FAS

Rigging Drops for Special Ops

10.15.07 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Much of the doctrinal literature concerning Army special operations is restricted from public disclosure, often for good reasons and sometimes for reasons that are hard to understand.

But one new special operations manual has been approved for unrestricted public disclosure.

As the title indicates, “Airdrop of Supplies and Equipment: Rigging Loads for Special Operations” (FM 4.20-142, September 2007) deals with the proper packaging of military supplies for aerial delivery via parachute. A copy is available here (in a very large 28 MB PDF file).

Also on the subject of new military publications, the Congressional Research Service updated its report “Defense: FY2008 Authorization and Appropriations” on September 28, 2007.