Aerospace & Defense
MIL-STD-38784 — General Style and Format Requirements for Technical Manuals
Overview
What is MIL-STD-38784?
MIL-STD-38784 is the Department of Defense standard practice for the general style and format of technical manuals. It does not define a manual's technical content — the detail specification cited for each TM type does that — but the presentation layer those manuals share: style, format, the handling of changes, and the SGML document type definitions used for electronic delivery. The current revision is 38784B, issued in 2020.
Key Features
- General style and format requirements for DoD technical manuals
- Covers standard TMs and the changes issued against them
- Supplements the detail specifications for specific manual types
- SGML DTDs for electronic data delivery, including PDF output
- Revision B (2020) is current, superseding Revision A (2011)
Also written as: MIL STD 38784 · MILSTD38784 · MIL-STD-38784B · MIL-M-38784
Who MIL-STD-38784 Applies To
MIL-STD-38784 applies when a Department of Defense contract or data item description cites it for a technical manual deliverable — which happens across the services, because it is the shared presentation layer rather than any one service's content standard. It is almost never owed alone: a program owes the detail specification that defines what the manual contains, and 38784 for how that manual is styled, formatted, and changed.
Where MIL-STD-38784 Programs Go Wrong
- Reading it as a content standard. It governs presentation — a manual can satisfy 38784 completely and still fail the detail specification that defines its content.
- Assuming the newest revision applies. Contracts cite a specific revision, and legacy TM libraries commonly remain owed against the revision they were built under.
- Underestimating the SGML layer. Electronic delivery runs on the standard's DTDs, and libraries whose tooling has aged out of SGML become conversion projects on a deadline nobody set.
How It Relates to Other Standards
- MIL-STD-40051
- The Army's technical manual content standard. Different layer of the same deliverable — which standards a contract cites, and in what combination, determines the authoring model.
- MIL-STD-3001
- The naval aviation content standard, sitting in the same relationship to 38784's style-and-format layer as its Army counterpart.
- SGML
- The standard's DTDs are SGML, and the legacy manual libraries authored against them are a significant share of the SGML content still in service.
MIL-STD-38784 Questions
What is MIL-STD-38784?
The Department of Defense standard practice for the general style and format of technical manuals — the presentation requirements shared across TM types: style, format, the handling of changes, and the SGML document type definitions used for electronic delivery. Content requirements live in the detail specification cited for each manual type; 38784 is the layer on top.
What is the current revision of MIL-STD-38784?
Revision B, issued in November 2020, superseding Revision A of 2011. As always, the revision your contract cites is the one you owe — confirm it against ASSIST Quick Search rather than assuming the latest.
How does MIL-STD-38784 relate to MIL-STD-40051?
They address different layers. MIL-STD-40051 is the Army's content standard for technical manuals — work packages, content structure, delivery forms. MIL-STD-38784 is the DoD-wide style and format practice. A deliverable can owe either or both depending on what the contract cites, and conflating the two is a common source of mis-scoped estimates.
Where to Get MIL-STD-38784
Unclassified and free from ASSIST Quick Search, the DLA's repository of record. The current revision is 38784B, issued in 2020.
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