PREPAREDNESS TIPS

- Store survival kits in a convenient place known to all family members.

- Keep a smaller version of your supplies kit in the trunk of your car, at work, and at school.

- Keep them in airtight plastic bags, if possible.

- Change your stored water supply every six months so it stays fresh.

- Replace your stored food every six months.

- Ask your physician or pharmacist about storing prescription medications.

- Rethink your kit and family needs at least once a year.

Shortly after the United States joined the Allied war effort following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a contingent of US Army soldiers unexpectedly found themselves being sent not to the Pacific or to Europe but to the Middle Eastern nation of Iran. There, amid the broiling heat of the desert sun and the bitter cold of mile-high mountain ranges, former American longshoremen, truck drivers, assembly line workers, and others toiled diligently to complete a critical wartime logistics mission in a strange and often perplexing land. Instructions for American Servicemen in Iran During World War II provides a thought-provoking glimpse into the Army's efforts to prepare its soldiers to deal with the Iranians and their values and customs. In a new introduction to a facsimile of the Pocket Guide to Iran prepared by the US Army in 1943, Steven R. Ward, author of Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces, presents a brief overview of US Army operations in the Persian Gulf region that offers important historical context. The introduction focuses on the US Army's Persian Gulf Command, which triumphed over great adversity to complete the critical missions of supplying the Soviet Union's Red Army against Hitler's war machine and buying precious time for American forces preparing to invade Europe. The pocket guide serves as a reminder of US efforts to prepare and indoctrinate American troops for confrontation with the Germans, cooperation with the Soviets, and interaction with the Iranians. It shows how the Greatest Generation took care to try to understand and avoid alienating the Iranians, upon whose good will and cooperation mission success ultimately rested. Ward's new introduction, meanwhile, also applies some of the pocket guide's cultural advice to contemporary issues surrounding US-Iranian relations to help readers more easily understand the complexities that often characterize interactions between the two countries.

Designated as a light truck, the Jeep was the primary four-wheel drive vehicle for the U.S. Army during WWII. The Jeep's design owed a great deal to Karl Probst, a freelance designer employed by the American Bantam Car Co. Probst's prototype "Blitz Buggy" was built in a mere 49 days. It clearly impressed the Army in head-to-head competition against a design submitted by Willys-Overland. However the Buggy's engine failed to meet requirements, and the Army determined that Bantam could not produce the vehicle in quantity. As a result, the Army bought the Bantam design and asked both Willys and Ford to improve it. The Willys model MB, equipped with a L134 straight-4 "Go Devil" engine, was eventually accepted as the standard. Ford models built to Willys specifications were designated GPW ("G" for government vehicle, "P" designating the 80" wheelbase, and "W" indicating the Willys engine design). (Notably, the "GP" part of the designation is often misinterpreted to mean "General Purpose," and some have suggested this is the reason the vehicle was nick-named the "Jeep." In reality it was probably named after a character in the Popeye cartoons). Roughly 640,000 Jeeps were built during WWII by Ford and Willys, and used on every front. Utilitarian, rugged, and easy to maintain, Jeeps saw service as scout cars, ambulances, firefighting vehicles, as tractors for artillery, and more. The vehicle so impressed war correspondent Ernie Pyle that he called it one of the "two most important pieces of non-combat equipment ever developed" - the other being the pocket stove. Jeeps remained in service for the U.S. military in Korea and in the Vietnam War. Created in 1944, this technical manual reveals a great deal about the Jeep's design and capabilities. Intended as a manual for those charged with operation and maintenance, this manual shows many aspects of its engine, cooling, power, drive train and other systems. Originally labeled restricted, this manual was declassified long ago and is here reprinted in book form. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text.

This is a larger format reference, desk copy edition of the bestselling pocket edition. New, fully revised 2010 edition of the official issue United States Army Ranger Handbook. The chapters are structured as follows (subjects in brackets are just examples of some of the many issues and lessons covered in the chapters): Leadership; Operations; Fire Support (including risk estimate distances, close air support, close combat attack aviation etc.); Communications (military radios, antennas etc.); Demolitions (explosives, detonations, safe distances etc.); Movement (formations, fundamentals, tactical marches, movement during limited visibility, danger areas etc.); Patrols (reconnaissance, security, ambushes, debriefs etc.); Battle Drills (react to visual, IED, or direct contact; how to enter and clear a room, entering trenches, reacting to indirect fire etc.); Mountain Engineering (training, organization, rescue equipment, anchors, knots, belays, climbing commands etc.); Machine Gun Employment (specifications, classes, offensive and defensive use, control, ammunition planning etc.); Convoy Operations (planning, truck movements); Urban Operations (perspectives, organization, principles, rehearsals, close quarters combat etc.); Waterborne Operations (rope bridge, poncho watercraft etc.); Evasion / Survival (escape, camouflage, survival kits, navigation, traps and snares, shelters, fires etc.); Aviation (pickup and landing zones, air assault formations, attack helicopters, utility helicopters etc.); First Aid (lifesaving measures, care under fire, breathing, bleeding, shock, abdominal injuries, burns, poisonous plant identification, foot care, litter, hydration, medevac etc.). Appendices detail resources and quick reference cards. Extensive glossary and index included. Illustrated throughout.

