US Army · TC 3-21.60 · March 2017
The Army's manual of signals that need no radio: 96 pages of hand signals, flags, panels, ground-to-air codes, flares and smoke.
The Army PDF is free and in the public domain. The field guide comes with membership, or it's $10 as a PDF. All 9 manuals
- 96pages
- 4chapters
- 3kinds of hand signal
- 2emergency code methods
Searches all 96 pages of the Army PDF and opens it at the page you pick.
Two versions of this manual
The official Army PDF
TC 3-21.60 exactly as the US Army published it. It's a work of the US government, so it's in the public domain, and it's marked "Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited."
- All 96 pages: four chapters, nearly all drawings
- One drawing per signal
- The Army's file, unedited
The Buckhorn Cliffs field guide
My 6-page overview of the same manual: signals on foot, for vehicles and convoys, guiding aircraft, emergency signals, and flares and smoke. It's written from the Army's text and is not an Army publication.
- 6 pages in place of 96
- The ground-to-air emergency symbols, redrawn
- Where to stand when a helicopter comes in
- Boxes, charts, steps and checklists you can use at a glance
- Every section gives the page in the Army PDF
- Downloads as a PDF and saves to My Manual
Only want this one? Buy the field guide PDF for $10. This page is the free breakdown of the Army PDF. The field guide is the short version to print and keep.
- Almost every page is a drawing. It is fast to use.
- The emergency ground codes are worth printing for a vehicle kit.
- It works with no batteries and no signal.
- Much of it is for armored vehicles and military formations.
- A signal only works if everyone learned the same set.
- Dated March 2017.
- Your group works, hunts or travels out of earshot.
- You might need to be found from the air.
- You want a backup for when the radio fails.
How the 96 pages break down
Signals for ground vehicles is the longest chapter. The emergency codes sit at the end of the aircraft chapter. Each bar opens the PDF at that part.
Part by part
Hand-and-Arm Signals for Dismount Operations
22 pages, starts on PDF page 13
Signals for a group on foot: formations, movement and actions.
Hand-and-Arm Signals for Ground Vehicles
30 pages, starts on PDF page 35
Signals for drivers and convoys, by day and with lights at night, plus flags.
Hand and Arm Signals for Aircraft
20 pages, starts on PDF page 65
Guiding a helicopter in, panel codes, and emergency signals to a pilot.
Pyrotechnics
4 pages, starts on PDF page 85
Handheld signals and smoke grenades.
Numbers worth knowing
These are the manual's own figures. Each tile opens the page it comes from.
Emergency signals to aircraft
Chapter 3 ends with two ways to send a message to a pilot once you have their attention: signals made with the body, and codes laid out on the ground. Lay ground codes out large and in a color that contrasts with the ground.
Edition and history
TC 3-21.60, Visual Signals, is dated March 2017. It replaced FM 21-60 of September 1987.
As of November 10, 2026 the Army lists it as the current edition.
TC 3-21.60 is a US Army publication, in the public domain as a work of the US government and marked "Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited." The Buckhorn Cliffs field guide is my own summary of it and is not an Army publication. BuckhornCliffs.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by the US Army or the Department of Defense.
Questions this answers
Tap a question for the short answer.
What is the army hand signals manual
TC 3-21.60, Visual Signals, dated March 2017. It is 96 pages and approved for public release.
Did tc 3-21.60 replace fm 21-60
Yes. TC 3-21.60 took the place of FM 21-60, Visual Signals.
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