Field Manual: Foreword and Preface

FOREWORD

1. PURPOSE

X-COM Field Manual (FM) 31-1, Standard Infantry Combat Operations, provides field officers with the standard field manoeuvres, tactics, and strategies of the armies of the world, allowing them to more effectively command and control their troops in the field.

2. SCOPE

This field manual covers all areas of in-the-field tactics, including squad organization, initial deployment, field tactics for various types of terrain, and clean-up and recovery. In the Appendix are additional resources on pyrotechnics usage and deployment, as well as some speculative scenarios for which X-COM officers should prepare. Unless otherwise noted, whenever the masculine gender is included, both men and women are included.

3. CERTIFICATION

Reviewed and approved this date.

BY DIRECTION OF THE X-COM HIGH COMMANDER

Gen. S. GENEGA
High Commander, Extraterrestrial Combat Unit

PREFACE

X-COM, like any other specialized military unit, requires effective field commanders in order successfully accomplish field missions. A firm grasp of effective, modern military tactics will greatly aid the X-COM field officer in making strategic decisions in the field. This publication covers standard NATO squad organizations and soldier loadouts, tactics for initial troop deployment, standard NATO field tactics for various terrains, and clean-up and recovery of alien technology at a combat site.

Also included in the Appendix are some general tactics for pyrotechnics usage and deployment — proximity grenades, flares, etc. — and several speculative scenarios, put forward by X-COM scientists, which might be encountered in the field.

While this manual is intended to assist officers in the field, it by no means covers all possible aspects of a combat situation involving extraterrestrials. However, its use should greatly aid field commanders in making informed, strategically sound decisions when faced with such situations.