the bulldog stick-to-it-iveness to win at all costs. During your training keep everlastingly at the most difficult tasks and never give up until you have mastered them. Determination to win means success in battle.
    Be alert. - Alertness means being always on your guard. A good soldier may be pardoned for failure, but never for being surprised. Should the unexpected happen, use your head and do something, even if it is wrong, rather than "lie down."
    Be a member of the team. - Teamwork means that each man in the squad, platoon, company, troop, or battery gives everything in his power to make for the success of the whole unit. Success in battle depends on teamwork just as much as success in a football game depends on the pull-together spirit of the football team. Unless you play your own special part the team may not win.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

________________
                                                  Paragraphs   Page
FOREWORD__________________________________________________      III
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INFORMATION.
    Section I. Responsibilities of group life_______     1-3	  1
           II. Relationship with noncommis-
                sioned officers and officers _______    4-11	  2
          III. Relations with civilians_____________   12-14	  4
           IV. Military obligations_________________   15-16	  4
            V. The Articles of War__________________   17-19	  5
           VI. Post and station activities__________   20-26	  6
CHAPTER 2. MILITARY DISCIPLINE AND COURTESY.
    Section I. Military discipline__________________   27-30	  9
           II. Military courtesy____________________   31-34	 10
CHAPTER 3. INSIGNIA.
    Section I. Arms and services____________________   35-41	 16
           II. Officers and noncommissioned offi-
                 cers_______________________________   42-45	 20
CHAPTER 4. ORGANIZATION ____________________________   46-54	 22
CHAPTER 5. CLOTHING.
    Section I. Allowancess__________________________   55-56	 26
           II. Care of clothing_____________________   57-59	 26
          III. Wearing the uniform__________________      60	 29
CHAPTER 6. ARMS AND EQUIPMENT.
    Section I. Responsibility for care______________   61-63	 30
           II. Nomenclature and care and clean-
                ing of U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1__      64	 31
          III. Nomenclature, care and cleaning,
                 and safety devices of automatic
                 pistol, caliber .45, M1911_________      65	 41
           IV. Safety precautions___________________      66	 44
            V. The gas mask_________________________   67-73	 45
           VI. Field equipment______________________   74-81	 49
          VII. The infantry pack____________________   82-83	 59
         VIII. Packing individual equipment on	
                 horse______________________________   84-85	 71
           IX. Display of equipment_________________      86	 78
CHAPTER 7. SCHOOL OF THE SOLDIER WITHOUT
             ARMS (DISMOUNTED).
    Section I. Positions____________________________   87-91	 80
           II. Steps and marchings__________________  92-103	 83
CHAPTER 8. SCHOOL OF THE SOLDIER WITH ARMS
             (DISMOUNTED).
    Section I. General______________________________     104	 89
           II. Manual of arms for the rifle_________ 105-128	 91
          III. Loadings and firings_________________ 129-134	103
           IV. Carrying the, automatic rifle________     135	108
            V. Manual of the pistol_________________ 136-152	110
CHAPTER 9. SQUAD AND PLATOON DRILL.
    Section I. The squad____________________________ 153-169	115
           II. The platoon__________________________ 170-185	127
CHAPTER 10. INTERIOR GUARD DUTY_____________________ 186-194	1$5
CHAPTER 11. MARCHES, CAMPS, AND BIVOUACS.
    Section I. Marches______________________________ 195-i99	138
           II. Camps and bivouacs___________________ 200-203	145
CHAPTER IZ. USE OF COMPASSES AND MAPS.
    Section I. Use of the Compass___________________ 204-208	151
           II. Use of maps__________________________ 209-217	153
CHAPTER 13. SECURITY AND PROTECTION.
    Section I. General______________________________ 218-221	164
           II. Security of individuals______________ 222-229	165
          III. Security of small units______________ 230-237	179
CHAPTER 14. MILITARY SANITATION AND FIRST AID.
    Section I. Military sanitation__________________ 238-253	202
           II. First aid____________________________ 254-276	206
CHAPTER 15. THE RATION______________________________ 277-2$3	227
CHAPTER 16. PAY AND ALLOWANCES______________________ 284-295	231
CHAPTER 17. LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT_________________     296	234
APPENDIX. GLOSSARY OF COMMON MILITARY EXPRESSIONS___            237
INDEX_______________________________________________	        239

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Figure 1.—Collar insignia for enlisted men.

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Figure 2.—Wearing of sleeve insignia.

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Figure 3.—Badges for qualification in use of weapons.

