Combat Documents

documents relating to the organization, preparation for, and carrying on of combat action and relating to the movement and disposition of troops for a halt. Among the combat documents are documents on the control of troops (operation directives, combat orders and battle instructions, plans, working maps, diagrams); information and report documents (messages, résumés, accounts, war diaries, report maps, and diagrams); reference documents (various calculations, lists, tables, diagrams, and memorandums). Combat documents may be written, graphic, or in the form of tape recordings, photograms, and photographs. Written combat documents may be in text or have fill-in blanks on a set (standard) form. Graphic combat documents are developed on topographical maps, tracing paper, or opaque paper. They supplement, clarify, and sometimes substitute for text documents, presenting data about the situation in a precise and graphic manner. Rules provided by manuals and regulations are observed in drawing up combat documents.