MIL-STD-38784, explained

MIL-STD-38784 is the Department of Defense (DoD) standard practice for the general style and format of technical manuals. The ASSIST-QuickSearch record kept by the Defense Logistics Agency shows it active at Revision C, dated September 4, 2024, with a scope that covers "the general style and format requirements for the preparation of standard Technical Manuals" and changes to them. The standard does not say what a manual must contain; the detail specifications for each type of manual do that. It says how the pages look, how paragraphs, steps, figures, and tables are numbered, how warnings, cautions, and notes are worded and placed, what an illustration must do, and how a change package or a revision is marked. This post covers the scope, the current revision, the history from the MIL-M-38784 specifications, the main format rules, and how the standard relates to MIL-STD-40051, MIL-STD-3001, and MIL-HDBK-1222.

What MIL-STD-38784 covers

The scope paragraph, identical on the ASSIST record and in the texts of Revisions B and C, defines the reach of the standard by the technical manual (TM) identification number. The standard applies to all technical documents assigned a TM identification number and controlled by a TM management information system, or subject to requisition from an inventory control point. It provides for Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) document type definition usage, described in appendices B through E, for electronic data delivery, including PDF. The scope then draws the line that confuses many first-time readers: the standard "supplements the detail specifications used for specific TM types" and does not deliver any technical data. A manual is written to a content specification, such as an illustrated parts breakdown or operation and maintenance specification, and formatted to MIL-STD-38784. All appendices are intended for compliance when applicable.

The 136-page text of Revision C, downloadable from the ASSIST record, is the version quoted in the sections below unless a sentence names Revision B, the November 16, 2020 text available on EverySpec. Revision C lists the types of manuals it covers in paragraph 1.2: the review draft copy, the preliminary technical manual, the final reproducible copy, the supplemental manual, supplements, the brief manual, and the combined manual. Paragraph 1.3 explains the Service markings that run through the whole document: (A) for Army, (F) for Air Force, (M) for Marine Corps, and (N) for Navy. A marking at the start of a paragraph title makes that paragraph and its subordinates apply only to the marked Service; a marking at the start of a paragraph limits that paragraph; otherwise only the marked sentence is limited. Unmarked text applies to everyone.

The applicable documents list shows what the standard leans on: detail specifications such as MIL-DTL-38807 for illustrated parts breakdown manuals and MIL-DTL-87929 for Air Force work package manuals, MIL-PRF-32216 for the evaluation of commercial off-the-shelf manuals, MIL-STD-1808 for system, subsystem, and sub-subsystem numbering, DoDI 5200.48 on Controlled Unclassified Information, DoDI 5230.24 on distribution statements, DoDM 5200.01 on classification marking, DFARS 252.227-7013 on rights in technical data (DoD contracts now use 252.227-7989 in its place under class deviation 2026-O0036, effective February 1, 2026), Air Force technical orders TO 00-5-1 and TO 00-5-3, Army Regulation 25-30, SECNAV M-5510.1, and the DoD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms.

Revision C and the record in ASSIST

The ASSIST record is the authoritative status page. It lists the document as a Military Standard - Standard Practice in the TMSS (technical manual specifications and standards) area, status Active, document date September 4, 2024, next review due September 3, 2029, with full coordination. The lead standardization activity is the Army Materiel Command, Life Cycle Sustainment Division, code TM. The preparing activity is AFMC/A4/10, the Air Force Materiel Command Directorate of Logistics, Civil Engineering, and Force Protection, code 16. The custodians are the Army Materiel Command for the Army, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division for the Navy, and AFMC/A4/10 for the Air Force; the Marine Corps has no custodian line but appears throughout the text as the (M) marking. Every entry carries Distribution Statement A, and the Revision B and Revision C forewords say the standard is approved for use by all departments and agencies of the DoD.

The revision history on the record runs:

Searchers who type "mil-std-38784c" usually mean Revision C of the standard, but the same string also matches MIL-M-38784C, the 1990 specification covered in the next section.

The Revision B foreword shows what the modern revisions changed. It says the revision reorganized the data to make use of section 5 and lists the major changes: Controlled Unclassified Information requirements were added; Technical Order Page Supplements and difference data sheets were removed because they are no longer authorized, with legacy Air Force programs referred to TO 00-5-1 for phasing them out; nuclear surety procedure symbols were restricted to the title page and procedural steps; subordinate paragraph depth was capped at six levels as an option and steps at four levels; footnotes were limited to tables; the print and electronic presentation requirements were replaced with paper and PDF output requirements; and requirements for PDF bookmarks, a list of changes, applicability codes, and proprietary markings were added. Revision B directed comments to the AFLCMC/HIS Technical Data Section at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; the Revision C foreword names the AFLCMC/GBS Technical Data Section there.

