| Abrams |
M1A1 65-ton 60-mph 120-mm very advanced U.S. main battle tank |
| AEF |
Allied Expeditionary Force; World War I U.S. troop commitment |
| Air Cav |
The 1st Air Cavalry Division |
| AIT |
Advanced Individual Training; postboot MOS training |
| AK47 |
Kalashnikov assault rifle (Russian design); usual OpFor weapon |
| ANGLICO |
Air/Naval Gunfire Liaison Control Officer; your link to Navy guns |
| ANZACs |
Australia and New Zealand Army Corps |
| AO |
Area of Operation; infantry unit tactical assignment, local terrain |
| ao dai |
Vietnamese woman’s dress; long skirt slit to hip, worn over pants |
| Apache |
AH-64 gunship with miniguns, Hellfire and TOW rockets |
| arc light |
B-52 bombing missions; usually along Cambodian border |
| ARVN |
Army of the Republic of Vietnam; also Arvins |
| AWACS |
Airborne Warning and Control System; Boeing E3 Sentry 707 |
| ba |
Vietnamese; a married woman, used as a title of address |
| Bammy-Bow |
Ba Mu’oi Ba; brand of Vietnamese beer |
| basee-day |
ba si de; homemade rice alcohol |
| BDUs |
Battle Dress Uniform |
| beaten zone |
The sector where most incoming rounds will strike (kill zone) |
| berms |
Military defensive fortification; specifically the forward glacis |
| blivet |
Collapsible water or fuel container |
| bloop gun |
M79 40-mm grenade launcher; Vietnam era |
| BLU-82 |
3,000-pound gravity bomb; also known as Daisy Cutter |
| BMO |
Black Moving Object; U.S. Army slang for a Moslem woman |
| BMP |
Bronevaya Maschina Piekhota, Russian Infantry Fighting Vehicle |
| BMP-2 IFV |
Kuwaiti tracked troop carrier with AT-4 launcher/30-mm |
| boonies |
From boondocks; out in the bush, far from home, in enemy country |
| Bradleys |
M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles |
| BTR-60 |
Iraqi Armored Personnel Carrier |
| Buffs |
B-52 Stratofortress bombers |
| bunky |
Old U.S. Cavalry term for a bunkmate or buddy |
| CALFEX |
Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise; NTC weapons-training drill |
| camo |
Camouflage clothing |
| chain gun |
General Electric-made electronic machine gun; very fast rate of fire |
| Charlie |
Viet Cong, from Victor Charlie, the radio call letters |
| cherry |
Green; see FNG |
| chickenshit |
Army discipline and standards enforced solely to crush individualism |
| Chieu Hoi |
Literally, “Open Arms”; surrender program for VC and NVA troops |
| Chobham armor |
Armor composed of ceramic blocks in a resin matrix inside steel |
| CIB |
Combat Infantry Badge; award for courage in a real firefight |
| CINC |
Commander in Chief |
| Class As |
AG 44, 344, 444 Standard U.S. Army “walking out” uniform; green |
| Claymore |
Convex tripod hand-detonated C4 mine with 700 steel balls |
| CNXed |
Canked; canceled at the highest level of command |
| CO |
Commanding officer |
| co |
Vietnamese for unmarried woman or “miss”; used as a title of address |
| Cobra |
Hellfire- and TOW-missile-equipped airmobile gunship chopper |
| COHORT |
Unit COHesion and Operational Readiness Training |
| defilade |
In a position out of the line of direct enemy fire |
| DEROSed |
From DEROS, Date of Estimated Return from Overseas |
| di di mau |
Vietnamese for “hurry, move it” |
| dishdasha |
Saudi robe |
| Div Arty |
Division Artillery; guns assigned to support your mission |
| djebel |
Hill or round-top; Arabic |
| downrange |
Closer to the kill zone |
| Drawdown |
Clinton’s plan for reduction in the U.S. military establishment |
| duuma |
Vietnamese patois; roughly, “go fuck your momma” |
| Early Out |
Unscheduled ETS or End Tour of Service; usually a wound |
| enfilade |
Fire directed along the long axis of an enemy formation |
| EPWs |
Gulf War terminology for enemy prisoners of war or POWs |
| Erks |
ERC-90 Armored Car; Iraqi wheeled minitank |
| fire base |
