Free US Army Field Manuals

You can download hundreds of US Army Field Manuals at GlobalSecurity.org. I hope that you will not have to use the information in many of the manuals, such as Nuclear Contamination Avoidance, while playing airsoft, but many of the manuals, such as "Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad", can probably be useful. Remember that these manuals were written for real-world applications, so don't try and force all of it into your airsoft game, but take what you can from it, try to adapt what you can to airsoft, and ignore the rest.

Applying the BattleDrills from the field manual can be very difficult without a proper instructor, and if the battledrill is executed incorrectly it may do more harm than good. You also want to realize that these battledrills were created in response to weapons that fire accurately at average ranges of sixhundred meters, so some of the tactics in corolation to airsoft, which has firearms that fire at an average accurate range of around 115ft, will be lacking in use. Another thing you want to realize is that these battle drill all have in mind that their is only one CPW per team in any squad. CPW being a fully automatic weapon (ex. M249) an AT-4, claymores. In airsoft you have access to a vast variety of fully automatic weapons, so when you try and apply BattleDrill you will most definitly have to tweak the way you run it, and the only way to figure out what works and what doesn't is experience (trial and error). The manual will also tell you about maintaining alot of spacing while on overwatch, which is neccessary in actual combat, but would prove useless and problematic in airsoft. Another thing you must realize is that these battle drills were created with the King of the Battlefield in mind, and when the King shows up, you run away, always. In airsoft there is no artillery, so alot of the things they greatly stress in the field manual can be ignored when it comes to airsoft. If you are going to take anything away from the Army Field Manual take these things:

BattleDrill 1 A(lpha)
- and everything associated with it (types of squad movement like bounding overwatch, or the file)

IMTs (Individual Movement Techniques)

Other than that, with airsoft its best to go with what you yourself have learned. Its a whole different ballpark I can guarantee you. The one thing that remains constant throughout all combat is the need for good leadership. Remember, if you make a decision in a firefight, even if its not the right one, a good leader commits to it, and follows through with the action. The manual will tell you all about that

^Yeah, most of the stuff that's in the manuals will have to be thrown out just due to the differences in airsoft and real-steel.
You're not going to be able to use anything without adapting it unless you're talking about CQB. But even then, it still won't be 100%, because airsoft guns cannot shoot through walls.

True! I could do a lot of damage at a distance with a real m16 or g36. A lot of the feild manuals would need to be edited just to account for the range limits on aeg's.

FM 7-8 is the best field manual for airsoft tactics.