From MIL-M-38784C to MIL-STD-38784

The number 38784 is older than the standard. MIL-M-38784B, a military specification titled Manuals, Technical: General Style and Format Requirements and dated April 16, 1983, covered the general style and format requirements for preparing manuscripts and reproducible copy for standard technical manuals. EverySpec lists MIL-M-38784A of May 1974 before it, an interim amendment to Revision B in March 1987, and Revision C in 1990, all now canceled.

The change from a specification to a standard came in 1995. The Notice 1 record for MIL-M-38784C, dated July 3, 1995, states that MIL-M-38784C, dated October 12, 1990, "is hereby canceled" and that future acquisition should refer to MIL-STD-38784, the DoD standard practice for general style and formatting requirements for technical manuals. The base MIL-STD-38784 is dated one day earlier, July 2, 1995. The scope already read much as it does today: general style and format requirements for standard technical manuals and changes to them, covering all technical documents assigned a TM identification number, with electronic delivery through document type definitions in appendices B through E, and a statement that the standard supplements the detail specifications and does not alone deliver technical data.

Change Notice 1 of November 15, 2000 and the validation notice of December 1, 2000 kept the 1995 base in force until Revision A of August 25, 2011, which was changed twice before Revision B in 2020 and Revision C in 2024.

Page layout and numbering

Revision C, like Revision B, organizes format in section 4.7. Paragraph 5.3.3 sets the default page: manuals shall be prepared in 8 and a half by 11 inch size unless the acquiring activity specifies otherwise, with text and artwork kept within the reproduction area of table II, and the Air Force takes page size from its content specification. For PDF output, all manuals are single column with no extra binding margin. Emergency pages are a quarter inch oversize so their bleed borders print, and paragraph 4.7.7 requires emergency information to carry a broken black border, on all four sides in PDF since there is no binding edge.

Margin data, the running heads and feet, sits outside the text area. Running heads carry the security classification or Controlled Unclassified Information marking and the TM identification number; running feet carry the page number at the lower outer edge, the system, subsystem, and sub-subsystem number when used, the issue indicator when the acquiring activity specifies it, and the classification again. Paragraph 4.7.11 gives the hierarchy of divisions: volumes, parts for the Navy, chapters in Arabic numerals, sections in Roman numerals, and paragraphs. Paragraphs are divided into primary sideheads and subordinate paragraphs, numbered decimally, and the Revision B foreword added an option to cap subordinate depth at six levels.

Procedural steps, also called checklist items, have their own rules in 4.7.11.5.3. Steps may be divided into substeps but shall not exceed four levels of depth; there must be at least two of every subdivision, so a step a. requires a step b.; steps have no titles; text begins on the same line as the step label, which is aligned right; and in Revision C each substep label aligns under the first letter of the preceding step, where Revision B indented each level a further two spaces. Tables carry titles and boxhead titles, may use horizontal rules and alternate row shading, and repeat their number and title when continued. Appendices are lettered, and glossaries and indexes have their own page numbering rules.

Two writing rules sit alongside the layout rules. Paragraph 4.8.2 requires the second person imperative mood for procedures, with the example "Remove test set from carrying case," and the third person indicative for description. Paragraph 4.8.3 sets a Reading Grade Level of nine unless the acquiring activity specifies otherwise, and 4.8.6 requires military terms to follow the DoD Dictionary.

Warnings, cautions, and notes

The three signal words are defined in section 3.2 of Revision C and formatted in 4.7.8 and 4.8.10. A warning "highlights an essential operating or maintenance procedure, practice, condition, statement, etc.," which, if not strictly observed, could result in injury to or death of personnel or long term health hazards. A caution uses the same opening words, but the consequence is damage to or destruction of equipment or loss of mission effectiveness. A note highlights an essential operating or maintenance procedure, condition, or statement, and the definition adds a prohibition: do not use notes in place of procedural steps. Appendix A gives further guidance on warnings and cautions.

Placement follows the structure of the text. For primary sidehead paragraphs, warnings and cautions precede the text but follow the paragraph heading they apply to. For subordinate sideheads and procedural steps, the warning or caution precedes the paragraph or step. Notes may precede or follow the text depending on what they highlight, except that the Army and Marine Corps require notes to precede the paragraph, and Revision C requires Air Force notes for procedural steps to precede the step. When a paragraph needs more than one, warnings precede cautions, which precede notes. The headings WARNING, CAUTION, and NOTE are not numbered, are not repeated above each paragraph of a multi-paragraph warning, and the body must not contain procedural steps.

