As the US Army ramped up for its involvement in the war on the Korean peninsula, it realized that its soldiers were encountering problems with their equipment. The Army had experienced some degree of acceptance and success during WWII with the instructional publication Army Motors, for which Corporal Will Eisner, an established comic-book writer-artist-editor, had been appropriated to draw such characters as Private Joe Dope, Connie Rodd, and Sgt. Half-Mast McCanick. In 1951, the Army hired Eisner to create similar instructional material for its new publication, PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly.

Eisner was the publication's artistic director from its inception through the end of 1971. The magazine's artists have included Eisner, Murphy Anderson, Joe Kubert, Dan Spiegle, Scott Madsen, Malane Newman, Alfredo Alcala, and Mike Ploog^[1]. As of 2010, Kubert is the art contractor for the magazine, having begun his PS work in 2001.

The magazine from its inception has been, written, researched, and edited by Department of the Army civilians. The home office of PS was located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, from April 1951 through January 1955, when it was moved to Raritan Arsenal, New Jersey. It was moved again in October 1962 to Fort Knox, Kentucky. It remained there until July 1973, when it moved to the Lexington-Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. In June 1993, it moved to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

In March 2011, the magazine is scheduled to publish its 700th issue.