1969 Army comic book manual for M16A1

[UrbanWolf]

I came across this full, readable copy of the US Army's comic book about maintaining and operating the M16 on the internet. For those interested please enjoy.

http://imgdump.novarata.net/image.php?di=LHG0
http://www.novarata.net/files/files/DA_Pam_750.30.pdf

[KestrelBike]

Interesting, thanks for posting!

[kidicarus13]

1969... Cool

[jhirsh5280]

Notice that "Will Eisner" is written in Disney-esque script? Wonder if he was a Disney artist commissioned by the Govt to draw this up for troops.

Doing a little research yielded this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Eisner

And apparently there is some controversy surrounding his signature vs Disney's as to which came first. Pretty cool.

[Dave]

1969... Cool

and it came out in July, so it was the Summer of '69

[Ronin13]

We found a few actual copies of those while cleaning out one of our storage areas just before my unit deployed to Afghanistan in '08. One of the guys that originally found it started laughing hysterically and that's how it came to our attention. They were in surprisingly good shape for being mothballed for 40 years.

[Musashi]

I love it!
Now I want to go read some comic books instead of work...

[StagLefty]

I have that in my gun library. Love the pin up type girl that's in there.

[BlasterBob]

Many thanks for posting!![blaster]

[OtterbatHellcat]

That was cool to see...thanks.

[jerrymrc]

I have seen that one. I think I remember about 5-6 of them devoted to the M16A1. I know that one was in my first arms room in 81. There was a giant pile of them. [Flower]

[Guylee]

I saved that to my TM's folder on my work computer. Next time someone has an issue with their rifle I'm going to consult it and see how they react.

[Guylee]

Even though it's written like it's intended for children, there's actually a lot more explanation and technical information than I would have thought. OM's these days are literally written for 3rd graders...

[jerrymrc]

Even though it's written like it's intended for children, there's actually a lot more explanation and technical information than I would have thought. OM's these days are literally written for 3rd graders...

My take on that one is two-fold. Many of today's troops do not want or like to read. A full generation raised on computers and Google. Every one of my younger techs groan when I hand them a manual to work on something. That is until they get dirty and learn that flipping back and forth between pages is better than trying to scroll back and forth between screens on a PDF file.

The older guys grew up in a more mechanical environment. Trying to train this aspect of our job is very interesting.

[Guylee]

My take on that one is two-fold. Many of today's troops do not want or like to read. A full generation raised on computers and Google. Every one of my younger techs groan when I hand them a manual to work on something. That is until they get dirty and learn that flipping back and forth between pages is better than trying to scroll back and forth between screens on a PDF file.

The older guys grew up in a more mechanical environment. Trying to train this aspect of our job is very interesting.

My thoughts exactly. But the level of detail it goes to is interesting as well. The cleaning procedures and parts breakdown is more in-depth than what most guys (and gals) are exposed to today. Case in point, I was showing some guys how to disassemble a trigger mech yesterday and not only did they have no idea how it worked, but they're minds were blown when I pointed out the auto sear and explained its function. Guys these days don't care how something works as long as it works.

Or they just don't care because that level of maintenance is unauthorized and thus not their problem. [Tooth]

[SAnd]

If I remember my history correctly the M16 was originally sent to Viet Nam and issued to combat troops with no training or cleaning kits. This book was hurriedly written and rushed into print and distributed to help with problems they were having because of the lack of instruction.

If you look on the last page you can see it was printed for the XM16E1 in 1969.

[Big Wall]

Midway USA carries these if anyone is interested in purchasing a copy.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/310436/the-m16a1-rifle-operation-and-preventive-maintenance-gi-comic-book-format-military-manual-by-department-of-the-army

[def90]

Midway USA carries these if anyone is interested in purchasing a copy.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/310436/the-m16a1-rifle-operation-and-preventive-maintenance-gi-comic-book-format-military-manual-by-department-of-the-army

Do you know if those are originals or reproductions?

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Midway USA carries these if anyone is interested in purchasing a copy.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/310436/the-m16a1-rifle-operation-and-preventive-maintenance-gi-comic-book-format-military-manual-by-department-of-the-army

Cool. [Beer] I ordered one more out of curiousity than anything else.

[TheBelly]

The Army still makes that series of comics. It's called 'PS Magazine'. Occasionally they will have a full print about one piece of equipment, but mostly it's just a portion of the middle section of the overall print.

[Big Wall]

Do you know if those are originals or reproductions?

Reproductions.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Notice that "Will Eisner" is written in Disney-esque script? Wonder if he was a Disney artist commissioned by the Govt to draw this up for troops.

Eisner is pretty well-known in comic book circles as one of the true innovators, right up there with Jack Kirby and Carmine Infantino.