Other bars to be attached to basic badges are as follows:


	MACHINE RIFLE	SMALL BORE M. G.
	AUTO. RIFLE	SUBMACHINE GUN
	SMALL BORE RIFLE	GRENADE
	BAYONET	COAST ARTY.
	PISTOL-D	FIELD ARTY.
	PISTOL-M	C. W. S. WEAPONS
	SMALL BORE PISTOL	MINES
	MECHANIZED VEHICLE	AERIAL GUNNER
	WEAPONS	AERIAL BOMBER
	INF. HOWITZER	ANTIAIRCRAFT WEAPONS
	MACHINE GUN

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Figure 4.—Insignia of rank for officers (worn on shoulder loops).

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Figure 5.—Chevrons (insignia of grade) for noncommissioned officers and privates, first class (worn on sleeves).

CHAPTER 3

INSIGNIA

	Paragraphs
SECTION, I. Arms and Services___________________________________	35-41
II. Officers and noncommissioned officers_______________	42-45

SECTION I

ARMS AND SERVICES

35. INSIGNIA.—Each of the various arms and services in our Army has a particular "mark" of its own, which is worn by all of its members. It serves to distinguish those members from all other soldiers of the Army and is a part of the uniform. These various marks are called insignia and usually consist of two types: the metal insignia which you will wear on the lapel of your coat, and the colored hat cord which you will wear on your service hat.

36. To assist you in becoming quickly familiar with the various types of insignia and so that you can tell at a glance to which arm or service a soldier may belong, they are shown in figure 1.

37. HAT CORD.—At a distance it will be easier to recognize the arm or service to which a soldier belongs by the color of his hat cord. You should be familiar with the following colors and the arm or service which they identify. Where two colors are given, the cord is of the first color and the acorns and keeper are the color of the piping.   a. Air Corps—Ultramarine blue piped with golden orange.
  b. Cavalry—Yellow.
  c. Chemical Warfare Service—Cobalt blue piped with golden orange.
  d. Coast Artillery Corps—Scarlet.
  e. Corps of Engineers—Scarlet piped with white.
  f. Field Artillery—Scarlet.
  g. Finance Department—Silver-grey piped with golden yellow.
  h. Infantry and tanks—Blue.
  i. Medical Department—Maroon piped with white.
  j. Military Police—Yellow piped with green.
  k. Ordnance Department—Crimson piped with yellow.
  l. Quartermaster Corps—Buff.
  m. Signal Corps—Orange piped with white.

38. ARM BAND.—In addition to the identification marks de-scribed above, sometimes you will see certain soldiers wearing arm bands to show the particular type of work they are doing. These arm bands are called "brassards" and are worn on the left sleeve above the elbow. You will want to know the following brassards and what they mean:   a. Blue, with the letters, "MP" in white—Military Police.
  b. Red, with the word "Fire" in white—Members of fire departments.
  c. White, with red cross in center—Geneva Convention Red Cross.
  d. White with green cross in center—Veterinary Green Cross.

39. SERVICE STRIPE.—Each enlisted man who has served honorably in the military service for 3 years wears the service stripe. This stripe is worn 4 inches from the end of the left sleeve of the service coat. For each additional period of 3 years, another service stripe is worn.

40. Wound and war service chevrons are worn only by those entitled to them. They are worn only on the woolen service coat, with the wound chevrons on the right sleeve and the service chevrons on the left sleeve. They are worn point down. When service stripes are worn the war service chevron is above the uppermost service stripe. (See fig. 2.)

41. BADGE.—Soldiers are classified according to the quali-fications attained in the use of weapons. The different classifications are: expert, sharpshooter or 1st class gunner, and marksman or 2d class gunner. Should you attain one of these classifications you will be entitled to wear a badge (fig. 3) which is issued by the War Department. A bar, attached to the bottom of the badge, shows the weapon with which you have qualified. Should you qualify with more than one weapon, you will be entitled to wear an additional bar for each weapon.

SECTION II

OFFICERS AND NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS

42. Commissioned officers and noncommissioned officers also wear the insignia of the arm or service to which they belong and in addition certain other distinguishing marks which show their grade or authority in the Army. The insignia of grade worn by all officers on each shoulder loop of the coat, overcoat, or olive-drab shirt when worn without the coat, are shown in figure 4.

43. A general officer wears two bands of black braid just above the lower edge of each sleeve of the overcoat.

44. Officers of the General Staff Corps wear a band of black braid 3 inches from the end of each sleeve of the service coat. All other officers wear a similar band of brown braid. All warrant officers and enlisted men who served hon-orably as officers in the World War wear a similar band of forest green braid.

45. Noncommissioned officers wear chevrons of olive-drab material on a dark blue background. They are worn, on the sleeve between the elbow and the shoulder of the olive-drab shirt, the coat, the overcoat, and the fatigue uniform. The chevrons for the different grades are shown in figure 5.

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Basic Field Manual Soldier's Handbook

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Basic Field Manual
Soldier's Handbook