US Army Field Manual 30-31B - History

History

An alleged appendix to F.M. 30-31 was first mentioned in the Turkish newspaper Barış (sometimes anglicized to Barish), in 1975. The same newspaper had announced the existence of F.M. 31-15: Operations Against Irregular Forces, the bible of the Turkish branch of Operation Gladio, the "Counter-Guerrilla", in a 1973 article titled "Şiddetin Kaynağı" ("The Root of the Violence"). The reporter who broke the news was allegedly disappeared before he could publish the details.

A facsimile copy of F.M. 30-31B first appeared a year later in Bangkok, Thailand, and in various capitals of Northern Africa. In 1978, it appeared in various European magazines, including the Spanish Triunfo and El Pais. The January 1979 issue of CIA critic Philip Agee's CovertAction Quarterly produced a copy as well. The Italian press picked up the Triunfo publication, and a copy was published in the October 1978 issue of L'Europeo.

A wide range of Field Manuals including 31-15 can be accessed through web sites that catalog the obsolete US Field Manuals, however, supplement B is not among the field manuals publicly released by the military.

The “Westmoreland Field Manual” was mentioned in at least two parliamentary commissions reports of European countries, one about the Italian Propaganda Due masonic lodge, and one about the Belgian stay-behind network. The latter says that “the commission has not any certainty about the authenticity of the document”.