Compound in the AO containing TOC, Div Arty, combat troops |
| FIST |
Fire-Support Team; troops assigned to call in artillery fire |
| FLIR |
Forward-Looking Infrared; nighttime target ID system |
| FNG |
Fucking New Guy; a green troop in your AO, about to die |
| fougasse |
Jellied petroleum or gasoline-and-soap combination; antitank |
| FRAGORD |
A fragmentary or incomplete military order |
| free-fire zone |
Anyone found in this area is an enemy and can be fired upon at will |
| Fritz helmet |
Recent-issue Kevlar-and-ceramic U.S. Army helmet, from the shape |
| FUBAR |
Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition |
| fugazy |
Totally nuts, brave, but completely insane (from sniffing fougasse?) |
| G1 |
Company-level adjutant/Personnel officer |
| G2 |
Company-level Intelligence officer |
| G3 |
Company-level Operations officer |
| G4 |
Company-level Logistics and Supply officer |
| get-go |
Lock-and-load line; jump-point, the very beginning |
| golden BBs |
Antiaircraft rounds as they look when you’re the target |
| GPS |
Global Positioning System; satellite-based navigational system |
| hardcore |
Vietnam-era term; professional and without mercy, life takers |
| HEAT |
High-Explosive Antitank; a tank round fired at an enemy tank |
| Hercs |
C-130 Hercules, main troop and equipment air transport |
| HESH |
High-Explosive Squash Head; a tank round (see HEAT) |
| Hoo-Yah |
Desert Storm and related operations in KTO |
| Huey |
UH 1 Vietnam-era multipurpose airmobile chopper, still in use |
| humvee |
HUMV—recent multiconfiguration replacement for the Jeep |
| IFVs |
Infantry Fighting Vehicles; various tracked configurations and arms |
| intox |
Intoxication; as in “I and I” (intoxication and intercourse) |
| J-STARS |
Joint Services Tactical Airborne Radar System on a 707 airframe |
| JAFO |
Military slang for Just Another Fucking Observer |
| jar heads |
U.S. Army slang for United States Marines, from the haircuts |
| Jedi Knights |
Graduates, School for Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth |
| Jody |
Draft dodgers, slackers back in the World, pogues; Vietnam era |
| ka-bar |
U.S. Marine Corps fighting knife |
| kaffiyeh |
Arab headgear |
| kakeshya |
Lakota (Sioux) term for extreme torture of an enemy prisoner |
| Kevlar |
Brand name of interwoven fiberglass antiballistic cloth |
| khong-zau |
Vietnamese for “nice, very nice” |
| KIAs |
Killed in action |
| kill zone |
Area upon which presighted fire will land; small-unit tactics term |
| Kiowa |
OH-58 Kiowa Scout chopper |
| klick |
A kilometer |
| KTO |
Kuwaiti Theater of Operations |
| LAWS |
M-72 Light Antitank Weapon System; throw-away bazooka |
| LRRP |
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol; infantry unit on extended patrol |
| LT JG |
Lieutenant, Junior Grade; lowest-ranking officer, also “butter-bar” |
| Lurp |
Unit member of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (Vietnam) |
| LZ |
Landing Zone; Vietnam-era Airmobile term |
| M9 |
Combat earthmover; armored-assault support bulldozer |
| M113 APC |
Saudi tracked IFV with one 12.7-mm machine gun |
| M203 |
Combined M16A2 assault rifle and underbarrel grenade launcher |
| MAC |
Military Airlift Command |
| MACV |
Military Assistance Command—Vietnam |
| MAST |
Mobile Army Surgical Team |
| MILES gear |
Multiple Independent Laser Engagement System |
| monster |
Twelve Claymore mines rigged to detonate simultaneously |
| MOPP |
Mission-Oriented Protective Posture NBC suit; also a condom |
| MOS |
Military Operational Specialty; what you’re trained to do |
| MP |
Military Police |
| MREs |
Meals Ready to Eat; individual food packets, universally loathed |
| MRR |
Motorized Rifle Regiment; main Iraqi or Russian assault division |
| NBCs |
Nuclear and Biological Contaminants |
| NTC |
