I know you all are like me; you get excited when new doctrine gets released. Giddy, even. So I know that when the Army released Army Doctrine Reference Publication (ADRP) 1-02 Terms and Military Symbols you immediately downloaded the whole thing and had a good read. Or not.
One thing always strikes me when going through this work is that without context, military operational symbols could look like some really silly things. So, without any more preamble, here is a selection of ADRP 1-02, as seen by extremely literal people.
What it looks like: “Peppermint stick cannon being fired by man in sombrero.”
What it is: “Border Patrol.”
What it looks like: “This box is happy.”
What it is: “Civil Military Cooperation in NATO”
What it looks like: “Pizza is here!”
What it is: “Coordination Point.”
What it looks like: “No Abbey Road Crossing Allowed!”
What it is: “Criminal Activities Victims.”
What it looks like: “Get in the box.”
What it is: “Customs Service.”
What it looks like: “Be on the lookout for giant handguns on skateboards.”
What it means: “Drive by Shooting.”
What it looks like: “Sun wearing sunglasses, ironically.”
What it is: “Friendly Forces Encircled.”
What it looks like: “The bouncing thing went that way.”
What it is: “Friendly planned or on order forward line of own troops.”
What it looks like: “Absolutely no seagulls allowed!”
What it is: “Airborne infantry unit.”
What it looks like: “Waves ahead.”
What it is: “Jamming.”
What it looks like: “Guy with sunglasses and cigarette is unhappy.”
What it means: “Launcher unmanned aerial system.”
What it looks like: “We don’t know what this thing is, but it is pissed OFF.”
What it is: “Marine Expeditionary Force.”
That’s actually spot-on.
What it looks like: “Bring your coat hangers.”
What it is: “Mine Clearing.”
What it looks like: “Giant bugs here; stay away.”
What it is: “Mine laying.”
What it looks like: “We got a box of aliens.”
What it is: “Minefield, anti-personnel.”