FAS

Army Terminology and Military Symbols

12.15.15 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Military terms and symbols that are used by the U.S. Army have been compiled in an updated reference manual, along with acronyms and abbreviations. See ADRP 1-02, Terms and Military Symbols, December 2015.

Intended to foster a common vocabulary, the manual can also help outsiders to interpret distinctive Army expressions and patterns of speech.

The manual devotes several chapters to “military symbology.”

“A military symbol is a graphic representation of a unit, equipment, installation, activity, control measure, or tactical task relevant to military operations that is used for planning or to represent the common operational picture on a map, display, or overlay.”

“The symbology chapters (chapters 3 through 10) provide detailed requirements for composing and constructing symbols. The rules for building a set of military symbols allow enough flexibility for users to create any symbol to meet their operational needs,” the manual said.

publications
See all publications
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Kickstarting Collaborative, AI-Ready Datasets in the Life Sciences with Government-funded Projects

The research community lacks strategies to incentivize collaboration on high-quality data acquisition and sharing. The government should fund collaborative roadmapping, certification, collection, and sharing of large, high-quality datasets in life science.

01.02.25 | 6 min read
read more
Education & Workforce
day one project
Policy Memo
Launch the Next Nuclear Corps for a More Flexible Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The potential of new nuclear power plants to meet energy demand, increase energy security, and revitalize local economies depends on new regulatory and operational approaches at the NRC.

01.02.25 | 6 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Ready for the Next Threat: Creating a Commercial Public Health Emergency Payment System

In anticipation of future known and unknown health security threats, including new pandemics, biothreats, and climate-related health emergencies, our answers need to be much faster, cheaper, and less disruptive to other operations.

12.23.24 | 5 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
From Strategy to Impact: Establishing an AI Corps to Accelerate HHS Transformation

To unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence within the Department of Health and Human Services, an AI Corps should be established, embedding specialized AI experts within each of the department’s 10 agencies.

12.23.24 | 10 min read
read more