U.S. Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California |
| nuoc mam |
Sauce made by percolating water through a vat of salted fish |
| NVA |
North Vietnamese Army; Regular Army troops (enemy) |
| NVGs |
Night-Vision Goggles; available-light electrical image intensifies |
| ocs |
Officer Candidate Schools |
| ODs |
Olive Drabs |
| OER |
Officer’s Efficiency Report; U.S. Army career report card |
| OpFor |
Military abbreviation for Opposing Forces |
| OSUT |
One-Station Unit Training; for infantry, Fort Benning, Georgia |
| PAOs |
Press-liaison officers from the Public Affairs Office (see PUNTS) |
| payback |
Violent retributive military action |
| PFC |
Private First Class; postboot rank |
| pogues |
Anyone not “operational”; rear-echelon timeservers, of no use at all |
| point man |
Forward scout for an infantry patrol in high-risk areas |
| Prick-25 |
PRC-25 Motorola field radio carried by RTO; Vietnam era |
| PsyOps |
Psychological pressure applied in a combat environment |
| pungi stake |
Pointed bamboo stake covered with feces or venom |
| PUNTS |
People of Utterly No Tactical Significance; REMFs downrange |
| Puzzle Palace |
MACV headquarters building at Tan Son Nhut near Saigon |
| PX |
Post Exchange; on-base general store |
| raghead |
Contemptuous slang for any Saudi, Kuwaiti, or Iraqi |
| rat-fuck |
Doomed from the get-go; a fugazy mission, brave but nuts |
| RC-292 |
Ground plane antenna used to extend range of PRC-25 |
| REFORGER |
REinFORcement of GERmany; European war games |
| REMFs |
Rear-Echelon Mother Fuckers (see PUNTS) |
| Riley |
Fort Riley, Kansas and related cantonments in the AO |
| ROK |
Republic of Korea |
| round |
Slug or bullet, as distinct from cartridge that includes case |
| RPG |
Rocket-propelled grenade launcher; Charlie’s Choice |
| sapper |
A military tunneler; in Vietnam, a VC infiltrator and assassin |
| SatNav |
Radio-wave satellite-linked triangulation hardware (see GPS) |
| SAW |
M249 5.56-mm Squad Automatic Weapon; replaces M60 7.62-mm |
| Scud |
Iraqi missile, or KTO cocktail “drink all you want, still can’t hit shit” |
| shin loi |
Vietnamese patois; roughly, “tough shit” |
| Sikes-Fairbairn |
British Army commando stiletto |
| slick |
Airmobile Huey; slick because it had no exterior projections |
| Spec 4 |
Specialist Fourth Class; one rank above PFC, most common rank |
| Spookies |
AC-47 (later AC-130) planes equipped with minigun pods |
| Starlifter |
C-141B Starlifter; workhorse of the Military Airlift Command |
| Stoner |
M63 multipurpose 5.56-mm machine gun with 200-round mag |
| strack |
Slang for Strictly According to Regulations; high standards, perfect |
| Stukas |
Luftwaffe dive-bomber |
| suq |
Town market center, bazaar; from the Arabic |
| sutler |
A civilian storekeeper licensed to sell goods on a military base |
| T-IOC |
Issue parachute for Airborne troopers |
| T-72 |
Main Soviet/Iraqi battle tank |
| TACMs |
Corruption of ATACAMS; “steel rain,” long-range missiles (U.S.) |
| Tet |
Vietnamese New Year celebration; January ’68 Viet Cong offensive |
| the World |
Anywhere but inside the war zone |
| Thirty-Three |
Brand of Vietnamese beer (dreadful, and so rare) |
| TOC |
Tactical Operations Center; ground-force operations base |
| TOW |
M901 Antitank guided-missile-tracked fighting vehicle |
| TRADOC |
TRAining and DOCtrine Command; U.S. Army training department |
| TREs |
Target-Rich Environments; lots to shoot at |
| uprange |
Closer to the source of the fire |
| ville |
Any concentration of huts or hootches in the AO |
| wadi |
A dry wash or riverbed; from the Arabic |
| Warthogs |
Slang term for the A-10 Thunderbolt close-support aircraft |
| Willie Pete |
White phosphorus; marking or incendiary explosive round |
| XO |
Executive officer; officer in charge of administration for the CO |