This issue of PS marks our 50th anniversary as the Army’s preventive maintenancemonthly magazine. PS hit the field in June 1951 to help our troops take better careof their equipment. Today in June 2001, PS still gives soldiers the best maintenanceinformation available.

The concept of PS actually began in World War II with Army Motors, the Army’sfirst maintenance magazine. It was in Army Motors that PS’ two most prominentcharacters, MSG Half-Mast and Connie Rodd, first appeared.

As the KoreanWar heated up, theArmy needed a wayto get maintenanceinformation to sol-diers quickly and inan easily-understoodform. So the Armyturned to Will Eisner,an artist famous forhis work on theSpirit comic strip—and one of the artistsfor Army Motors—todesign PS.

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TB 43-PS-583, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, is an official pub-lication of the Department of the Army, providing information for allsoldiers assigned to combat and combat support units and all soldierswith unit maintenance and supply duties. All information published hasbeen reviewed and approved by the agency responsible for the equip-ment, publication or policy discussed. Application of the information isoptional with the user. Masculine pronouns may refer to both genders.

V-Belt ChecksFMTV Fifth Wheel SettingFMTV Cab Raising, LoweringM917AI Dump Truck Brake ChambersHMMWV Air Filter Gauge CheckHMMWV Dump ValveLube Protection in the DesertM870A1 Semitrailer Brake Connectors

89

1011

12-1313

14-1515

WHEELED VEHICLES 8

ISSUE 583 JUNE 2001

DEUCE, 621 Scraper, Crane Lube Fittings130G Grader Cable Grommets

ERIC K. SHINSEKIGeneral, United States Army Chief of Staff

JOEL B. HUDSONAdministrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army

TOW Sight HandlingAvenger IFF Interconnect BoxMLRS Launcher Actuator Oil CheckAvenger Missile System CautionsMLRS Launcher Battery CoversMLRS Launcher Hydraulic Power Supply

424243

44-454646

MISSILES 42

M2 Machine Gun AdjustmentsCarbon RemovalM16-Series Rifle Swivel FinishM249 Machine Gun Spring

4748-49

4950

SMALL ARMS 47

M12A1 Decon Fuel Tank CapM58 Smoke Generator IR Hopper CoverM13 Decon Pump Check

515152

NBC 51

5354-5556-57

COMMUNICATIONS 53

RL-31-Series Reel MaintenanceTA-312/PT TelephoneMSE Backup Battery Charging

FED LOG Use and Understanding 58-59

LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT 58

16COMBAT VEHICLES

Track PadsM1-Series Tank Hatch SealM1-Series Tank DAHA MirrorM2/M3-Series Bradley Steel TrackMLRS Carrier Steel TrackM88A1 Recovery Vehicle PowerpackM113A3 Carrier Generator Belt

1617181919

20-2121

COMBAT ENGINEERING 22

AVIATION 37

OH-58-Series Helicopter Cotter PinsCH-47D Drive Shaft InspectionsCH-47-Series M130 Dispenser CoverFM 1-201 DelayedOH-58C/D Armor Panel ProtectionALSE Emergency Strobe Light SwitchAN/TPN-18A Radar Cleaning

37383939404041

You are invited to send PS your ideas for improving maintenanceprocedures, questions on maintenance and supply problemsand questions or comments on material published in PS.Just write to:

MSG Half-MastThe Preventive Maintenance MonthlyLOGSA, Bldg 5307Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-7466

Or e-mail to:psmag@logsa.army.mil

Internet address:http://www.logsa.army.mil/psmag/pshome.html

PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly (ISSN 0475-2953) is published monthly by the Department of the Army, RedstoneArsenal, AL 35898-7466. Periodical Postage is paid at the Huntsville, AL post office and at additional mailing offices.Postmaster: Send address changes to PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, LOGSA, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-7466

By order of the Secretary of the Army:

Official:

0110201

Half-Mast and Connie,from an early issueof ARMY MOTORS

Half-Mast from PS 67and Connie from PS 53

PS Magazine:50 Years of PM

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PS strives for complete accuracy so that soldiers know they can depend on themagazine’s info. Most of the material in PS comes from writers’ frequent visits tofield units, where they talk withsoldiers who actually operate andwork on the equipment. All articlesare reviewed twice by the AMCcommodity command responsiblefor the equipment—once whenwritten and again when words andpictures have been combined. Thewhole review process normallytakes about 4 months.

From the beginning, PS has beenwritten and edited by Army civil-ians and its art drawn by contrac-tors. Norman Colton was the firsteditor from 1951-1953, followedfor a short while by Jacob Hay.James Kidd served as PS’ editor for almost 30 years from 1954-82 and trained theeditors who followed him: Donald Hubbard, James Boblenz, and now Jerome Hill.

Will Eisner drew most of the magazine’s art for its first 20 years and then one ofhis assistants, Murphy Anderson (who also worked on the Superman, Batman, andFlash comic books), did it for the next 10. Others who labored as PS’ artists includeChuck Kramer, Alfredo Alcala, Dan Speigle, Steve High, Jeff Jonas, Diane Backes,Augie Scotto, Scott Madsen, and Vic Scarpelli. PS’ newest artist, Joe Kubert, drewthe Sergeant Rock comic book series formany years.

The PS home office was initiallylocated at Aberdeen ProvingGround, MD. In 1955, it was movedto Raritan Arsenal, NJ, with subse-quent moves to Ft Knox, KY, in1962, Lexington, KY, in 1973 and toits current home at RedstoneArsenal, AL, in 1993.

What does the future hold for PS?The only sure thing is that as long asPS exists it will continue to providesoldiers the best, most up-to-datemaintenance information available.

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Eisner’s creation was very similar to the one you’re reading now. As a “post-script” to official Army publications, PS still tries to catch soldiers’ attention with amixture of comic book characters, vivid graphics and color, gags, talking equip-ment, and informal writing. It still sends its message as clearly as possible, empha-sizing pictures over words.

But, as our society and our Armyhave changed over these 50 years,so has PS.

In the early days, Half-Mast andConnie were assisted by PrivatesFosgnoff and Joe Dope, two BeetleBailey-type soldiers who wereconstantly screwing up. As thenumber of African-Americans inthe Army increased, an African-American woman, Bonnie, wasadded to the PS staff in 1970.

Writers get info from mechanics,repairmen and supply specialists

As many retired Army main-tainers can tell you, Connie andBonnie were presented as pinupsfor many years. Their scanty out-fits were designed to lure malereaders to the maintenance stories.

The Army decided in the 1950sthat it didn’t want soldiers por-trayed as incompetent, soFosgnoff and Dope were bothgone by 1957. After complaints ofsexism from inside and outside theArmy in the early 1970s, Connieand Bonnie were transformedfrom pinups to modestly dressed,intelligent maintenance experts.

Other characters who havecome and gone over the yearsinclude Sergeant Bull Dozer (whospecialized in construction equip-ment) and SFC Macon Sparks(who was the PS commo expert).

Connie, Bonnie andPercy the skunk,from PS 264

From PS 17

PS 583

Macon Sparks,from PS 375

PS Magazine: 50 Years of PM PS Magazine: 50 Years of PM

We give

you info

you can

counton!

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