The wording rules are short. Warnings, cautions, and notes shall be short, concise, and used only to emphasize important or critical data. Warnings and cautions may be worded positively or negatively and shall state the hazard and the result or reason unless obvious. The Marine Corps requires warnings in all capitals, a blank line between paragraphs, and permits bullets when there are three or more paragraphs. Paragraph 4.7.8 requires every line of a warning, caution, or note to be indented five spaces or characters from both the left and right margins; when the right margin is unjustified, the indentation is measured from the maximum allowable text width.

Beyond the three signal words, 4.8.10 and its subparagraphs define a family of symbols: nuclear surety procedures carry the NSP symbol; hardness critical processes the HCP symbol; electrostatic discharge sensitive parts the ESDS symbol; fatigue and fracture critical parts the FCP symbol; and paragraph 4.8.13, for the Air Force only, requires the cybersecurity protection (CSP) symbol on cybersecurity procedures. A fuller comparison of how MIL-STD-38784, MIL-STD-40051, and MIL-STD-3001 define the three signal words is in the post on warnings, cautions, and notes.

Illustrations

Section 4.11 of Revision C governs artwork. The standard requires a quality that will clearly, adequately, and economically portray the information, and lists the jobs an illustration does: describe an item or idea more efficiently than text, clarify text, present phases difficult to describe in words, call attention to details, and identify parts and tools. Illustrations other than foldouts go as near as possible to their first reference. Multisheet illustrations are preferred to foldouts, and each sheet of a multisheet set is numbered.

Scale is kept as small as possible consistent with legibility, with a minimum letter size set in table I, and for PDF output every textual component of an illustration must be searchable. Photographs, color photographs, and color in line art are used only when the acquiring activity specifies them, and the Army follows AR 25-30 on color. Diagrams and wire lists are arranged functionally, and a manual with wiring diagrams does not also include wire lists. Exploded views are used in parts breakdowns and in disassembly and assembly instructions, with index numbers identifying parts. Callouts, index numbers starting at 1 for each figure, nomenclature, leader lines, legends, and reference designators each have a paragraph. No artist's name or manufacturer's credit appears on artwork.

Changes and revisions

The standard treats the life of a manual after publication in sections 4.12 and 4.13. Paragraph 3.2.6 defines a change as a package of corrected pages to the basic manual, consisting of information that improves or clarifies the manual without requiring a rewrite. When the acquiring activity specifies a change package, the cover and title page are updated, each change is numbered for the Army and Air Force or lettered for the Navy (Revision C says the Marine Corps does all changes as revisions), and every page containing changed or added material bears a change designator. Changed text, tables, and illustrations are marked with change symbols; added paragraphs, figures, tables, and pages are numbered so the sequence is preserved; deleted pages are handled so that page number continuity is explained; and change pages travel under transmittal cover sheets. The list of effective pages, defined and numbered in 4.7.4.1.2.3, is how a reader confirms the manual in hand is complete at a given change.

A revision is different. Paragraph 3.2.24 defines it as a second or subsequent edition of a manual which normally supersedes the preceding edition, and names three kinds: a complete revision, which rewrites or reorganizes the technical content; an update revision, which incorporates the basic manual, all previous changes, and new material; and a nonsuperseding revision, acquired to save cost when manuals share a high degree of commonality. In a complete revision, all pages, paragraphs, tables, illustrations, and index numbers are renumbered. The supersedure notice on the title page, in 4.9.1.6, states which manual, change, or revision the new document supersedes, with its dates. Revision B also added a list of changes and PDF bookmarks that mirror the arrangement of the manual.

MIL-STD-38784 and MIL-STD-40051, MIL-STD-3001, and MIL-HDBK-1222

Three other documents are searched alongside 38784, and the relationship is one of layers rather than competition. The Army's MIL-STD-40051, active at Revision E Change 1 dated July 30, 2025, establishes "the technical content, style, and format requirements" for all Army technical manuals and publications for major weapon systems, in work package form, with interactive electronic technical manual requirements as well. MIL-HDBK-1222, Guide to the General Style and Format of U.S. Army Work Package Technical Manuals, active at Revision G dated March 1, 2021, provides non-regulatory guidance to be used with MIL-STD-40051-1 and -2 and states that it cannot be cited as a requirement. MIL-STD-38784 remains the DoD-wide general format standard, with the Army Materiel Command as its lead standardization activity, and its scope reaches any document assigned a TM identification number, although the MIL-STD-40051E text does not list MIL-STD-38784 among its applicable documents.

