Book excerpt: Being able to effectively communicate using maps, charts, and symbols is an integral part of any military operation. The system contained in the U.S. Department of Defense Handbook of Military Symbols (MIL-STD-2525C) is designed to eliminate conflicts within various symbol sets and to establish a core set of common symbology under one Department of Defense standard. This standardization is essential during joint service operations, and this edition has been edited by Colonel Peter T. Underwood, USMC (Ret.), to cover the topics and symbols most useful to military and civilian readers alike. This handbook provides sets of C2 symbols, a coding scheme for symbol automation and information transfer, and technical details to support systems, which make it the best tool to learn the complete symbology of warfighting. It provides a thorough list of definitions and acronyms, along with tables and figures displaying thousands of symbol variants.