The History, Significance, and Formatting of NATO Stock Numbers (NSN)

On quite a number of uniform, equipment, gear, weaponry, vehicles and quite literally millions of other items used by quite a number of European and North American countries you'll likely find a 13 character long number. Known as an NSN or NATO Stock Number these help to catalog and identify said items. But what do they mean? How were they made and how can you read them? Well have a watch and find out! Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:12 The Origin and Purpose of NATO 3:06 NATO Standardization 5:16 Creation of The NSN 6:26 Breaking Down The NSN Format 10:21 An Example and "Number Neighbors" 11:58 Format and Preface Variations 12:55 Pre-1974 US FSN Pieces 14:09 The Creation and Assignment Process 16:07 Pieces with No, Missing or Fake NSNs 17:31 Resources and Outro