FM 3-3-1: NUCLEAR CONTAMINATION AVOIDANCE

Official US Army Field Manual in Acrobat PDF file format.



The mission of the Chemical Corps is to prepare the Army to survive and win in a nuclear environment by—
* Developing doctrine, organizations, training products, and equipment for nuclear defense, and nuclear retaliation.
* Minimizing the impact of nuclear weapons through contamination avoidance, protection, and decontamination.
* Employing smoke.
* Employing flame.

This manual is one of four that explain the fundamentals of NBC defense—
* FM 3-3, Chemical and Biological Contamination Avoidance.
* FM 3-3-1, Nuclear Contamination Avoidance.
* FM 3-4, NBC Protection.
* FM 3-5, NBC Decontamination.

A general overview of these fundamentals is given in FM 3-100, NBC Operations. This manual, FM 3-3-1, defines and clarifies the entire process of nuclear contamination avoidance. It details the NBC Warning and Reporting System (NBCWRS), how to locate and identify nuclear contamination, and how to operate in and around nuclear contamination. This manual is designed and intended to be an easy-to-read, step-by-step manual depicting the manual method of calculating nuclear contamination avoidance procedures for chemical officers and NCOs at brigade level and higher organizations. However, subject matter discussed in Chapters 1 and 2 and appendices A and C are of general use for all branches and MOS.

Chapter 1 defines the nuclear threat and how to reduce unit vulnerability.
Chapter 2 defines how we warn our troops of an enemy nuclear attack and how we warn of a friendly nuclear attack.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 detail procedures for detecting, identifying, evaluating and plotting hazards while operating in an nuclear environment. These chapters are essential for brigade, division, and corps chemical personnel.
Chapter 6 details the mathematical procedures required for evaluating nuclear information.
Chapter 7 details procedures required to operate in and around neutron induced radiation areas.
Chapter 8 discusses procedures for tactical units confronted with radiation hazards eminating from civilian facilities.
Appendices A through F detail specialized information often required in an nuclear environment.
Appendix G provides operational employment guidelines for the principles of contamination avoidance in the form of a checklist.
Chemical personnel must be familiar with and be able to apply the information in this manual.


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