To all former Cold Warriors.


What are the meanings of the different geometric symbols scene on the backs of M60's and M1's in the 80's mean? Obviously units, but how can you identify what unit is photographed?

Additionally

When did units in Germany first get to use the MILES system?

And what type of REFORGEr war games markings were used in the field.

Early REFORGER markings were the white square paper with a green triangle inside of a circle.

Later on, there were BLUE and ORANGE forces. Orange Circles and Blue squares or rectangles. These had numbers inside of them to identify the vehicle to make it easier for to identify who shot who. You'll see the Orange circles look like octogons, but this is just becuase they were applied with duct tape. Judges had white markings. Ideally, troops had bands on their helmets with the colors.

Battle boards changed over time and unit, but contained meaning for the company, platoon and vehicle for the most part. For example, a circle may denote Alpha company, and the frst number the platoon and second number the vehicle.. but these evolved over the years... today you'll see chevrons and other symbols that convey this information.