Technical Manual Arrangement

Procedures Standardization (NATOPS), tactical manuals, and weapons loading manuals, contain descriptions of weapons systems, systems integration, operating instructions, operational applications, and safety and emergency procedures. They also contain other pertinent data exclusive of maintenance procedures. Maintenance Manuals. Maintenance manuals contain a description of the weapons systems from the viewpoint of upkeep and repair. These manuals include information on maintenance operation, troubleshooting and testing, assembly, disassembly, repair, and supply support. Descriptions are in the form of an illustrated parts list or breakdown. Technical Manual Styles Technical manuals are available in two general styles, military specifications and commercial. Military Specification Manuals. Military specification manuals are prepared for specific requirements to support defined maintenance concepts and predetermined maintenance level coverage. They are accompanied by an illustrated parts breakdown (IPB) that reflects Navy provisioning actions for spares and spare parts. Commercial Manuals. In selected cases, commercial manuals are bought to support commercially available off-the-shelf equipment. These manuals support commercial practice techniques or specifications. The commercial manual procurement policy permits the purchase of such manuals, provided there is no degradation in equipment operation, reliability, or support. Normally, these manuals are purchased on a onetime basis. They are not readily updated to reflect changes. NAVAIR publication numbers are assigned to these manuals to meet indexing, fifing, stocking, and distribution requirements. Technical Manual Arrangement Technical manuals can be found in two specific f o r m a t s t y l e s — t h e “ c o n v e n t i o n a l ” o r topic-sectionalized manual and the newer “work package” (WP) concept manual. The WP manuals are divided by functions and tasks. They are prepared to reflect distribution and destruction statements on their cover and title pages (fig. 2-1). Conventional Manuals. The topic-sectionalized technical manual format is still being used for NAVAIR technical publications. This basic arrangement was effective and remained constant until sophisticated avionics and support equipment systems were purchased by the Navy. Principles of operation, troubleshooting, wiring diagrams, and schematic requirements were expanded in support of new design advancements. However, general organization of the data (fig. 2-1) has remained constant. Many of the older manuals still reflect early weapons systems maintenance practices. However, as six levels of maintenance were consolidated to the Figure 2-1.—Conventional technical manual content arrangement. 2-2