How Metric is the US Military

[GregLaROCHE]

From back in my service time, everything was being switched to metric. I was wondering how metric in the military is it today. Do Humves have fuel gauges in liters? Are all the nuts and bolts on US equipment all metric? What kind of tools do mechanics in the military have?

[Omega]

From back in my service time, everything was being switched to metric. I was wondering how metric in the military is it today. Do Humves have fuel gauges in liters? Are all the nuts and bolts on US equipment all metric? What kind of tools do mechanics in the military have?Nope, all my fuelers deal in gallons, and pounds since the helicopters and other aircraft deal in weight. Most if not all of the vehicles in the motorpool use gallons and MPH as well.

[screwcutter]

We were getting metric add on tools in our tool sets when I got out of the Army in the mid 90’s.
All of the maps were in meters/km, odometers still read miles
Don’t know where they are at now.

[Thundarstick]

Back in the 70s (when I was in Jr high) the country was pushing "we're going metric whole hog" we where taught the metric system proficiently. Then it sorta of died out as a mandate, and you have to have two sets of wrenches to work on anything not wholly made out side the USA. Fortunately I went into the medical field and am quite comfortable with the metric system of weights and measures. I've never understood why we didn't go through with the conversation years ago??

[metricmonkeywrench]

Though the weights and measures are still in imperial units (often with metric conversions) just due to the way industry has been going at least for ground vehicles the majority of the platforms are now metric. Tool kits sets and chests that were once SAE centric are being re-looked at and converted to more metric based. This now pretty much leaves the dwindling legacy system as the minority.

[GregLaROCHE]

What made me think about this is all the military equipment being sent to Ukraine. What if they need a simple bolt to repair something. Is the equipment being sent metric friendly, or does everything come with spare nuts and bolts etc?

[gwpercle]

What made me think about this is all the military equipment being sent to Ukraine. What if they need a simple bolt to repair something. Is the equipment being sent metric friendly, or does everything come with spare nuts and bolts etc?
Them boy's look to be pretty bright ... If we send it ... I bet they can figure the wrench problem out easy .
Gary

[Alex_4x4]

:-)


https://youtu.be/LHRBmc7BJ2I

[Frosty Boolit]

What made me think about this is all the military equipment being sent to Ukraine. What if they need a simple bolt to repair something. Is the equipment being sent metric friendly, or does everything come with spare nuts and bolts etc?

I'm sure there are going to be parts and mechanics to go with the equipment, after all US taxpayers are paying the bill.

[Mr Peabody]

I don't know about the machines. All the PX's and BX's we worked on were built with metric block and brick

[GregLaROCHE]

It’s not the wrenches fitting, I was wondering about, but the different threads.

[bedbugbilly]

In the early 70's, I was in the Industrial Education program at Western Michigan University - Kalamazoo, MI and it was designated as a "metric education center". Sorry - I'm "old school" and it was a PIA. I won't name the professor who was supposedly spear heading the program (even though I'm sure he has passed by now) was a "self important" individual and the whole thing was so disorganized that it was like a dog chasing its tail.

When I went to work in a local industry in Kalamazoo after graduating while my wife was finishing her degrees,, I worked in an Engineering Department and the company held a license from a German company to manufacture a specific type of cable handling system for power and control cables on such things as gantry cranes. At that time, all of our drawings had to be "dual dimensioned",which was a farce as we did not utilize metric bolts, etc,.


We have a gal that is like a daughter to us that has worked at the Federal Center in Michigan for a long time. Part of her job is to try and "standardize" parts between the various branches of service. An example is the the Marine
Corps would/will have a part number for a 1/2 X 2" fine thread machine bolt, the Navy will have a different part # for the same item as will the Air Force, etc. Then add in a piece of equipment supplied under government contract who will refer to the same item by their own part #. You'd think that it would be common sense for all to get on the same page - but we're talking "government" here - so it is a constant and continuous issue providing man government jobs at taxpayer expense which could be eliminated if common sense was used. A number of years ago, she was on a team who went to Virginia where they basically tore down a new type of helicopter, part by part with the help of military mechanics, to catalog and assign part numbers to each part so that hopefully, im the end, if several of the branches of service used the same helicopter, the same part numbers would be used in order to be able to keep spare parts supplied if needed in a timely manner.

I can't answer your question . . but as stated above . . the Ukrainians aren't stupid and I'm sure that they are capable of jury-rigging if necessary . . . if not . . . then Im sure that they could probably buy all the spare parts they need from the Taliban . . . . after all, Biden and his crew left billions of dollars of equipment in
Afganastan when he pulled his big retreat.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Heard they gathered up all the standard adjustable wrenches and replaced them with metric versions, at a significant cost to taxpayers.

[Land Owner]

Non-CONUS Fed project construction was double dimensioned or wholy metric in design. Japan, Caribbean, Gitmo, Ascension Island, etc. NASA is big on metric, but occasionally short on conversion, garnering impact into terrain on Mars rather than the expected "soft landing".

[WRideout]

If we haven't sent them a few rednecks to go along with the wrenches, it will probably never work.

Wayne

[DocSavage]

Ok here goes at 8 or 9 years old was asking why water boils at 212° and freeze at 32° why doesn't it boil at 100° and freeze at 0°. The metric system isn't that difficult everything is on 10. Generally I can convert mph to kph in my head same for pounds to kilos.

