To Metric or not Metric

[rah]

hasn't the US military started using metric? I remember seeing it some recent shows regarding m and km.

[BDunnell]

I have never understood why this matters so much. I think of some things in imperial and others in metric. In fact, I can't think of any instances where the fact of two systems still existing has caused confusion.

[Mark]

hasn't the US military started using metric? I remember seeing it some recent shows regarding m and km.

I think they always have? I've seen many a Vietnam film where they talk about 'clicks', meaning kilometres.

[Don Capps]

hasn't the US military started using metric? I remember seeing it some recent shows regarding m and km.

The US Army began its initial move towards going metric as a result of its experience in the Great War (WW I), but following WW II it was decided to make the conversion to metric as soon as possible. By the end of the Korean War and the early Fifties, the process was in place regarding such items as ordnance, maps, and many other items. The large US presence in Asia (Japan and Korea) and Europe (and the need to adopt to NATO standardization) ensured that the process succeeded. Yes, in Viet-Nam we thought in metric, with meters (mikes) and kilometers (klicks) being how distances were measured. At US bases that are OCONUS (Outside the Continental United States), metric is now the standard for vehicle speeds and so forth.