In the movie “American Sniper,” the terms “whiteside” and “greenside” are used, apparently in reference to a building. I haven’t been able to find or figure out what they mean. The best I’ve come up with is that they seem to be Navy and/or Marine jargon. Anyone have the straight dope on this?
Greenside and Whiteside are the names of these hangars in Virginia:
http://www.aecom.com/What+We+Do/Government/Logistics,+Operations+and+Maintenance/_projectsList/Greenside+and+Whiteside+Hangars,+U.S.+Marine+Corps
The first is for the Executive Flight Detachment, also known as the “Whiteside,” a reference to the paint scheme for the tops of Presidential support aircraft (“white tops”) - supported aircraft dedicated to White House Mission. The second was the Marine Corps Aircraft Maintenance, commonly known within the squadron as the “Greenside,” a reference to the aircraft paint scheme again.
Thanks, but I’m afraid that’s not it. In the movie the sense was something like east/west, top/bottom, or left/right. I’m sorry I wasn’t clear that they didn’t depict a specific building (like those hangars) but rather seemed to be used to describe orientation or placement in whatever building was being discussed (i.e., whichever one they were fighting in at the moment there in Iraq).
Similar color coding got used in the movie Waco (cite) The advantage of labeling side of the building by color is that it takes out frame of reference. For example a team in overwatch due east from the building watching would be looking west to see the eastside of the building. Providing codes for the building removes frame of reference as an issue that could cause confusion. I assumed some kind of local SOP for the code. Maybe it was related to the code used by Federal law enforcement at Waco and other places. Maybe it was just a similar code.
Starboard bouys are red. Port bouys are green. Thus red sideis probably right and greenside is left.
On aircraft the position lights are similar, the Starboard, or right, is green, the Port, or left, is red, and the Aft, or rear, light is white.
Boats position lights are the same except the Aft, or rear white light is usually mounted higher on the craft then the red & the green ones are.
I have no clue as to how this relates to anything in the movie though.
I have seen the terms “white” and “green” used as shorthand for concrete and grass respectively - is it possible that this is what was meant?
Yea, but the phrase in the OP is whiteside, not red.
Stern lights are white, but it seems a little weird to have a scheme that indicated left and back, but not right and forward.
This rang false to me (apart from the spelling of “buoy”) so I looked it up… the American system is the opposite of the British. :smack:
What do you expect from a country that clearly drives on the wrong side of the road.
Or, indeed, the right side 
For those who are not recognizing the squabble, the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) sets the standards for buoys, lights, and other navigational aids. It has divided the world into two regions based (mostly) on who was using which color scheme at the time the organization was founded, (1957).
2 regions exist around the world; notably the IALA region B includes North and South America plus Japan, South Korea, and the Philipines, region A includes the rest of the world. As shown on Page 7.
The mnemonic phrase “Red Right Returning” thus needs to be interpreted differently in the two regions. In Region A, it is Red Right Returning TO the Sea. In Region B it is Red Right Returning FROM the Sea. As shown on pages 8 & 9 of the previous link.
I’ll let nationalists squabble over which system is “correct.”
I’m just guessing. I thought that they were either making a reference to North-South (In the northern Hemisphere the The white sunny side is South and the Green mossy side is north)
But if its a military situation and the military jargon is best if it works in all hemispheres it could be a reference to sunny side/shady side of a building. This only makes sense if it is information that is needed immediately as the sun’s position changes throughout the day.
In other words, I got nothing.
I would guess the opposite. The white side is where it snows and the green side is where it’s always green (no snow).
You seem to be assuming we’re returning to port, if that’s in this hemisphere anyway.
Yes, the mnemonic I was taught is that port lights (or buoys) are red, and port wine is red.
Green wine doesn’t sound too appealing. 
Generally the colors are used like this for example: (WHITE—direction of assault side; GREEN—right side; BLACK—rear side; RED—left side; BLUE—roof)