Audiobook of Army Operations Field Manual hits seven downloads on iTunes

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan.—The audiobook version of the Army’s operations manual, which will drive how the force fights in future large-scale combat operations, received its seventh download on iTunes earlier today, sources confirmed.

“What we actually did was, we had regular soldiers read the document so it sounded just like, you know, soldiers hanging out in the smoke pit reading doctrine to each other,” said Col. Rick Deed, the driving force behind the audiobook’s production. “So, the mumbling S1 who screws up names at the change of command ceremony—she reads a chapter. And the corporal from Alabama who is totally incoherent—he reads a chapter. I think that contributed to this thing’s popularity.”

The audiobook of the Army’s capstone doctrine, also known as Field Manual 3-0, was first released in audiobook format June. It was part of a joint effort by the Army’s Combined Arms Center and the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate to make this important document widely available to soldiers, in a format they would use.

Deed said he never expected the audiobook, which is now being downloaded all over the world, would prove so popular. “The seven downloads are actually from at least two continents,” he told reporters. “We had to pay a little extra for it, but we got the podcast company to do an analytical heat map of downloads. Great little tool. And it shows that we have, I think, five listeners from here at Fort Leavenworth and one from Pennsylvania and even one from, I think, China.

”So we have global reach here.”

“And you know, only about two or three of those downloads from Kansas are me personally,” Deed joked.

In a ceremony last week at the Pengaton, Deed was decorated with the Legion of Merit for his innovative contribution to the profession of arms.