Map Reading / Colors
This color on a military map is used to identify cultural or man-made features such as buildings, roads, and surveyed spot elevations.
Black
What are the Five Major Terrain Features?
Hill, Valley, Ridge, Saddle, and Depression make up this specific group of land features.
While civilian compasses use degrees, a standard military compass dial is also marked with this unit of measurement, totaling 6,400 in a full circle.
What are Mils
This primary technique involves navigating solely by visually matching the physical features around you to the terrain lines on your map.
What is Terrain Association?
This highly accurate, satellite-based navigation system was originally developed by the U.S. DoD in the 1970s and was once restricted for civilian use via "Selective Availability."
What is GPS (Global Positioning System)?
This section, typically found in the lower-left corner of the map margin, illustrates and identifies the symbols used throughout the map
Legend
What are Draw, Spur, and Cliff
These are the three minor terrain features found on standard military maps.
These are the three distinct "Norths" depicted in the declination diagram of a military map
What are True North, Magnetic North, and Grid North?
This is the process of finding your unknown location on a map by shooting magnetic azimuths to two well-defined, visible distant points and plotting their back azimuths.
What is Resection?
On a standard 1:50,000 military map, this is the default unit of measurement used to express elevation and height contours, rather than feet.
What are Meters?
This color is used on a map to represent relief features, elevation, and contour lines on older maps, or all relief/contour lines when using a red-lens flashlight.
Red-Brown or Brown
These lines on a map connect points of equal elevation and are used to show the vertical shape of the terrain.
Contour lines
PointsJeopardy Clue (The Statement)Correct Response (The Question)What is a Back Azimuth?
This mathematical value is calculated by adding or subtracting 180 degrees to or from your original travel direction.
What is a Back Azimuth?
This is the process of locating an unknown point on the ground by shooting azimuths from two known, separate locations and finding where they cross.
What is Intersection?
This specific continent is the only landmass on Earth where every single direction you look or travel is due North.
What is Antarctica (at the South Pole)?
A 10 digit grid gets you close to how many meters.
within 1 meter
Man-made modifications to terrain, known as supplementary features, are limited to these two specific constructs.
Cuts and Fills
To protect your compass's magnetic needle from swinging wildly and suffering damage while not in use, you must do this.
What is close the cover (or lock the dial)?
This tactical navigation strategy involves deliberately aiming slightly left or right of a destination so that when you hit a linear feature (like a road), you know which way to turn.
What is Aiming Off (or deliberate offset)?
Because of this specific geographic phenomenon, a compass needle pointing to Magnetic North at the magnetic pole will actually point straight down into the dirt.
What is Magnetic Dip?
Easterly GM Angle: 27°
From Map to field: You plot Grid azimuth is 115° on your map. What is the magnetic heading.
Westerly GM Angle 8°
From Field to Map: You shoot a Magnetic Azimuth of 190° in the field with your compass. What is the grid heading.
Magnetic: 88°
Grid: 182°
This is the specific type of contour line that is drawn with a heavier, darker weight and features the actual elevation number printed on it.
index Contour Line
This is the minimum safe distance (in meters) a navigator must maintain from a steel helmet or a standard service rifle to prevent compass deviation.
What is 0.5 meters?
To convert a Magnetic Azimuth to a Grid Azimuth, you must look at the declination diagram and either add or subtract this specific regional variation angle.
What is the G-M Angle (Grid-Magnetic Angle)?
Invented in China during the Han Dynasty, the very first compasses were not used for navigation, but rather for this spiritual practice of harmonizing environments.
What is Feng Shui (or geomancy)?