MGRS at NTTR

[StrongHarm]

A question was asked in the comments of my mission NTTR Tank Busting 101 on the user files page, concerning the MGRS reference to the tanker location. I think the answer puts it into perspective better than my past answers in the forums, so I thought I would share.

 

Here's a link to the map that's referred to in the explanation (downloads comments won't allow URLs so it's not in the quote).

 

Sure. This is the Military Grid Reference System or MGRS. In our case PA 61 58 is a shortened MGRS coord for 11S PA 6142 5824.

Grid: 11S

Area: PA

Eastings: Kilometers 61, Meters 42

Northings: Kilometers 58, Meters 24

(note: it's actually 100s and 10s of meters etc., but the above puts it into perspective)

 

Easiest way to understand it is to look at Hayford Peak near Nellis on a real map with MGRS. Do a google search for: Google Maps with MGRS.. then choose the link from mappingsupport.com. As you zoom into Nevada you will see a block labeled PA. as you zoom into that you'll see that the grid changes and you'll find numbers on the bottom and left (eastings and northings). Within PA, look for the grid with 6 at the bottom and 5 on the left. Zoom in more and the digits will expand to 2 places. Look for 61 at the bottom and 58 on the left. You should be at Hayford Peak. If you zoom in further you can get more precise coordinates, such as PA 6124 5842. To work with these coordinates in the CDU of the A-10C, see page 459 in the manual. To work with it in TAD see page 308.

 

Notice also, that this location is referred to as being at Bulls 079 for 23. That's direction 079 from Bullseye, for a distance of 23 miles. This is a really quick way to get a notion of location and maintain situational awareness. To work with Bulls references do a search in the forums for Bullseye and Coordinates. There are some great posts about it there.