Military features
You can add military features to your maps. Military features are ArcGIS features used primarily by the defense and intelligence communities. Military features are based on current versions of military symbology specifications, especially the following:
- MIL-STD-2525C (and its related publication, FM 1-02 Operational Terms and Symbols)
Examples of military features you can add to a map are infantry platoons, axis of advance main attack, and weapons ranges.
To add military features to a map, you use ArcGIS feature templates that adhere to military symbology specifications. Many feature templates are provided for you in military feature layer packages created by Esri and posted to ArcGIS.com. For those that aren't, such as many units, equipment, and installations (UEI features), you can create feature templates for them yourself using the Define new types of UEI features procedure.
It is important that you start with these layer packages anytime you want to add military features to a map, because the packages contain rules to make symbols adhere to the military symbol specifications supported by ArcGIS. For example, the packages contain pre-defined label properties that tell ArcGIS things like where to position each type of label (text modifier) around the feature and which labels should be visible by default.
These layer packages are schema only, which means that they contain no features (no data), just feature templates from which you can create features.
If you are unsure of which layer package to use or just want to get a feel for drawing different symbol types on a map, start with the main layer package, the Military Overlay layer package, named MilitaryOverlay.lpk. This layer package contains nearly all the feature templates Esri has pre-defined for the defense and intelligence community.
You can add graphic modifiers to your military features by using symbol layers that use the military style files. For details, see Graphic modifiers for military features.
You can add text modifiers using labeling. For details, see Labeling military features.
Some military features, such as weapons ranges, call for geodetic accuracy; use the ArcGIS Construct Geodetic tool to create geodetic features.