PS Magazine: Often overlooked, but very useful...

This is the place to put those reference links, posts on books, movies, photos, and etc.
Post Reply
jaywhy8202
Corporal
Corporal
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:14 pm
Location: SoCal
Contact:

PS Magazine: Often overlooked, but very useful...

Post by jaywhy8202 » Mon May 01, 2006 3:42 pm

PS Magazine: The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, is a compact, pocket-sized, cartoon-filled magazine that's an official Department of the Army publication. PS provides information for all soldiers assigned to combat and combat support units, unit maintenance and supply commands.

It's called PS because the information in it is an informal supplement to existing technical publications (TMs, TOs, TBs, FMs), taking up where they leave off. It spells out safety precautions, makes corrections and changes, and explains new procedures. It's a "postscript" to official Army technical publications. But it's a postscript with a strong preventive maintenance punch.

More than 100,000 copies of PS go to field units each month. Once there, unit commanders decide how much authority to give it. It is their tool for enhancing the combat and materiel readiness of equipment in the hands of operational units.

Image

PS's current home is Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL and is published by the Army's Logistics Support Agency (LOGSA). It moved there in 1993 from the Lexington-Blue Grass Army Depot, KY. Previous homes were Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD; Raritan Arsenal, NJ; and Fort Knox, KY.

https://www.logsa.army.mil/psmag/psonline.cfm
(Adobe Reader is required to view all PDF files of PS Magazine)

PS has changed little over the years. It still tries to catch the soldier's attention with a mixture of vivid graphics and color, gags, "talking" equipment and informal prose. It still aims to communicate its message as clearly and concisely as possible with both pictures and words. And it still uses fictional characters to help present that message.

MSG Half-Mast and Connie Rodd are two characters that have appeared in every issue. Both were created by Will Eisner, a corporal in World War II and a comic book artist known for his creation, "The Spirit." He first drew Connie and Half-Mast (then only a sergeant) for Army Motors. When the Army decided to start PS in 1951, Eisner was asked to do the creative art. He and his staff set the visual style for the magazine for the next 20 years.

For 10 years after that Murphy Anderson, one of Eisner's assistants and a well-respected comic book artist in his own right, did the PS art. Then Backes Graphic Productions in Princeton, NJ, did the artwork for 12 years. Today, the art task lies in the skillful and renowned hands of Joe Kubert.

Kubert has over 60 years experience as a commercial artist and has drawn most major comic book characters, including Superman and Batman. But Kubert is best-known for his work on DC Comics' war lines: "Our Army At War: SGT Rock," "The Haunted Tank," "Enemy Ace" and "Our Fighting Forces." Kubert also drew DC's comic book serial adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's "Tarzan."
Last edited by jaywhy8202 on Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
[baf]Jon[/baf]
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego

ostketten
Officer - Brigadier General
Officer - Brigadier General
Posts: 3240
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:23 am
Location: Washington DC area
Contact:

Post by ostketten » Wed May 03, 2006 10:32 am

I've been a fan of PS monthly ever since I was a raw recruit back in the early seventies, and I still go online and download it to this day. If you are persistent and know where to look there is a veritable treasure trove of Army and DoD publications, which for the most part are available as free downloads, and are a great resource for the modeler and historian alike. Three that come to mind right off the bat are the 1944 War Department Standard Catalogs of Army Ordnance, and if anyone is interested in having them I will post links to the free downloads of these when I get home this evening.

jaywhy8202
Corporal
Corporal
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:14 pm
Location: SoCal
Contact:

Post by jaywhy8202 » Wed May 03, 2006 3:02 pm

A selection of PS covers over the years...

1955 & 1968 covers by PS founder and creator, Will Eisner
Image

Image

2005 covers by Joe Kubert
Image

Image

And PS' Connie Rodd explaining the differences in the M60 tank family:
Image

And a short blurb about WHY you should never manually rotate the mini-gun on a VN-era Huey Cobra unless you've cleared all the barrels...
Image
Last edited by jaywhy8202 on Wed May 03, 2006 4:13 pm, edited 4 times in total.
[baf]Jon[/baf]
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego

ostketten
Officer - Brigadier General
Officer - Brigadier General
Posts: 3240
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:23 am
Location: Washington DC area
Contact:

Post by ostketten » Wed May 03, 2006 3:43 pm

Wow, does that ever bring back memories...sigh...while I don't recall that issue specifically, the look is unmistakeable, old Connie hasn't aged a bit has she?? We young dogfaces used to affectionately refer to her as "Connie Lingus" and I'll let your imagination do the rest, what can I say? we were soldiers, and young....hmmm....seems I've heard that somewhere? Anyway here are the links I promised....Standard Catalogs Of Ordnance Items, US Army 1944...Three volumes covering everything from heavy tanks, tank destroyers, explosive shells, small arms, heavy machine guns, you name it, and chock full of information/specifications and so on for all the listed items, over 560 pages in all. WOW, what a great resource for anyone interested in the US Army's WWII hardware. These can be downloaded in PDF format, and I am providing links below for your convenience. Please do let me know what you guys think. Download here:

Vol. #1 here.. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usamhi/DL/docs/710.pdf
Vol. #2 here.. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usamhi/DL/docs/711.pdf
Vol. #3 here.. http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usamhi/DL/docs/712.pdf

These are rather large PDF files, in excess of 100-200 pages each, so they can take a couple of minutes to download, especially on slower machines, so be patient, it is worth the wait.

There is a lot of other great stuff here as well... http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usamhi/DL/chron.htm Just pick the period you are intersted in and a list of available files is displayed. Lots of good stuff for the WWII era. Let me know how you guys like it.

Teamski
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 3565
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 4:10 pm
Location: Delaware
Contact:

Post by Teamski » Wed May 03, 2006 4:21 pm

Thanks for sharing! I didn't know those were still around. I wish We had one for the USAF. I would be collecting them myself.....

-Ski
[url=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2869983520050168193AYuxRR][img]http://inlinethumb18.webshots.com/8785/2869983520050168193S600x600Q85.jpg[/img][/url]

jaywhy8202
Corporal
Corporal
Posts: 51
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:14 pm
Location: SoCal
Contact:

Post by jaywhy8202 » Wed May 03, 2006 5:52 pm

You can subscribe to PS through the Superintendent of Documents (Government Printing Office). Subscriptions for a year of hard-copy versions are $45 (US customers), $63 foreign.

https://www.logsa.army.mil/psmag/pspmm.htm

Copies of PS are sent to all USAF, Navy and Marine Corps logistics and maintenance commands through their respective publications distribution systems.

Though it's a "niche" comic book line, back issues of PS -- especially ones from the 1950s and all VN-era issues -- are extremely valuable to collectors. The Will Eisner-era PS issues are of particular value.

And here's the cover to the first of three archive volumes of DC Comics' SGT Rock and Easy Co. stories. Joe Kubert, creator of the WWII GI character, and currently at the helm of PS, displays his cover artwork for this series.
Image
[baf]Jon[/baf]
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego

Post Reply