Military Lingo, Part 2

The AAR on this publication’s first story on Military Lingo has led my editorial CO to ask for another SITREP.

To be HIGH SPEED – LOW DRAG, this writer will DRIVE ON in accomplishing the mission.

Bear in mind that the military’s acronyms are pronounceable words, initialisms are unpronounceable words, and that expressions a unique group of words.

ACRONYMS

• ALCON (All concerned)
• AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave)
• BRAC (Base Realignm
  ent and Closure)
• BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fu**er)
• CHT (Pronounced “chit”, it means the Collection, Holding and Transfer of sewage from Navy ships)
• COB (Chief of the Boat)
• COP (Combat Outpost)
• FIDO (Fire Direction Officer)
• FOD (Foreign Object Damage)
• FRAGO (A change to an operational order, or OPORD)
• HALO (High Altitude Low Opening)
• INTEL (Short for intelligence)
• JAG (Judge Advocate General)
• OPORD (Operational Order)
• POG (Person Other Than Grunt)
• SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile)
• SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape)
• SITREP (Situation Report)
• UNSAT (Unsatisfactory)
• WAG (Wild Ass Guess)
• WILCO (Will comply)

INITIALISMS

• AAR (After Action Report)
• APC (Armored Personnel Carrier)
• BDU (Battle Dress Uniform)
• BFT (Blue Force Tracker)
• CCP (Casualty Collection Point)
• CIB (Combat Infantryman’s Badge)
• CID (Criminal Investigative Division)
• CO (Commanding Officer)
• CP (Check Point)
• CSH (Combat Support Hospital)
• DZ (Drop Zone)
• FMC (Fully Mission Capable)
• FST (Forward Surgical Team)
• HE (High Explosive)
• KIA (Killed in Action)
• MIA (Missing in Action)
• MI (Military Intelligence)
• MOS (Military Occupation Specialty)
• MRE (Meal Ready to Eat)
• NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service)
• OSI (Office of Special Investigations)
• OSM (Oh S**t Moment)
• QRF (Quick Reaction Force)
• RTO (Radio Telephone Operator)
• SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)
• SP (Start Point)
• TFOA (Things Fall Off Aircraft
• UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)
• WTF (See Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot)

EXPRESSIONS

• Birth Control Glasses (Unflattering eyewear given out during basic training)
• Camelback (Water bladder carried on back)
• Chair Force (Personnel who fly a desk rather than an aircraft)
• Check You
  r Six (Watch out behind you)
• Dirt Sailor (Navy Seabee)
• Drive On (Keep moving forward)
• Embrace the Suck (Some things are unpleasant; embrace them)
• Fast Mover (Close air support)
• Field Strip (Taking something apart in the field)
• Fruit Salad (Medals and ribbons on dress uniform)
• Grunt (Infantryman)
• Hardball (A hard surfaced road)

• High Speed – Low Drag (Describes a person or gear that does well)
• Hurry Up and Wait (Strongly suggests a waste of time)
• Light It Up (Bring firepower to bear on a target)
• Make a Hole (Get out of the way)
• Mustang (Officer promoted from enlisted ranks)
• Nut to Butt (When male servicemembers are lined up in very close quarters)
• Out Here (Acknowledgement the conversation is over)
• Pop Smoke (Smoke normally used to signal helicopters)
• Power Point Ranger (Service member who creates Power Point presentations)
• Secret Squirrel (Intelligence personnel or communications)
• Spoon (A cook)
• Squared Away (A compliment)
• Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot (What The F**k!)
• Zero Dark Thirty (Very early in the morning)

As t

he military changes, so too will its use of the language to facilitate communication. Out here.

Read part 1 of our military lingo here. 

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