GLOSSARY

AK47 Soviet-designed 7.62mm Kalashnikov assault rifle

APC armoured personnel carrier

AQT al-Qaeda and Taliban forces

AWOL absent without leave, but also used as slang for someone going crazy

bergen army backpack containing mess kit, sleeping bag, etc.

casevac casualty evacuation (by air)

CENTCOM US Central Command, primarily based at MacDill Airforce Base, Tampa, Florida.

Chaff radar-reflecting tinsel and heat-seeking missile confusing flares used by aircraft to deter homing missiles

Chinook CH47 a large, twin-rotor transport helicopter with a lifting capability of ten tons, with door-mounted machine guns

CSMR chemical and biological warfare specialists attached to the SBS/SAS

CO Commanding Officer

COBR Cabinet Office Briefing Room, the national crisis centre from which the British government responds to all types of major crises

CSM Company Sergeant Major

CT Counter-Terrorism

CTR close-target recce

CQB close-quarter battle

danger-close when friendly forces are in dangerous proximity to target

Delta Force supposedly ultra-secret US Special Forces with very similar functions to the SAS

Dushka DShK 12.7mm (50-cal) Soviet heavy machine gun

E&E escape and evasion

EP evacuation point

ERV emergency rendezvous

exfil short for exfiltration, leaving battle scene or area of operations at end of mission

FAC forward air control, the ability to call in air strikes to specific enemy targets

FMB forward mounting base, a forward position from which to prepare for deployment into action

kafir Arabic word meaning an unbeliever

kofr Arabic word meaning disbelief

LTD laser target designators, devices for guiding in airstrikes

Green Slime British soldiers’ slang for British intelligence (MI6)

GPMG general purpose machine gun

HE heavy explosives

heads British military slang for urinals

Hercules (C-130) American-built C-130 transport aircraft, used by British military, commonly known as a ‘Herc’

hexy stove a tiny, collapsible metal stove, which burns solid, paraffin-based fuel blocks

HMG heavy machine gun

humint human intelligence sources

infil short for infiltration

JDAM joint direct attack munition, a 2,000-pound GPS-guided bomb

JSOC Joint Special Operations Command, the US headquarters element in control of US Special Forces

lase military slang for firing a laser at a target to be hit by laser-guided bombs, as in ‘to lase’

LAW light anti-armour weapon, an American-made 66mm or 94mm disposable, one-man-portable rocket system with a 500-metre range

loadie slang for the loadmaster of an aircraft

LOE limit of exploitation, the agreed extent to which a military unit will advance on the battlefield

LTD laser target designator, for guiding laser-guided munitions on to target

Lynx British-built attack helicopter

LZ landing zone

malleting slang for shooting or blowing up the enemy, as in ‘give them a good malleting’

MGRS Military Grid Reference System, a system for identifying targets on a map grid

MH47 a Chinook helicopter extensively modified for special forces use

Mi-17 Soviet bloc transport helicopter

Mi-24 Soviet bloc helicopter gunship

Minimi SAW (squad assault weapon) 5.56mm light machine gun

MP military policeman

MRE meals ready to eat, US Army ration packs

MP5 a Heckler & Koch short machine gun, ideal for special forces use

NAPS nerve agent pre-treatment set

NCO non-commissioned officer

NVG night-vision goggles

OC Officer Commanding

OP observation position, a hidden position from where to spy on enemy movements

op short for operation

Operation Enduring Freedom 2001 US military intervention in Afghanistan

Operation Veritas 2001 British military operations in Afghanistan

opsec short for operational security

Paras the men of the Parachute Regiment

PE plastic explosives

PJHQ Permanent Joint Headquarters, the UK military tri-service command centre

plasticuffs strips of tough plastic with a simple ratchet device used for handcuffing prisoners

Predator the RQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, a low-flying aircraft armed with missiles

prepped prepared for a mission

PRM personal radio mike

psyops psychological operations

PT physical training

QRF Quick Reaction Force

RPG rocket-propelled grenade

RPK Soviet-era light calibre 7.62mm machine gun

SAM surface-to-air missile

SAS Special Air Service, the UK’s foremost special forces unit

SBS Special Boat Service, the UK’s smaller, sister special forces unit to the SAS

Sea King Naval anti-submarine helicopter, capable of carrying 20 men

SEAL Sea Air Land Team, US special forces recruited from within the Navy and Marine Corps

SF special forces

shaheed Arabic for a martyr

shihada Arabic word for martyrdom

shouhada’a Arabic word for the martyrs

Shakyboats slang for the men of the Special Boat Service

sigint signals intelligence

sitrep short for situation report

SOF Special Operations Forces, US Tier 2 special forces

SOP standard operating procedure, the normal way of doing things in any given military situation

SOCOM Special Operations Command, the US special forces headquarters

STASS short-term air-supply system, an emergency air bottle for underwater operations

TACBE tactical beacon, used by troops for emergency surface-to-air communications

TOW tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided antitank missiles

UAV unmanned aerial vehicle

UKSF United Kingdom Special Forces (the SAS and the SBS)

USAF United States Air Force

UXO unexploded ordnance

warned off British military phrase meaning to be given first warning of an impending deployment

WMD weapon of mass destruction

WP white phosphorous, an incendiary shell

X-ray code name for an enemy combatant

Yankee code name for friendly forces