Military

This Field Manual is dedicated to the men and women of the United States Army in the active component, the Army National Guard and the US Army Reserve-altogether America's finest fighting machine. You are the soldiers that fight and win the Nation's wars. Be proud.

FM 7-21.13, The Soldier's Guide, is a pocket reference for subjects in which all soldiers must maintain proficiency, regardless of rank, component or military occupational specialty (MOS). It condenses information from other field manuals, training circulars, soldier training publications, Army regulations, and other sources. It addresses both general subjects and selected combat tasks. While not all-inclusive or intended as a stand-alone document, the guide offers soldiers a ready reference in many subjects.

FM 7-21.13 is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 describes the importance of Army Values and the obligations of every soldier. Chapter 2 provides a short history of the Army and examines the environment in which it operates. Chapter 3 addresses the duties, responsibilities and authority of the soldier, how to present a military appearance, and an introduction to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The importance of customs, courtesies, and traditions is in Chapter 4. The soldier's role in training and a brief description of training management are in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 discusses the importance of counseling and professional development. The benefits of serving in the Army are described in Chapter 7. The appendices contain specific combat tasks that are important to every soldier and information on programs the Army offers to assist soldiers and their family members.

The Soldier's Guide provides information critical to the success of soldiers in the operational environment. Reading this manual will help prepare soldiers for full spectrum operations and is a tool in building the Future Force soldier. This book will be useful to every soldier who reads it.

The proponent for the publication is Headquarters, US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). Send comments and recommendations on DA Form 2028 (Recommended Changes to Publications and Blank Forms) to Commandant, US Army Sergeants Major Academy, ATTN: ATSS-D, Fort Bliss, TX 79918-8002 or through the Sergeants Major Academy website at http://usasma.bliss.army.mil.

Unless stated otherwise, masculine nouns or pronouns do not refer exclusively to men.

This publication contains copyrighted material.

The copyright owners listed here have granted permission to reproduce material from their works. The Source Notes lists other sources of quotations, vignettes, and examples.

Top Sergeant: The Life and Times of Sergeant Major of the Army William G. Bainbridge, by William G. Bainbridge, © William G. Bainbridge, New York: Ballantine, 1995.

"To Relieve Bastogne," by Don Stivers, © Don Stivers, Stivers Publishing, 1990.

Dale E. Wilson, "American Armor in the First World War," A Weekend With the Great War: Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Great War Interconference Seminar, ed. by Steven Weingarten, © Cantigny First Division Foundation, 1996.

"Captain Nathan Hale (1755-1776)," by Mary J. Ortner, Ph.D., © Mary J. Ortner, 2001, Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Stephen Hardin, "The Battle of the Alamo," Handbook of Texas Online, www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online, © Texas State Historical Association, 2003. Used with permission.

Don Rivers, "William Pittenger, Medal of Honor Recipient," Village News (13 Aug 1998) © Fallbrook Historical Society, Fallbrook, CA, 1998-1999.

We Were Soldiers Once. and Young, LTG Harold G. Moore, US Army (Retired) and Joseph L. Galloway, © LTG H. G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway, Random House, Incorporated, 1992.

War as I Knew It by General George S. Patton. Copyright © 1947 by Beatrice Patton Walters, Ruth Patton Totten, and George Smith Totten. Copyright © renewed 1975 by MG George Patton, Ruth Patton Totten, John K. Waters, Jr., and George P. Waters. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Greenhill Dictionary of Military Quotations, edited by Peter G. Tsouras. Copyright © Peter G. Tsouras, London: Greenhill Books and Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000.

Carl von Clausewitz, On War, edited by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Copyright © 1976 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.