Written as a Top Secret US Army procedural manual and released under the Freedom of Information act this manual describes the step-by-step process recommended to control and contain the minds of the enemy and the general public alike. Within these 180+ pages you will read in complete detailed the Mission of PSYOP as well as PSYOP Roles, Policies and Strategies and Core Tasks. Also included are the logistics and communication procedures used to insure the "right" people get the "right" information.

The Army version "Map Reading and Land Navigation" is the simplest and most straightforward explanation of how to get around with just a compass and a map. This guide is perfect for any outdoorsman or for teaching Boy Scouts how to use a compass.

The purpose of this manual is to present basic principles used in the design and construction of earth levees. The term levee as used herein is defined as an embankment whose primary purpose is to furnish flood protection from seasonal high water and which is therefore subject to water loading for periods of only a few days or weeks a year. Embankments that are subject to water loading for prolonged periods (longer than normal flood protection requirements) or permanently should be designed in accordance with earth dam criteria rather than the levee criteria given herein. Even though levees are similar to small earth dams they differ from earth dams in the following important respects: (a) a levee embankment may become saturated for only a short period of time beyond the limit of capillary saturation, (b) levee alignment is dictated primarily by flood protection requirements, which often results in construction on poor foundations, and (c) borrow is generally obtained from shallow pits or from channels excavated adjacent to the levee, which produce fill material that is often heterogeneous and far from ideal. Selection of the levee section is often based on the properties of the poorest material that must be used.

The purpose of this Guide is to assist trainers involved with the teaching of basic rifle marksmanship in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to be a more effective instructor of basic shooting skills.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has long been one of the federal government's key agencies in planning the uses of the nation's waterways and water resources. Though responsible for a range of water-related programs, the Corps's two traditional programs have been flood damage reduction and navigation enhancement. The water resource needs of the nation, however, have for decades been shifting away from engineered control of watersheds toward restoration of ecosystem services and natural hydrologic variability. In response to these shifting needs, legislation was enacted in 1990 which initiated the Corps's involvement in ecological restoration, which is now on par with the Corps's traditional flood damage reduction and navigation roles. This book provides an analysis of the Corps's efforts in ecological restoration, and provides broader recommendations on how the corps might streamline their planning process. It also assesses the impacts of federal legislation on the Corps planning and projects, and provides recommendations on how relevant federal policies might be altered in order to improve Corps planning. Another important shift affecting the Corps has been federal cost-sharing arrangements (enacted in 1986), mandating greater financial participation in Corps water projects by local co-sponsors. The book describes how this has affected the Corps-sponsor relationship, and comments upon how each group must adjust to new planning and political realities.

Hurricane- and coastal-storm-related losses have increased substantially during the past century, largely due to increases in population and development in the most susceptible coastal areas. Climate change poses additional threats to coastal communities from sea level rise and possible increases in strength of the largest hurricanes. Several large cities in the United States have extensive assets at risk to coastal storms, along with countless smaller cities and developed areas. The devastation from Superstorm Sandy has heightened the nation's awareness of these vulnerabilities. What can we do to better prepare for and respond to the increasing risks of loss? Reducing Coastal Risk on the East and Gulf Coasts reviews the coastal risk-reduction strategies and levels of protection that have been used along the United States East and Gulf Coasts to reduce the impacts of coastal flooding associated with storm surges. This report evaluates their effectiveness in terms of economic return, protection of life safety, and minimization of environmental effects. According to this report, the vast majority of the funding for coastal risk-related issues is provided only after a disaster occurs. This report calls for the development of a national vision for coastal risk management that includes a long-term view, regional solutions, and recognition of the full array of economic, social, environmental, and life-safety benefits that come from risk reduction efforts. To support this vision, Reducing Coastal Risk states that a national coastal risk assessment is needed to identify those areas with the greatest risks that are high priorities for risk reduction efforts. The report discusses the implications of expanding the extent and levels of coastal storm surge protection in terms of operation and maintenance costs and the availability of resources. Reducing Coastal Risk recommends that benefit-cost analysis, constrained by acceptable risk criteria and other important environmental and social factors, be used as a framework for evaluating national investments in coastal risk reduction. The recommendations of this report will assist engineers, planners and policy makers at national, regional, state, and local levels to move from a nation that is primarily reactive to coastal disasters to one that invests wisely in coastal risk reduction and builds resilience among coastal communities. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Institutional Landscape for Coastal Risk Management 3 Performance of Coastal Risk Reduction Strategies 4 Principles for Guiding the Nation's Future Investments in Coastal Risk Reduction 5 A Vision for Coastal Risk Reduction References Appendix A: Major U.S. Coastal Storms Since 1900 Appendix B: USACE Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Projects Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members