Rolling Thunder (2007) (34 page)

heavy machine gun DDG: Guided Missile Destroyer DEA: Drug Enforcement Agency DPV: Desert Patrol Vehicle Det Cord: Detonating Cord DJMS: Defense Joint Military Pay System

Draeger Mk V: Underwater air supply equipment

DZ: Drop Zone

E&E: Escape and Evasion

EPW: Enemy Prisoner of War

ER: Emergency Room (hospital)

ESP: Extra-Sensory Perception

ETS: End of Term of Service

FLIR: Forward-Looking Infrared Radar

Four-Shop: Logistics Section of the staff

French Leave: See AWOL

FRH: Flameless Ration Heater

FTX: Field Training Exercise

G-3: The training and operations staff section of a unit commanded by a general officer

GPS: Global Positioning System

Gunny: Marine Corps slang for the rank of Gunnery Sergeant E-7

H&K MP-5: Heckler & Koch MP-5 submachine gun

HAHO: High-Altitude, High-Opening parachute jump

HALO: High-Altitude, Low-Opening parachute jump

HE: High Explosive

Head: Navy and Marine Corps term for toilet; called a latrine in the Army

HEAT: High Explosive Anti-Tank

Hell Week: The fifth week of BUD/S that is five-plus days of continuous activity and training with little or no sleep

Hors de combat: Out of the battle (expression in French)

HSB: High-Speed Boat

Immediate Action: A quick, sometimes temporary, fix to a mechanical problem

IR: Infra-Red

Island: The superstructure of an aircraft carrier or assault ship

JSOC: Joint Special Operation Command

K-Bar: A brand of knives manufactured for military and camping purposes

KD Range: Known-Distance weapons-firing Range

KIA: Killed In Action

Keffiyeh: Arab headdress (what Yasser Arafat wore) KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid or more politely, Keep It

Simple, Sweetheart LBE: Load-Bearing Equipment LSSC: Light SEAL Support Craft Light Sticks: Flexible plastic tubes that illuminate Limpet Mine: An explosive mine that is attached to the hulls

of vessels

Locked Heels: When a serviceman is getting a severe vocal reprimand, it is said he is having his heels locked, i.e., standing at attention while someone is bellowing in his face.

LSO: Landing Signal Officer LZ: Landing Zone M-18 Claymore Mine: A mine fired electrically with a blast

ing cap M-60 E3: A compact model of the M-60 machine gun M-67: An antipersonnel grenade M-203: A single-shot 40-millimeter grenade launcher MATC: A fast river support craft MCPO: Master Chief Petty Officer Medevac: Medical Evacuation MI-5: United Kingdom Security Agency Mk 138 Satchel Charge: Canvas container filled with explo

sive

Mossad: Israeli Intelligence Agency (ha-Mossad le-Modiin ule-Tafkidim Meyuhadim Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks)

MRE: Meal, Ready to Eat MSSC: Medium SEAL Support Craft Murphy's Law: An assumption that if something can go

wrong, it most certainly will N2: Intelligence Staff N3: Operations Staff NAS: Naval Air Station NAVSPECWAR: Naval Special Warfare NCO: Noncommissioned Officers, i.e., corporals and sergeants NCP: Navy College Program NFL: National Football League NROTC: Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps NVG: Night-Vision Goggles

NVS: Night-Vision Sight

OA: Operational Area

OCONUS: Outside the Continental United States

OCS: Officers Candidate School

OER: Officer's Efficiency Report

OP: Observation Post

OPLAN: Operations Plan. This is the preliminary form of an OPORD.

OPORD: Operations Order. This is the directive derived from the OPLAN of how an operation is to be carried out. It's pretty much etched in stone.

PBL: Patrol Boat, Light

PC: Patrol Coastal vessel

PDQ: Pretty Damn Quick

PLF: Parachute Landing Fall

PM: Preventive Maintenance

PMC: Private Military Company. These are businesses that supply bodyguards, security personnel, and mercenary civilian fighting men to persons or organizations wanting to hire them.

PO: Petty Officer (e.g., PO1C is Petty Officer First Class)

POV: Privately Owned Vehicle

P.P.P.P.: Piss-Poor Prior Planning

PT: Physical Training

Puhtee: An Afghan rolled cap stocking cap that can be worn in many ways

RHIP: Rank Has Its Privileges

RIB: Rigid Inflatable Boat

RIO: Radar Intercept Officer

RPG: Rocket-Propelled Grenade

RPM: Revolutions Per Minute

RTO: Radio Telephone Operator

Run-flat tires: Solid-rubber inserts that allow the vehicle to run even when the tires have been punctured

SAS: Special Air Services an extremely deadly and superefficient special operations unit of the British Army

SAW: Squad Automatic Weapon M-249 5.56-millimeter magazine or clip-fed machine gun

SCPO: Senior Chief Petty Officer SDV: Seal Delivery Vehicle SERE: Survival, Escape, Resistance, and Evasion SF: Special Forces SFOB: Special Forces Operational Base Shiites: A branch of Islam; in serious conflict with the Sunnis SITREP: Situation Report SNAFU: Situation Normal, All Fucked Up Snap-to: The act of quickly and sharply assuming the posi

tion of attention with chin up, shoulders back, thumbs along the seams of the trousers, and heels locked with toes at a 45-degree angle

SOCOM: Special Operations Command SOF: Special Operations Force SOI: Signal Operating Instructions SOLS: Special Operations Liaison Staff SOP: Standard Operating Procedures SPECOPS: Special Operations Special Boat Squadrons: Units that participate in SEAL mis

sions SPECWARCOM: Special Warfare Command Sunnis: A branch of Islam; in serious conflict with the Shiites T-10 Parachute: Basic static-line-activated personnel para

chute of the United States Armed Forces. Primarily designed for mass tactical parachute jumps. Taliban: Militant, anti-West Muslims with extreme religious

views; in serious conflict with Shiites TDy: Temporary Duty Three-Shop: Operations and Training Section of the staff TOA: Table of Allowances Two-Shop: Intelligence Section of the staff U.K.: The United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland, and

Northern Ireland) UN: United Nations Unass: To jump out of or off something UNREO: United Nations Relief and Education Organization USAF: United States Air Force USASFC: United States Army Special Forces Command USSR: Union of Soviet Social Republics Russia before the

fall of Communism VTOL: Vertical Take-Off and Landing Watch Bill: A list of personnel and stations for the watch Waypoint: A location programmed into navigational instru

mentation that directs aircraft, vehicles, and/or vessels to a specific spot on the planet

Whaler Boat: Small craft loosely based on the types of boats used in whaling. They are generally carried aboard naval and merchant vessels and are diesel-powered.

WIA: Wounded in Action WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction: nuclear, biological, etc.