Are there standard colors for certain things? E.g. perhaps purple for signaling a helicopeter or something? What is the most common color used?


I can't say I have ventured into this forum but I appreciate all you veterans and currently active due. Thanks

See paragraph 5 of your Op order.

They mean whatever you want them to mean

Ahh. OK thanks

Oh the M-18 smoke grenade, what fond memories I have of them.  As a young troop I always wanted to throw one, even though I'd thrown live frags off.  I just wanted to make pretty colors.  Then one day during desert warfare training, I got my chance.  We needed to throw smoke to cover a flanking move.  My squad leader knew I'd been coveting my smoke can and yells for me to throw mine off.  I pulled the pin and threw the smoke as hard as I could from a prone position.  I heard the spoon fly and the fuze go off and I see the grenade start to cook off as it hits its highest orbit.  Then the smoke hits the ground and bounces into the fork of a young Joshua tree and it starts to burn the tree along with discharging its beautiful purple smoke.  The OC's start shitting kittens and run over there.  One guy must have been a martial arts expert because he did a really cool spin kick and released the smoke grenade from the tree and then broke out his canteen and dumps it over the spot where the grenade landed putting out the flames.  Next thing I hear one of the cadre say, "Nice one you little arsonist, no more smokes for you."  What could have been an ecological disater was pretty cool to see.

I remember the time when a red smoke grenade was used in Germany once.
There was very little wind and the red smoke Just Stayed there, barely dissipating or moving.  Eventually we had to move on.  As far as I know that cloud of red smoke is still there, just hanging around, not doing anything, just sitting there looking, well, red.

While doing some training at Ft Benning, my OP buddy and I got compromised and being two high speed Specialists who paid attention to our briefing, started to break contact. I started shooting, and he pulled the pin on a good ol' HC smoke to cover us and threw it. Nothing. No billowing HC smoke, not even a pop/fizzle. Just a THUNK somewhere in the briars. Once we linked back up with the rest of our element we moved out. At our next stop we learned why you don't tape the spoon of any grenade to the body: in the excitement he'd yanked the pin but forgot to pull the tape off the spoon. Being about November, it was 35degrees and pouring rain in the thick ass Georgia brambles, and we never found the still pin-less smoke.

Fast foreward to the following summer, and a wildfire broke out at Ft Benning. We made sure to constantly remind my boy that the tape must have finally come loose and his smoke burned down half of the Home of the Infantry.

Half the time id rather take my chances with the enemy seeing me than breath in a single ounce of HC smoke.  

These were one of our 'tools of the trade,' as I was in a Pathfinder platoon.  The color we'd use didn't have any particular significance when we used them to mark our HLZ.  The significant part to us was having the aircraft report to us the color they saw, to make sure that they were coming up on the correct site.  (We also employed that good 'ol VS-17 panel and signal lights.)

For DZ ops, we used them as a means of letting the Jumpers know the wind direction in order to let them know which way to turn their parachutes to get better landing.  I recall that some DZ parties would only use red smoke if there were unforeseen dangers which popped up (unsafe sudden rise in wind speed, obstruction on the DZ, etc).

Had to be mindful of the wind when we tossed them out to mark our DZ/HLZ, lest the smoke billow back on you and your site.


I went through the Pathfinder course at Ft Benning back in '84 and at the time we each had loads of these in and amongst our issue and personal kit.  I left Benning with about 25 to 30 of those things, which I happily used at a couple buddies' weddings, special sporting events, and more miscellaneous "special" occasions than I'll admit to here!

Thank you for all the replies.  How much are they used in the more current conflicts we have been in? I imagine less since there isn't a jungle obstructing vision.

During the bivoac phase of Basic (1973) at Ft Lost-in-the-woods, Misery, we got ambushed during our road march.  We didn't get any ammo so I was laying there throwing rocks in the direction of he "Enemy".  I got tired of that and rolled over to get out my canteen.  While I was on my back an M-18 came sailing in and hit me square in the stomach.  Didn't hurt, but we had been issued only one ammo pouch.  The smoke rolled down into the gap between the top of the pouch and my stomach and stuck there.  It was shooting flame out of the hole on the bottom which was pointing to my left.  My fatigue shirt caught on fire and my left arm still bears the burn mark.

I was on fire, I jumped up, threw my rifle down and did the chicken dance until I remembered to do the drop and roll thing.  Ruined my blouse, I was pissed but every one else got a kick out of the whole thing.

Yeah, I still have fond memories of M-18s!

I know it sucks when you carry it around, sweatig your ass off, and finally get to throw the two you have...which you just know will cover both flanks as you break contact...and one is a dud...and now you are a casualty...and now you realize that you still have about 6 miles of swamp and a river to cross while bandaged up and unable to use your arms because you are a fucking casualty...because your fucking smoke didn't work.

I love them...and not so much.  

White HC for the win.  Yellow for fun.

Saw a guy burn his ruck to the ground in SUT when a smoke went off in it.

We had a guy in SUT dropped a smoke off of his LBE and it went off.  We went dodging incoming mortar rounds for a good while.  

Had another guy that had one rigged up to his FLC by the spoon and with a tip tie around the body. He went to take his ruck off and it ripped the thing off his flc, setting it off. Both of these happened in the grass in front of BN.