Book Description

THE ORIGINAL US ARMY SURVIVAL MANUAL (FM 21-76) Modern combat increases the likelihood of your becoming isolated and having to find water, food, and shelter for many days--even weeks--while making it back to friendly forces. Small units fighting in widely dispersed formations or on special missions forward of friendly lines are more likely to be cut off than ever before. Large units traveling great distances by air and sea make survival in remote and desolate areas a real possibility for you. The ability to evade the enemy and to escape if captured, both basic requirements of the soldier's Code of Con duct, demands every survival skill you can master. The chances of being exposed to such an emergency are always present, especially when traveling, so survival techniques should be a part of your basic soldiering skills. This manual has been written to help you acquire these skills. It tells how to travel, find water and food, shelter yourself from the weather, and care for yourself if you become sick or injured. This information is first treated generally and then ap plied specifically to such special areas as the Arctic, the desert, the jungle, and on the ocean. Individual skills such as map reading, using a compass or other directional guide, scouting and patrolling, camouflage, first aid, sanitation, personal hygiene, and night vision provide a good foundation on which to build further survival skills. You should have a good general knowledge of them already, so they are repeated in this manual only as they apply to survival specifically. You can remain alive anywhere in the world when you keep your wits. This is a major lesson in survival. Remember that nature and the elements are neither your friend nor your enemy --they are actually disinterested. Instead, it is your determination to live and your ability to make nature work for you that are the deciding factors. CONTENT OF THE BOOK: Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION Section I. General Individual and group survival III. Health and first aid Chapter 2. ORIENTATION AND TRAVELING Section I. Navigation Selecting your route on the ground Chapter 3. WATER Section I. General considerations Finding water Chapter 4. FOOD Section I. General considerations Vegetable foods III. Animal foods Chapter 5. FIREMAKING AND COOKING Section I. Firemaking Cooking wild food Chapter 6. SURVIVAL IN SPECIAL AREAS Section I. General considerations Cold weather areas III. In jungle and tropical areas In desert areas At sea Chapter 7. HAZARDS TO SURVIVAL Appendix REFERENCES Index