NAVAIR has moved further away. The forewords of Revisions B and C say that use of MIL-STD-38784 for NAVAIR programs is limited to legacy data and manuals. NAVAIR's own standard is MIL-STD-3001, whose Part 1 the ASSIST record describes as establishing the technical content and mandatory style and format requirements for aircraft weapon system, aeronautical equipment, airborne weapons, training system, and support equipment work package technical manuals, with the Naval Air Systems Command as preparing activity and a validation notice dated April 21, 2026. A new NAVAIR manual follows MIL-STD-3001; an older one on the shelf follows MIL-STD-38784.

The Air Force keeps MIL-STD-38784 as its base and layers S1000D on top. MIL-STD-3048A, the Air Force business rules for S1000D dated April 29, 2016, lists MIL-STD-38784 among its applicable documents and invokes it twice in section 5.12: a safety summary data module "shall be authored in accordance with MIL-STD-38784," and the content of warnings and cautions in Air Force S1000D data modules shall be in accordance with MIL-STD-38784. The current Revision C of May 15, 2023 keeps both requirements, in paragraphs 5.12.1.2 and 5.12.1.7. Even a manual delivered as S1000D data modules can therefore inherit its warning wording from this standard. A side-by-side comparison of the U.S. standards is in the post on MIL-STD-3001, MIL-STD-40051, and S1000D.

What to check

• Which revision does the contract cite? Revision C is dated September 4, 2024; a citation of "MIL-STD-38784C" should be checked against a citation of the canceled MIL-M-38784C of 1990.
• Which content specification governs the manual, since MIL-STD-38784 supplements the detail specification and delivers no technical data on its own?
• For a NAVAIR manual, is it legacy data under MIL-STD-38784 or new data under MIL-STD-3001, as the Revision B and C forewords distinguish?
• Do warnings and cautions state the hazard and the result, sit before the step or paragraph they govern, and appear in the order warning, caution, note?
• Does the list of effective pages match the change designators on the pages, and does the title page carry the supersedure notice for the latest change or revision?
• For an Air Force S1000D delivery, are the warning and caution content and the safety summary written to MIL-STD-38784 as MIL-STD-3048A requires?

Azcuna's TRACE is one offline viewer for S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 XML, and PDF technical manuals. It keeps the source location and the markings of everything it shows and never modifies the source. It was proposed to NAVAIR under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ05-NV078, and the proposal was submitted on September 23, 2026.

Questions people ask

What is MIL-STD-38784?

MIL-STD-38784 is the Department of Defense standard practice for the general style and format of technical manuals. The scope says it covers the general style and format requirements for preparing standard technical manuals and changes to them, including all technical documents assigned a TM identification number, and that it supplements the detail specifications for specific manual types without delivering any technical data. The ASSIST record shows it active at Revision C, dated September 4, 2024.

What is the current revision of MIL-STD-38784?

Revision C, dated September 4, 2024, 136 pages, according to the ASSIST-QuickSearch record maintained by the Defense Logistics Agency. The record lists the next review due September 3, 2029, the Army Materiel Command Life Cycle Sustainment Division as lead standardization activity, and AFMC/A4/10 as preparing activity. Earlier versions were Revision B of November 16, 2020, Revision A of August 25, 2011 with changes in 2016 and 2018, and the base document of July 2, 1995.

What happened to MIL-M-38784C?

MIL-M-38784C, the military specification dated October 12, 1990, was canceled. The EverySpec record of its Notice 1, dated July 3, 1995, carries the cancellation and states that future acquisition should refer to MIL-STD-38784, the DoD standard practice for general style and formatting requirements for technical manuals. The base MIL-STD-38784 is dated July 2, 1995. EverySpec also lists MIL-M-38784A of May 1974 and MIL-M-38784B of April 16, 1983, which it marks superseded by MIL-STD-38784.

What is the difference between a warning, a caution, and a note in MIL-STD-38784?

MIL-STD-38784C defines all three in section 3.2, as Revision B did. A warning highlights an essential operating or maintenance procedure, practice, condition, or statement which, if not strictly observed, could result in injury to or death of personnel or long term health hazards. A caution is the same, but the consequence is damage to or destruction of equipment or loss of mission effectiveness. A note highlights an essential procedure, condition, or statement, and the standard says notes are not to be used in place of procedural steps.

Where do warnings and cautions go in a MIL-STD-38784 manual?

