Understanding Military Airport Symbols: A Comprehensive Guide

Military airport symbols are part of the NATO Joint Military Symbology standard, which was first published in 1986 as Allied Procedural Publication 6 (APP-6). This standard provides a set of common symbols for military map symbols, enhancing NATO's joint interoperability. The symbols are designed to be easily recognisable and provide essential information for pilots and military personnel.

The standard includes symbols for various elements such as units, equipment, installations, military operations, meteorological and oceanographic conditions, and signals intelligence. These symbols are typically framed and associated with a specific point on a map, with optional modifiers providing additional information.

While the specific symbols and their meanings can be quite extensive, some common elements include:

- Battle dimensions: indicating whether the object operates above, on, or below the Earth's surface, with specific frames for each dimension.

- Affiliation: denoting the relationship of the tracker to the operational object, with colours or shapes indicating friendly, unknown, neutral, or hostile forces.

- Status: indicating whether an object is present or planned/anticipated at a location, represented by solid or dashed lines.

- Icons: the innermost part of the symbol, providing a pictorial or alphanumeric representation of the object's role or mission.

- Unit size indicators: displayed above the unit symbol to represent the size of the unit, such as the number of personnel or subordinate units.

Military airports use the same symbols as public airports in the US

Military airports in the US use the same symbols as public airports on sectional charts. For example, the symbol KBKF is used for both. However, military airports are usually restricted to public use and are often within restricted airspace.

There are some ways to identify a military airport. The definitive reference in the US is the A/FD, which shows the "operating agency" of each airport. If there is no operating agency listed, the airport is civil and public. If there is an operating agency, you need to consult the list of possible agencies. For instance, KMGE (Dobbins ARB) has the operating agency "AFRC (AR ARNG)", indicating it is a military airport.

Additionally, certain abbreviations in the name of the airport can indicate a military airport, such as AFB (Air Force Base), MCAS, NAS, CGAS/CGS, and AAF. However, this is not always the case, and sometimes you need to refer to the chart, which will indicate military airports with specific abbreviations and symbols. Some military airports also have double rings instead of runway icons.

In terms of airport markings and signs, uniformity across airports enhances safety and efficiency. The FAA provides recommended standards for these, which include specific colours and markings for runways, taxiways, and holding positions. These markings provide essential information to pilots during takeoff, landing, and taxiing.

Military airport symbols vary by country

In the US, military airfields are indicated by abbreviations such as AFB, MCAS, NAS, CGAS/CGS, and AAF. Outside the US, there is often no such indication to differentiate military from civilian airfields. However, navy airfields are indicated by KN(XX) in the ICAO system.

In the UK, military airports are indicated by a double ring instead of runway icons. In Europe, military bases on VFR charts may have a [Mil] suffix.

In Russia, Latin letter X or its Morse/Baudot Cyrillic equivalent Ь are used to designate government, military, and experimental aviation airfields in internal airfield codes.

Military airport symbols are based on US Army Corps of Engineers' system

Military airport symbols are based on the US Army Corps of Engineers system, which was first established in 1917. The system was designed to provide a standard set of symbols for military maps, enhancing NATO's joint interoperability. The symbols are highly stylised and can be drawn by people with minimal artistic skill, allowing for symbolic representations to be created using simple tools like paper and pencil.

The system uses five basic shapes to indicate the affiliation of the forces represented: a quatrefoil for unknown forces, a rectangle for friendly forces, a diamond for hostile forces, and a square for neutral forces. The colour red is used to represent enemy forces, while blue or black indicates friendly forces.

The symbols also convey information about the object's battle dimension, or the primary mission area. Closed frames indicate land or sea surface dimensions, while frames open at the bottom denote air or space dimensions. Frames open at the top represent a subsurface dimension.

Other components of the symbols include the fill, which indicates the affiliation of the object, and the icon, which represents the role or mission of the object. The frame, fill, and icon can be combined in different ways to convey information about the object's status, such as whether it is present or planned.

The US Army Corps of Engineers, founded in 1775, is the military engineering branch of the US Army. It has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil works. The Corps is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a workforce of approximately 37,000 civilian and military personnel.

NATO Joint Military Symbology is the NATO standard for military map symbols

NATO Joint Military Symbology is the standard symbology for military map symbols across NATO. It was first published in 1986 as Allied Procedural Publication 6 (APP-6) and has since gone through several iterations, with the current version being the fifth (APP-6D). The symbology was designed to enhance NATO's joint interoperability by providing a standard set of symbols that can be used across land, air, space, and sea-based systems, either for automated map display systems or manual map marking.

The APP-6 standard includes five broad sets of symbols, each with its own Symbol Identification Coding (SIDC) scheme:

• Units, equipment, and installations
• Military operations (tactical graphics)
• METOC (meteorological and oceanographic)
• Signals intelligence
• MOOTW (military operations other than war)

The symbols are designed to be highly stylised and simple to draw, even for those with minimal artistic skill. They consist of a frame, fill, constituent icon, and optional symbol modifiers. The frame indicates the affiliation, battle dimension, and status of an operational object, with shape and colour used redundantly to allow for use in less-than-ideal conditions. The fill indicates the affiliation of the object, while the icon provides an abstract representation of the object's role or mission. Symbol modifiers provide additional information in the form of optional text fields or graphic indicators.

While the current custodian of the APP-6 standard is the United States, the symbology has evolved over the years through collaboration between the US and other NATO members. This ongoing collaboration aims to develop comprehensive joint military symbology that is widely applicable across NATO.

Military airport symbols are used for digital and manual map marking

The first basic military map symbols began to be used by western armies in the decades following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. During World War I, there was some harmonisation between the British and French systems, including the adoption of the colour red for enemy forces and blue for allies. However, the system now in use is based on that devised by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1917. With the formation of NATO in 1949, the US Army system was standardised and adapted, with different shapes for friendly (blue rectangle), hostile (red diamond), and unknown (yellow quatrefoil) forces.

The NATO standard for military map symbols is called APP-6 and it has evolved over the years, with the latest version being APP-6D. The standard provides common operational symbology along with details on their display and plotting to ensure compatibility and interoperability of NATO land component command, control, communications, computer, and intelligence (C4I) systems.

APP-6 recognises five broad sets of symbols, each using its own Symbol Identification Coding (SIDC) scheme:

• Units, equipment, and installations: Icons, generally framed, associated with a single point on the map.
• Military operations (tactical graphics): Point, line, and area symbols representing operational information that cannot be conveyed through icons alone.
• Meteorological and oceanographic (METOC) symbology: The only set not under the standard's control; imported from the World Meteorological Organization.
• Signals intelligence: Framed symbols associated with points on the map, introduced by MIL-STD-2525B.
• Military operations other than war (MOOTW): Framed symbols associated with points on the map, introduced by MIL-STD-2525B.

Most symbols consist of a frame, fill, constituent icon, and optional symbol modifiers. The frame indicates the affiliation, battle dimension, and status of an operational object. The fill provides enhanced information about the affiliation, and the icon provides a pictorial or alphanumeric representation of the object's role or mission.

Military airport symbols are an important aspect of map marking, providing standardised visual cues for pilots and military personnel. They help ensure safe and efficient operations by conveying essential information about airport infrastructure and associated elements.

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