Creating the 'Mils' Symbol

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 3, 2026)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

When writing documents that are used in the military or by contractors dealing with the military, it is sometimes helpful to create a special symbol called the 'mils' symbol. A 'mil' is an angular measure where there are 6,400 mils in a circle, compared to the usual 360 degrees in a circle. (Some nations, such as those comprising the former Soviet Union, use 6,000 mils in a circle, not 6,400.)

The symbol for a mil is a lowercase 'm' with a forward-slash through it. (It is impossible to show what such a symbol look like in this newsletter.) The mils symbol can be produced through the use of fields. For instance, the following EQ field will create the proper field:

{ EQ \o(m,\s\do2(/)) }

Note that the forward-slash is set to a slightly larger font size than what is used for the letter m, in order to give a better appearance.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3506) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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