SergeantSelfExplanatory

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Battle Dress Uniform article continued

Just stopping by to continue the discussion about the Battle Dress Uniform article. i wanted to ask about the google document you mentioned a few months back and to see if it's ready or not. If it's not, that's okay. also, i've dug for sources on my own, but it seems to run dry fast and there is very little coverage outside of military journals. it makes me think that there simply might not be enough sources to bring this article to adequate quality, as with many other military uniform articles. what do you think? South of the Tongass (talk) 23:18, 9 December 2025 (UTC)

What is an "Alpha" unit??

What do you mean by an "Alpha" unit?? Clearly you don't mean an ODA.. do you mean a formation commanded by a four-star?? Buckshot06 (talk) 11:23, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

The only time I've seen the term "alpha unit" used is on a header at the Institute of Heraldry's website (Archived). They use it for non-numerical units.

The Institute of Heraldry is a fairly reputable source, since they create all United States military unit insignia. Personally, I haven't seen any other proper terms outside of "alpha unit", so I've gone with it. A potential better source would be the Army's Center of Military History, since it actually runs the army's overall history program. Unfortunately, their website has only so much relevant information—although I have not fully searched it.

Note: From what I see, "ODA" refers to an Operational Detachment Alpha, or an operational (combat ready) class of US Army Special Forces units, as opposed to administrative or headquarters (non-combat) personnel. – (See this LegalClarity.org article, Archived and this Wikipedia draft). This is to say, I was not precisely referring to this.

Also, apologies to @South of the Tongass for not replying sooner... believe it or not, I am still drafting a fuller explanation... SergeantSelfExplanatory (talk) 12:27, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

Grand, thanks. So we can probably expand the abbreviation for clarity: Alphabetically named units and formations, instead of numerically numbered units and formations. WP is written for generalists, not specialists, so expanding the abbreviation would probably be better. I understand re ODAs. Buckshot06 (talk) 12:40, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

Ah, makes sense. Thanks! SergeantSelfExplanatory (talk) 12:45, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

A Barnstar for You!

		The Military Barnstar
		Thank you for your edit to Timothy O'Neill. Sometimes small — but significant — edits like this go unnoticed. After a decade here, I've realized these sorts of edits constitute the most important alterations. MWFwiki (talk) 07:40, 25 January 2026 (UTC)