REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – Sixty-five years is a long time for anything to be successful.  For the Army, it was time to make an upgrade to a Korean War veteran.

PS Magazine, the Army’s Preventive Maintenance monthly has been on the job since June of 1951.  This coming June, the magazine is going digital. “For our soldiers, it’s going to be a game changer.

When I came in to the Army, we had PS Magazine, and I remember using that magazine as a 2nd Lieutenant,”  said General Dennis Via, the Commanding General of the Army Materiel Command.

General Via used the magazine just like tens of thousands of other soldiers have used it for more than six decades.  They’ve used it to better maintain their equipment. In graphic form, the magazine explains a repair problem, and then with a little humor thrown in, the repair.  The process won’t change, and in fact the paper version of PS Magazine will remain. What changes is the fact that there’s now a PS Magazine app.

“Having this on this digital device, just as we do in our day-to-day lives, that you can research right away… you can be able to see the graphics of that particular item. Break it down to determine what part is needed or how your repair it. It’s right there in front of you,” said General Via.

The app might be a game changer, but the basics stay the same. The crew at Redstone Arsenal develops the repair story lines. They’re shipped off to be turned into art for the magazine, and now the digital version. The delivery system for the information may have expanded, but the purpose hasn’t changed at all.

“We work with a cartoon, and it’s fun. But what that does for our soldiers in terms of keeping their equipment running… in terms of keeping them safe while they operate their equipment, that is just an… it’s an honor to be able to serve our soldiers, and to provide them information in an easy to use format,” said John Pierce, Supervisory Editor for PS Magazine.

The information  in the magazine, whether on paper or in the digital version, has become even more important than it has been. In times of tight money the Army is working hard to put more of the responsibility for maintaining and repairing equipment in the hands of soldiers.