Dictionary definition of “horse blanket”

horse blanket

n. a large, complex, or comprehensive report or chart. Subjects: English, United States, Military, Jargon

Etymological Note: Probably derives from a size comparison of sheets of chart paper to actual horse blankets.

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Citations: 1998 William Hartzog Federal Document Clearing House (June 9) “General William Hartzog Holds News Briefing To Discuss Changes In The Army’s Division Structure”: There is a facing-page discussion of each in your handouts. There are some other materials that we’ve given you in terms of some articles that have been written lately about this particular division design—a full horse blanket, if you will, that’s got numbers and specifics in it. *2000 David L. Lawrence, John C. White Aviation Operations At The Joint Readiness Training Center (Fort Leavenworth, Kan.) (Apr. 18) “Ch. 3: Light-Army Aviation At The JRTC: Do We Perform Search And Attack?” no. 5,: At JRTC most light infantry task forces conduct platoon- and squad-sized search and attack in specified areas dividing the battalion sector. They often resemble an artillery “horse-blanket” graphic used to support quick clearance of fires on a non-linear battlefield.…A “horse-blanket” graphic might be employed by the infantry battalion in search and attack. 2002 Standard Army Training System E-Newsletter For Unit Leaders & Trainers (Fort Eustis, Va.) (Spring-Summer) “Horse Blanket Report for SATS Users” (in U.S. Army Training Support Center) vol. 6, no. 1,: This tool is planned to replace the current cumbersome manual Horse-blanket, 5 year, “canned” and other ad-hoc reports currently manually developed using normal operating system commercial software. 2003 Jeanne Cummings @ Washington, D.C. Wall Street Journal (Apr. 11) “Afghanistan Aid Sets Bad Example —Bush Doesn’t Want Infrastructure Delays Repeated in Iraq” p. A4: An oversized chart—nicknamed the “horse blanket” because of its size—was created to display the postwar targets for one month, six months and a year out. 2004 U.S. Army Action Officer Guide to the Force Design Update (Fort Monroe, Va.) (Nov. 5): FDD prepares an executive-level briefing chart that condenses each of the issues into a single briefing slide for presentation to the Dir RI. The briefing chart, also known as the horse blanket is forwarded to the Dir RI. *2004 U.S. Army ST7000, Action Officer Development Course (Dec. 6) “Appendix A—Informal Staff Language”: Horse blanket Very large sheet of paper pasted on a wall and used to brief complex data or diagrams. 2005 Peter Guinta St. Augustine Record (Florida) (June 6) “Soldiers’ lingo gives everyday language an added flair”: O.C.T. is an acronym for observer-controller-trainer. These are usually Iraq veterans certified to act as teachers on immersion battlefields. OCTs use a “horse blanket,” or a large board listing all the training phases and the week they are supposed to be held.

Posted 8 Jun 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend