Military operations features

Military operations features are ArcGIS point, line, and area features that represent what military specifications refer to as tactical graphics. Military operations features, which cannot be represented as UEI features, include:

• Command and control (C2) features, such as unit boundaries, special area designations and tasks, that are necessary for battlefield planning and management
• Meteorological and oceanographic (METOC) features
• Some emergency management (EMS) features, such as natural events

To add military operations features to a map, use feature templates in Esri military feature layer packages available on ArcGIS.com, such as the Friendly Operations layer package. For a list of available layer packages and how to access and use them, see Opening military feature layer packages. These layer packages also include the symbology, geodatabase schema, and label properties for adding military features to a map.

The size and shape of military operations points are fixed, but the lines and areas are determined by drawing parameters and the scale of the background.

The symbols ArcGIS uses to display military operations features are stored in three style files. The style files are installed when you install ArcGIS for Desktop. Point, line, and area symbols for military operations are stored as representation rules. The following table lists the symbol set and the style file it is stored in. The type of symbols that are stored in the style file is shown by a check mark () in the last two columns.

Military operations features symbol set	Style file	Marker symbols	Representation rules
C2	C2 Military Operations.style
METOC	Military METOC.style
EMS	Military Emergency Management.style

Learn more about symbols and styles

Learn more about representation rules

Military operations points

ArcGIS symbolizes military operations point features using picture marker symbols stored in the style files listed in the table above. Esri layers that contain military operations point features, such as friendly operations points or METOC points in the Military Overlay layer package, use cartographic representations that incorporate these marker symbols. A cartographic representation is a set of symbols, rules, overrides and graphic edits that provide more control and precision for how features are displayed on the map. The additional control over the appearance of the features allow military features in ArcGIS to support military symbol specifications. This means a different representation rule is used to represent each of the points in the layer. Each representation rule in the military operations points layers is uniquely identified by its symbolrule. You can edit the text that will appear next to each symbol in the ArcMap table of contents, and the symbolrule by clicking the text on the representation rule in the center of the Symbology tab of the Layer Properties dialog box.

You can modify the size of the symbol by clicking on the representation rule and changing the value in the Sizebox.

Military operations lines and areas

ArcGIS uses representations to display layers that contain military operations line and area features, such as friendly operations lines or hostile operations areas, in Esri military feature layer packages. The representations and individual representation rules ArcGIS uses to display features, for example, phase lines and areas of operations, have already been created for you in Esri military features layer packages. However, only the present status (solid line) for symbols has been included, so if you want to give your line and area features an anticipated or planned status, create a new rule.

Representation rules that depict military features are stored in the style files listed in the beginning of this topic. Regardless of geometry type (point, line, or area), they are all stored in the Representation Rules folder. Polygon representation rules, such as Objective, are stored in the same folder as line representation rules, like the Axis of Advance Aviation.

A representation rule is constructed from symbol layers, and is defined by their basic symbol type: marker, line, or fill. Geometric effects are added to the basic symbol type to create complex representations.

When you click on a representation rule in the list of representation rules in the Layer Properties dialog box, a box appears around it, as shown in the above image. Each representation rule is assigned a unique RuleID. The RuleID is 37 for the Axis of Advance Aviation representation line rule. Properties of a selected representation rule are shown in the right pane. These can include the basic symbol layers, as well as geometric effects. An arrow effect was applied to a line to make the axis of advance airborne symbol.

For more information about symbol layers and geometric effects, see Working with symbol layers and Working with geometric effects. For additional information about representations, see What are representations?

Creating new military operations line or area features

License:

Creating, modifying, or deleting representations requires an ArcGIS for Desktop Standard license or higher. Representations can be viewed and drawn with an ArcGIS for Desktop Basic license.

If you need a military operations line or area feature that doesn't exist in the Esri military feature layer packages, such as a military operations feature with a planned status, you can create it. Although you can modify an existing representation rule, it is recommended that you create a new one instead. Creating a new rule based on an existing rule allows you to keep the original representation rule used for the symbol with present status in your list of available representation rules.

To duplicate a representation rule in order to depict it as planned or anticipated, follow the steps shown in the graphic.

In the ArcMap table of contents, double-click the layer you want to add a new military operations line or area feature to. Click the Symbology tab, then:

1. Click on the representation rule that you want to edit.
2. Click the Rule Options button and then Duplicate Rule in the drop-down menu.
3. Click the Add geometric effect button to open the list of geometric effects.
4. Click the Dashes geometric effect to add it to the rule.

Your new rule is added to the list of available representation rules and to the Table of Contents. By default, the representation rule name will be Rule_146. Click on the representation rule to change it. For example, type AA Airborne Planned.

The final step is to create the new feature template.

Changing the appearance of one military operations feature in a map

There may be times when you want to modify just one feature in your map, but it belongs to a group of features. For example, you may want to change the width of one arrow. You can do this by overriding representation rules. Overrides are created from the Representation toolbar during an edit session. To resize a feature representation, such as the width of an arrow, follow these steps.

1. In an edit session, select one or more feature representations using the Select tool or the Lasso Select tool on the Representation toolbar.
2. Click the Resize tool .
3. Click and drag to resize the selected feature representation.

Learn more about editing feature representations.