MIL-STD-38784C paragraph 4.8.10 says warnings and cautions for primary sidehead paragraphs precede the text but follow the paragraph heading, and for subordinate paragraphs and procedural steps they precede the paragraph or step. Notes may precede or follow the text, except that the Army and Marine Corps require notes to precede, and the Air Force requires notes for procedural steps to precede the step. When several apply, warnings come first, then cautions, then notes. Paragraph 4.7.8 indents every line five spaces from both margins.

Does MIL-STD-38784 apply to Army technical manuals?

The scope covers every technical document assigned a TM identification number, and the ASSIST record lists the Army Materiel Command Life Cycle Sustainment Division as Army custodian and lead standardization activity. The Army's own MIL-STD-40051, active at Revision E Change 1 dated July 30, 2025, establishes the technical content, style, and format requirements for Army technical manuals, and its text does not list MIL-STD-38784 among its applicable documents. Which standard governs follows from what the contract cites.

Does NAVAIR use MIL-STD-38784?

Only for legacy manuals. The forewords of MIL-STD-38784B and MIL-STD-38784C state that use of the standard for NAVAIR programs is limited to legacy data and manuals. NAVAIR's own standard is MIL-STD-3001, whose Part 1 the ASSIST record describes as establishing the technical content and mandatory style and format requirements for aircraft weapon system, aeronautical equipment, airborne weapons, training system, and support equipment work package technical manuals. The Navy custodian of MIL-STD-38784 is the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division.

What page size does MIL-STD-38784 require?

MIL-STD-38784C paragraph 5.3.3 says manuals shall be prepared in 8 and a half by 11 inch size unless the acquiring activity specifies otherwise, with text and artwork kept within the reproduction area given in the standard's table II. For the Air Force, page size is as specified in the applicable content specification. For PDF output, the standard requires single column format with no extra space for a binding edge margin, and paragraph 5.3.4 prints emergency pages a quarter inch oversize for their bleed borders.

What is the difference between a change and a revision in MIL-STD-38784?

MIL-STD-38784C paragraph 3.2.6 defines a change as a package of corrected pages to the basic manual, with information that improves or clarifies the manual without requiring a rewrite. Paragraph 3.2.24 defines a revision as a second or subsequent edition that normally supersedes the preceding edition, and distinguishes complete revisions, which rewrite or reorganize the content, update revisions, which incorporate the basic manual and all previous changes, and nonsuperseding revisions, used when manuals share a high degree of commonality.

Sources

1. 1MIL-STD-38784, General Style and Format Requirements for Technical Manuals (ASSIST-QuickSearch Document Details) · Defense Logistics Agency, ASSIST-QuickSearch
2. 2MIL-STD-38784B, Department of Defense Standard Practice: General Style and Format Requirements for Technical Manuals · Department of Defense, November 16, 2020, via EverySpec
3. 3MIL-STD-38784, Military Standard: Manuals, Technical: General Style and Format Requirements · Department of Defense, July 2, 1995, via EverySpec
4. 4MIL-M-38784C (Notice 1), Military Specification: Manuals, Technical: General Style and Format Requirements · Department of Defense, July 3, 1995, via EverySpec
5. 5MIL-M-38784B, Military Specification: Manuals, Technical: General Style and Format Requirements · Department of Defense, April 16, 1983, via EverySpec
6. 6MIL-STD-40051, Preparation of Digital Technical Information for Technical Manuals (TMs) (ASSIST-QuickSearch Document Details) · Defense Logistics Agency, ASSIST-QuickSearch
7. 7MIL-HDBK-1222, Guide to the General Style and Format of U.S. Army Work Package Technical Manuals (ASSIST-QuickSearch Document Details) · Defense Logistics Agency, ASSIST-QuickSearch
8. 8MIL-STD-3001, Part 1, Preparation of Digital Technical Information for Multi-Output Presentation of Technical Manuals (ASSIST-QuickSearch Document Details) · Defense Logistics Agency, ASSIST-QuickSearch
9. 9MIL-STD-3048A, Air Force Business Rules for the Implementation of S1000D · Department of the Air Force, April 29, 2016, via EverySpec
10. 10MIL-STD-3048, Air Force Business Rules for the Implementation of S1000D (ASSIST-QuickSearch Document Details) · Defense Logistics Agency, ASSIST-QuickSearch
11. 11Class Deviation 2026-O0036, Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Part 27, DFARS Part 227 · Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment, January 21, 2026

Where this shows up in our work

• TRACE, the offline S1000D and IETM viewer opens S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 and PDF technical manuals on a tablet with every marking intact.
• ELLMENT, the offline LLM for E-2D crews answers a crew's question from the aircraft's own manuals and cites the page, with no network.