The M16A1 Rifle: Operation and Preventive Maintenance

by U.S. Department of the Army, Will Eisner (Illustrator)

The U.S. Army teamed up with cartoonist and graphic artist Will Eisner to produce teaching tools for U.S. soldiers in a medium that they could easily understand. The M16A1 Rifle: Operation and Preventive Maintenance, first printed in 1969, features a female narrator who instructs GIs on the proper care of their AR-15 (military name M16A1) rifles—firearms notorious for jamming and malfunctioning. More than a simple manual and step-by-step guide, this unconventional yet important military document tried to appeal to soldiers with suggestive chapter titles such as “How to Strip Your Baby,” “What to Do in a Jam,” “Sweet 16,” and “All the Way with Négligé.” A copy of the thirty-two-page booklet was issued to nearly every soldier serving in Vietnam.

64 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

The Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Army is the Federal Government agency within which the United States Army is organized, and it is led by the Secretary of the Army who has statutory authority 10 U.S.C. § 3013 to conduct its affairs and to prescribe regulations for its government, subject to the limits of the law, and the directions of the Secretary of Defense and the President.

The Secretary of the Army is a civilian official appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The highest-ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Army, who is also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other senior officials of the Department are the Under Secretary of the Army (principal deputy to the Secretary) and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (principal deputy to the Chief of Staff.)

The Department of War was originally formed in 1789 as an Executive Department of the United States, and was renamed by the National Security Act of 1947 to the Department of the Army on September 18, 1947. By amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 in 1949, the Department of the Army was transformed to its present-day status.

Reviews

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a graphic version of the U.S. Army's training manual on the M16A1 rifle. Also included is a short history of the development and use of the weapon. Some mention is made of the AR-15 non-automatic civilian version.

[Matt Piechocinski]

I got this because it was drawn by Eisner, and granted it has no bearing on my, because I'm not in the military, and I don't own an assault rifle. What's great about it is the fact that it shows comics can be a literary tool ... especially for those who maybe have trouble reading, or with comprehension. I don't mean to minimize, but there's a big difference between reading this, and just a flat out instruction manual.

[Alan Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgia for Veterans

Just like the manual we used so long ago, and still good for the M-16 today. The rifle hasn’t changed all that much. Having this on kindle is great because I can enlarge the pictures and text.

Fun and informative.
AD2

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now I know how to properly lubricate an AR!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting masterpiece...I really like how they made a manual into a comic book/graphic novel for a military weapon (in this case, M16). Though it seems rather outdated and hasn't aged well since this first appeared during the war in Vietnam (and even more so since this military rifle is currently out of service with American military forces, but can still be seen in the hands of veterans and personnel who have had long careers and service records, and can also be seen in other worldwide military forces), it's a very helpful and fun instruction manual very accurate to the entire weapon, a gold mine of some very good tactics and actions. Will Eisner's artwork is absolutely incredible and smooth detailed, although some illustrations are very ugly to some. You know, books like this one can be incredibly hard or expensive to get as of now, over forty years later, as this could be due to books like this one running out of print, and you know something? No matter how hard they would try to keep these books in print, luck would always get stumped on whatever the cost. This is, overall, a very creative and awesome idea of an instruction manual in comix-style. This should be the standard for most instructions of man's favorite things.