Explainer: Downloading Reading Material
Notes on navigating US Military Publishing.
Borrowing with Pride borrows with pride from the publications produced by the United States Armed Forces. Requested reading will be directed towards publicly available, unclassified documents.
Requested readings will trend towards doctrine, field manuals, and training materials related to higher level organization and operations. When documents with reference to tactical or individual combat are suggested, the purpose will be to illustrate broader points (versus teach actionable combat skills).
The only documentation ever referenced and/or linked for reading materials will have a Security Classification of “UNCLASSIFIED” and a Distribution Restriction Code of “A APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION IS UNLIMITED.”
Most publications will be linked from US Military Publishing Directorates (there are multiple). The link provided by Borrowing with Pride will take you to a landing page on a .mil website; from that landing page you will be able to view and/or download the document for suggested reading. The landing page will typically also include Security Classification and Distribution Restriction information.
On occasion, links will be provided that will take you directly to a PDF hosted on a .mil website. The linked document will be clearly marked as “UNCLASSIFIED”. By virtue of being hosted on .mil websites and public access they will be deemed approved for public release.
If, for any reason, you prefer not to follow the links provided by Borrowing with Pride, it will always be possible, using the document titles, to access any referenced materials via Google search. It is not required to use any links on Borrowing with Pride to access any suggested resources or reading materials.
Some additional notes:
Military Publishing Directorates and other .mil websites sometimes will show links to other documents and manuals that have distribution restrictions (even if the material is “UNCLASSIFIED”). It is not possible to access these documents. Borrowing will Pride will never knowingly direct readers towards documents with distribution restrictions.
Some “UNCLASSIFIED” documents, even ones without distribution restrictions, are behind firewalls labeled “CAC Required”. CAC = Common Access Card, which is a chipped military ID. Unless you are in possession of a CAC, it is not possible to access these documents. Borrowing with Pride will never knowingly direct readers towards documents with distribution restrictions.
Some recently (post-CY2000) dated versions of classified documents or versions of documents with distribution restrictions exist on the interest and can be discovered via Google search. Borrowing with Pride will never knowingly direct readers to versions of documents that are not clearly and correctly marked for release.
Historical documents with appropriate classification markings (for example, World War II) may be used if clearly and correctly marked for release. Historical documents pre-dating modern warfare (pre-World War II) may be used without classification or distribution markings.
so no military secrets shared here?