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Understanding Technical Manuals from the 1960's

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Bill Ricca 
#1 · (Edited)
I thought I had posted this on these message boards, elsewhere, but cannot find it. It appeared a while back in the Garand Collectors Association Journal. I was the author so there will be no copywrite problems when I post it here. Hopefully it will help your understanding of all those numbers used to identify the TM's from the 1960's. Enjoy

The Technical Manuals from the 1960’s and later can be understood if you know how to dissect them. Let’s take the M14, M1, and M1 Carbine as examples. One look at these manuals will show an identifying pattern as follows:

9-1005-OOO-XX The O's and x’s being variables depending upon which weapons and levels to which the manuals apply.

If we look at a few different M14 manuals we can learn enough to be able to understand all manuals released from the early 1960’s to present; the format has not changed. I chose the M14 because it has a larger variety of publication formats and that makes the differences more easily understood.

TM 9-1005-223-10
TM 9-1005-223-12
TM 9-1005-223-20
Tm 9-1005-223-34
TM 9-1005-223-35

The formula for these manuals shows the following information:

TM 9 – The 9 being ORDNANCE, the responsible agency

1005 – The 1005 covers all weapons up to and including 30mm.

223 - The 223 is the ITEM IDENTIFIER; 223 is for the M14 only and is not used on any other manual within the 1005 series.

10, 12, 20, 34, or 35 - This is the LEVEL DESIGNATOR for the manual. Later in this article I will identify each designator as it relates to military levels of maintenance and repair.

The following are item identifiers for just a few weapons of interest: (Again these identifiers will apply only to these weapons and will be found in the third group of digits and will always have three digits in the identifier’s format).

210 - M1 Carbine
211 - 1911A1 .45 Auto Pistol
222 - M1 Rifle
223 - M14 Rifle

So far we know that if we want to find an M14 Technical Manual it will always be TM 9-1005-223-xx. This next area confuses some collectors when it comes to Technical Manuals. First we have to understand how different levels of maintenance/repair are designated.

LEVEL DESIGNATORS

Level 1 - Individual soldier or crewman (remember some vehicles/weapons etc are crew served). Think of this as the operator or user. If the manual covers the operator/user only, it will be shown as 10 in the last two digits.

Level 2- Organization, or as we like to think, Unit Armorer or Motor Pool as it applies to vehicles. This level is slightly higher and the unit armorer is authorized to make more repairs than the operator. If the manual covers only the Organizational Level it will be shown as 20 in the last two digits.

Level 3- Direct Support, this is usually the Maintenance Battalion within a Division. This level is very close to the highest level, but not quite. Usually the need for mobility limits the very large equipment needed for the highest types of repairs. Direct Support Units travel to the field areas with the combat division and may change locations with each move. If a manual covered only level three (I have never seen one) it would be shown as 30 in the last two digits.

Level 4- General Support, this is usually the highest Level of Maintenance within a combat theatre. A general support unit usually is not assigned to any one combat unit; it exists on its own. It is usually stationary and far in the rear compared to lower levels of support. General Support can do almost everything the Depot can due, except manufacture a firearm. General Support is also set up to repair more units in a given amount of time than the Direct Support. If a manual covered only level four (I have never seen one) it would be shown as 40 in the last two digits.

Level 5- Depot Maintenance, this is the highest Level of Maintenance within the ordnance system during the 1960’s. (Today certain items have only four levels, but that is another chat for another time). Depot Maintenance covers complete rebuild plus something none of the other levels have. SPEED. A depot is better equipped to repair 2000 rifles within a limited time than any other level. The depots stock massive amounts of spares to support the other levels of support. The depot can be located overseas or here in the US. In the 1960’s some manufacturers like Springfield Armory and Watervliet Arsenal, producers of weapons, also performed the Depot Maintenance functions in certain areas. If a manual covered only level five (I have never seen one) it would be shown as 50 in the last two digits.

As you can see I have included level designators I never seen. That is just to illustrate the format, not to confuse. Most manuals apply to more than one level. So when you see the last two digits as follows:

10-This manual applies only to level one, the operator/user
12-This manual applies to both level one and two
20-This manual applies only to level two
25-This manual applies to levels two, three, four, and five
34-This manual applies to levels three and four
35-This manual applies to levels three, four, and five
All high level manuals I have seen are multi level manuals.

As you get into other areas you will see 14, 23, 24, and possibly other combinations. When you see a specific level, only that level's tools and gages will be included. So now when you see a manual ending in 10 you will know there are no high-level depot tools covered in that manual. Some manuals also had a P, P/1, or P/2 at the end of the number sequence. The various P’s stand for Parts Listings, which differentiated the manuals from those lacking the parts listings. By the late 1980’s all Technical Manuals had the parts listings, although I am not sure whether the P exists in the sequence of more modern printings.

Remember also this system applies to Trucks, Radios, Missile Launchers, everything within the responsibility of the US Army. The Navy and Marine Corps may have different formats.
Bill Ricca
 
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#2 ·
Thanks for the valuable info, Bill.

We always appreciate your willingness to help out.

A note to the members of the Firing Line - Mr. Bill Ricca is a walking treasurehouse of information about our favorite firearms - a true expert. Being the true gentleman that he is, I'm sure Bill would be more than willing to help us out when he can.

A Request - We would all appreciate it if you have questions for Bill, you post them in his forum or in the forum appropriate to the subject.

If you would do us this favor, we can keep the Intel Section "lean and clean" so we don't have to read through several pages of back postings to find what we are looking for.

If I can help out, shoot me an email or a pm.

Thanks again - to both Mr Ricca and all of the great folks on the Firing Line. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
#5 ·
The article was reflective of the 1960's, not the current process.
As a matter of fact, the process is still the same. I could take your post and teach it verbatim at an ordnance school today and it would still apply. BRSTBOMB
 
#6 ·
One of the changes is the current process only has 4 levels of maintenance. Yes they still use the old -35 manuals for the M14 because it saves a new development.

The later manuals are a lot better set ups. The pages showing the images are right next to the listings. The early manuals from the 1960's required you to remember the image and page number then thumb through pages to find the listing that show it.
 
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