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.
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."
PS Magazine: Often overlooked, but very useful...
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PS Magazine: Often overlooked, but very useful...
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
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego
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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.
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A selection of PS covers over the years...
1955 & 1968 covers by PS founder and creator, Will Eisner
2005 covers by Joe Kubert
And PS' Connie Rodd explaining the differences in the M60 tank family:
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...
1955 & 1968 covers by PS founder and creator, Will Eisner
2005 covers by Joe Kubert
And PS' Connie Rodd explaining the differences in the M60 tank family:
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...
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
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego
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- Officer - Brigadier General
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
[baf]Jon[/baf]
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego
JO1, USN (ret.)
San Diego