[Winger Ed.]

I remember that nothing in the Air Wing was metric.
Tools, bolt threads, volumes, distances--- nothing.
One odd thing I noticed was we measured fuel loads in airplanes as pounds, not gallons.
It made it faster to calculate and stay at/under the max. take off weight in relation
to whatever else the plane was carrying where ever you were.

However; the Grunts were all into it for distances.
All their maps were in meters and 'clicks'. If you're calling in artillery for close support--- you better have it right.
In my early years, the rifle ranges we qualified on every year were already real old, and measured out in yards.

As the years went on--- they started calling the stages of fire as meters. 200 meters, 300, then 500 meters.
Meters are a little longer than yards--- but they never moved back the firing lines or target carriages to compensate.

[daengmei]

My Army time 77-91 all tools for tanks were stardard US sizing. With the fielding of the M1 tanks, tools began to incorporate metric sizing, some still standard. As far as maps, tactical field info for firing missions and such they were always metric.

[GregLaROCHE]

I can work in standard American or metric, but don’t give me a tape measure with both next to each other. I always forget which one to look at and it takes time to get my brain unconfused.

[Geezer in NH]

Please why should the USA adapt to the Beggers [ukraine] by adapting to metric. Let them figure it out.

Metric has failed in the USA get used to it.

[armoredman]

There are two kinds of nations in the world - those who went to the moon, and those who use metric.
The metric system is handy and easy - we just don't like it jammed down our throats. The educational system might have picked another tactic.

[10x]

There are two kinds of nations in the world - those who went to the moon, and those who use metric.
The metric system is handy and easy - we just don't like it jammed down our throats. The educational system might have picked another tactic.

Metric thread pitches can be challenging at times with several pitches per diameter wth Standard, Fine, Extra or Super Fine, and JIS
Finding the correct thread bolt for that blind threaded hole can be less than amusing in the smaller sizes

https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/measuring/metric-thread-pitch.aspx

[armoredman]

Metric thread pitches can be challenging at times with several pitches per diameter wth Standard, Fine, Extra or Super Fine, and JIS
Finding the correct thread bolt for that blind threaded hole can be less than amusing in the smaller sizes

https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/measuring/metric-thread-pitch.aspx

That part I had never heard about, interesting.

[missionary5155]

I rebuild broke pocket watches. None complete watches may require one very small screw that you better have a good supply of metric thread and US. I have seen screws that the shaft is 3 hair thicknesses cost $20 each.

[elmacgyver0]

There are two kinds of nations in the world - those who went to the moon, and those who use metric.
The metric system is handy and easy - we just don't like it jammed down our throats. The educational system might have picked another tactic.

True, and when we started on our down-hill spiral was when we started adopting the practices of those who never made it to the moon. Be it measuring systems or politics.

[hwilliam01]

I went to engineering college from 1976 to 1980. Under Jimmy Carter, the United States was serious about converting to metric (Th rest of the country was not so serious...LOL). We were told that we would be the spearhead of the transition as many legacy systems (and curent seasned engineers) will be using the imperial system, but new contracts and world wide marketing will be using the metric system. Therefore, we would need to be fluid in both systems. All of our tests were in both (Systems Internationale) SI units AND Imperial, with many problems containing both units in the same question. I am comfortable with either. My story illustartes how perceptive my professors were.

Interesting story, shortly after garduation I was involved as an assistant project engineer for a Navy wind tuinnel contract to study the vorticies shed by non-aviation type ships in preparation for determining the best approach for the Vert-Rep (Verticle Replenishment) mission. Many times (on a non competitive contract (we had the only correctly sized wind tunnel), the government writing the contract will work with the contractors to make sure everything is spelled out correctly to ensure success. The legacy Navy engineers had to think about the program in imperial units. They wrote the contract draft in imperial units, then had to re-write it in SI units to pass the contracts Navu contracts department. We recieved the contract in SI units and had to convert to imperial so that our experienced engineers could fully understand it. We conducted the test in imperial units, then converted the data to SI to write the report and submit to the Navy. The Navy engineers hen took that report and converted it to imperial to interperet the results. Talk about opportunities for making mistakes, both in comptation and round off errors. We even had to converse wih questons and answers in SI, which we later mutually modified the contract to have several face to face meetings where we spoke in imperial and documented the results in SI.

[Jimmynostars]

I can use both but convert imperial (US and UK) to metric to work in. How about UNS where "they" just pick a tpi for a given diameter. My 2c (metric) is that if the imperial system is so good why do you use thou (a metric, base 10 system) for accurate measurements?

Feet and inches are good for building wooden sailing ships ��

[kevin c]

Metric is common in medicine and has been since I was a student back in the 80’s. Pounds, ounces and inches are still used when parents want to how their new family member measures up, but if that babbling’ blue eyed babe needs a dose of something, it’s milligrams or milliliters per kilogram of body weight, and test results are all SI units too.

Aspirin and Tylenol tablets are still five grains of medication each, but the bottles are are nowadays labeled 325 mg.

I still think and measure in grains, but that’s for smokeless powder reloading only.

[Geezer in NH]

I went to engineering college from 1976 to 1980. Under Jimmy Carter, the United States was serious about converting to metric .

Explains the failure right there.