Non-Mil, but Harwell trained in the 60's - some residual knowledge.....
In this H&S concious era it might be thought that the rules concerning these restrictions might at least be better explained by facts rather than the boogy-man stories one hears!
The radium in the luminous intrument dials and watches of old is actually quite nasty stuff. The dullness of them now might be taken to be a sign that their potency has diminished with time but this is far from the case as the glow is caused by the emitted radiation interacting with a zinc sulphide compound to produce light. It is this compound that loses its potency with time.
So what are the problems with radium? For a start it produces both alpha and either beta or gamma according to the isotope used. Alpha radiation is stopped by the glass, but the others aren't. In addition a further decay product is radon gas, which in itself is radioactive. So technically there is a direct and an indirect radiation hazard that would have been regarded as an acceptable risk for the benefit gained during the war but which has now changed to unacceptable now that the damaging effects of small doses on cell genetics has been researched in some detail.
For example, as a 40s/50s childen we happy stared at our own foot bones in the shoe shops of the day and were encouraged to do so by the staff.....
Ripline