Combat lethality depends on viable and repeatable maintenance processes. Technological advances have increased the complexity of maintenance communication. The technical manual, while essential, is not the optimal communication medium for all types of information. Augmented reality (AR), which is the overlaying of contextual computer-generated information upon the real world, is a candidate to mitigate complexity because intuitively AR appears to provide a better method of communication. Yet little is known about the efficiency, precision, and variability of AR compared to traditional methods. This research studied the effect of augmented reality cued (ARC) maintenance procedures on human efficiency and precision. Participants performed two sets of tasks in two conditions, one AR and one traditional (control), enabling a pairwise comparison. The first task set directed participants to place simple “erector-setâ€�-like parts in specific locations and the second task set used such parts to construct a more complex object. In the control condition, participants used a technical manual. In the AR condition, an AR head mounted display presented the same information in a visual form. The AR condition consisted of virtual guides projected in real 3D space via a Microsoft HoloLens. Instructions in both task sets guided participants through decomposed maintenance procedures that induced absolute, cumulative, absolute referential, and complexity errors. Results indicate that the assembly procedure is statistically more efficient and precise within the AR condition. ARC placement actions of small parts are statistically more efficient and generally at least as precise.