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 Realignment 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 Your 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 the military changes, so too will its use of the language to facilitate communication. Out here.
Read part 1 of our military lingo here.
