Source for MGRS Maps in 1:50,000

[Pylon]

I'm trying to find printed maps with the MGRS (Military Grid Reference System) on it, in 1:50,000 scale of our area in Oswego County, New York to teach that particular subset of Land Navigation skills.  I have had no luck getting MGRS 1:50,000 maps from anywhere online or even through the Intel office of the local ANG.  Help or direction to potential sources would be appreciated!

[ammotrucker]

Almost all of the fire depts here in FL have them or can print them.  We stopped into one while on a training and asked they were more then happy to print it out. 

[Gunner C]

I'm trying to find printed maps with the MGRS (Military Grid Reference System) on it, in 1:50,000 scale of our area in Oswego County, New York to teach that particular subset of Land Navigation skills.  I have had no luck getting MGRS 1:50,000 maps from anywhere online or even through the Intel office of the local ANG.  Help or direction to potential sources would be appreciated!

Did you try the state director?  He may have contacts with the AF/Army/Guard who may be able to get you on the right track.

[Pylon]

Almost all of the fire depts here in FL have them or can print them.  We stopped into one while on a training and asked they were more then happy to print it out.

Thanks, I'll try the FD.

Did you try the state director?  He may have contacts with the AF/Army/Guard who may be able to get you on the right track.

Unfortunately the state director billet is vacant in New York.  Our friends in the local Air Guard FW knew what we needed but didn't have the right area.   We do have contacts with the 10th MTN Division, though... they might have some ideas.  Thanks.

[NIN]

Try http://www.mytopo.com/

You can get them UTM gridded, which, as I recall, is substantially similar to MGRS (which, of course, pretty much nobody outside of the RealMilitary™ uses) that its not hard to teach/discriminate the differences in training.

[dwb]

From mytopo.com:

Personalize it
Add titles, lat/lon GPS, UTM, or MGRS grids

MyTopo.com maps rock.  We use them for winter camping.

[Pylon]

Thanks for the link.  Those maps are pretty sweet, but they don't offer any of the scales on the standard GTA 05-02-012 protractor.  1:50,000, 1:100,000 or 1:250,000.  Pretty much negates being able to teach finding a 6-digit coordinate set without the right scale.

[Spike]

Contact an ARMY National Guard unit.  Tell them what you need and ask them to order you the maps.  Ordering directions for everyone are found in the following Field Manual.   
Reference: FM 3-25.26

OR

At Fort Drum, contact PLANS, TRAINING, MOBILIZATION & SECURITY
Phone: (315) 772-7151  (DSN Prefix 772)
Fax:     (315) 772-7225

This is the Office that Civilians (CAP) and military go through to setup training and acquire resources. 

I was able to get maps from them of the Post/ Training sites, as well as Maps of Upstate New York about 5 years ago. 

If all fails contact your National Guard Headquarters.  I am not familiar with New York National Guard, but they absolutely will have maps. 

[sardak]

Here are a few suggestions.
I suspect most of the non-military agencies you'll work with don't use the 1:50k military scale maps, but the more common USGS maps. You might think about using the USGS maps.

Much of the Adirondacks are covered by USGS 1:25k (not 1:24k) topo maps. Those don't cover Oswego County, but they would be close. I don't have a GTA 05-02-12, but I have a GTA 05-02-10 which includes 1:25k scales. If the -12 does, you could use the much easier to obtain USGS maps.

The 1:24k USGS maps that cover Oswego County have UTM grid tic marks on them. UTM, US National Grid and MGRS 1000 meter grids are identical. You can get free grid overlays for 1:24k (which include the 1:25k and 1:50k scales, too) and print them on acetate. Sources are:
MapTools and the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) which is the government committee that establishes geospatial standards for civilian federal agencies.

MGRS and USNG are functionally identical with the difference being that MGRS is based on the WGS84 datum and USNG is based on the NAD83 datum. The differences between the datums is 2 meters or less, so unless you're a surveyor, USNG and MGRS can be considered interchangeable coordinate systems.

FGDC adopted the US National Grid (USNG) as the civilian grid standard in 2001, which most people, even those in the federal and civilian geospatial industry, didn't realize. The USGS is printing new maps with USNG grids. The National Search and Rescue Committee (which includes AFRCC and FEMA) has also adopted USNG for ground coordinates on incidents in which the feds are activated. More on this can be found at NSARC's page on "Georeferencing Information for SAR Responders."

Both systems are based on UTM, but instead of a string of numbers for a position, USNG and MGRS substitute letters for the 1 million and 100,000 UTM grid numbers. All three systems give an identical string of numbers for the 6 digit coordinate set. These are the same point to 1 meter resolution:
UTM  13S 0332833 4268674
MGRS 13S CC 32833 68674
USNG 13S CC 32833 68674
The six digit short hand is the same for all three: 328 686.

GEOTRANS, an application that translates between these, lat/lon and many other coordinate systems and datums is available from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Mike

[NIN]

Here are a few suggestions.
I suspect most of the non-military agencies you'll work with don't use the 1:50k military scale maps, but the more common USGS maps. You might think about using the USGS maps.<snip much good stuff>

That was quite magical.  One of the most useful posts I've ever read.

[IceNine]

http://maptools.com/UTMTools.html

You may be able to find a more appropriate tool for your uses here.