Field Service Regulations

in the armed forces of the USSR, official documents defining the major provisions and requirements concerning troop training and the conduct of combined-arms combat by units of various sizes, the movement of troops and their disposition at the halt in various combat situations, and troop control. Field service regulations serve as a guide in drawing up combat regulations and manuals for the armed services, combat arms, and special forces. The armed forces of several states have field service regulations, although a different term may be used in some cases.

In the Russian Army, field service regulations were published in 1881, 1904, and 1912. The first field service regulations of the Red Army were approved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in January 1919. In June 1925, the Provisional Field Service Regulations of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA)—Part 2: Division and Corps—was published. In 1929 it was replaced by the Field Service Regulations of the RKKA (PU-29), which, in addition to division and corps, also covered the regiment and had a chapter on political work. The Provisional Field Service Regulations of the RKKA (PU-36), introduced on Dec. 30, 1936, clearly defined the role and place of the combat arms in general combat and in operations. The major regulations took into account the great changes that had taken place in the 1930’s in technical equipment and organization of all the armed services and combat arms.

Draft field service regulations were published in 1939 and 1941. Draft field service regulations issued in late 1942 were developed to incorporate the combat experience gained in the first period of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. New service regulations were introduced after the war. They were drawn up to include changes brought about by the experience of the war and the development of new types of weapons and combat matériel.