Glossary
AFRICOM: United States Africa Command
BALACLAVA: a knitted hood commonly used by counterterrorism operators to conceal facial features
BDU: Battle Dress Uniform
BEARCAT: radio-frequency scanner
BLACK: synonym for any covert or clandestine activity
BLACK HAWK: H-60 Army chopper (troop transport)
BLOWOUT KIT: medical pouch
BOOT (BOOTLEGGER) TURN: a 180-degree turn done in a vehicle while it is moving forward. The parking or emergency brake is used in conjunction with the wheel to execute the turn. Called a bootleg because of its earliest uses by moonshiners and bootleg liquor runners.
BTR-60PB: Soviet eight-wheeled (8×8) armored personnel carrier armed with 14.5 mm KPVT heavy machine gun (500 rounds), and PKT coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun (3,000 rounds). It was replaced by the BTR-70.
C-3: a yellowish, solid plastic explosive of pre–Vietnam War vintage, used in Mk-135 satchel charges
C-4: a white plastic explosive
C-5A: the U.S. Air Force’s largest transport plane
C-130: Hercules turboprop transport aircraft, originally made by Lockheed in 1951 and still flying all over the world
C-141: a jet transport with a range of up to five thousand miles
CCT: Combat Control Team—a team of Air Force personnel organized, trained, and equipped to locate, identify, and mark drop/landing zones; provide limited weather observations; install and operate navigational aids and air traffic control communications necessary to guide aircraft to drop/landing zones; and control air traffic at these zones
CINC: Commander IN Chief. The commander in chief of a Navy unit, or the president of the United States. A Navy CINC is usually of flag rank (admiral) and is in charge of a large area, command, or fleet.
CINCLANT: Commander IN Chief, AtLANTic
CINCLANTFLT: Commander IN Chief, AtLANTic FLeeT
CINCPAC: Commander IN Chief, PACific
CINCPACFLT: Commander IN Chief, PACfic FLeeT
CNO: Chief of Naval Operations
CQC: close quarters combat
CUTVEE: a cut-down Humvee without a top, doors, or windows; also known as M-988 cargo/troop carrier
CVIC: Aircraft Carrier Intelligence Center
DSS: Diplomatic Security Service. As federal agents, all DSS special agents have the power to arrest, carry firearms, and serve arrest warrants.
EC-130: a C-130 configured by the Navy (or Air Force) as a command/control/communications (C3) aircraft
EOD: Explosives Ordinance Disposal
ESCAPE AND EVASION (E & E): the procedures and operations which downed pilots and SEAL snipers use to avoid hostile forces and return to base
FOB: forward operating base
FOUR-STRIPER: U.S. Navy captain (equal in rank to a colonel)
GRS: Global Response Staff (CIA)
HAHO: High Altitude, High Opening. Refers to parachute jumping.
HALO: High Altitude, Low Opening. Refers to parachute jumping.
HK: Heckler and Koch, make of firearm commonly used by Special Operations forces in various makes, including 9 mm submachine gun
HRT: Hostage Rescue Team
HUMINT: HUMan INTelligence, information gathered on a subject by people on the ground, either trained intelligence specialists or locals
IBL: Inflatable Boat, Large
IBS: Inflatable Boat, Small
IED: Improvised Explosive Devices
JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command; it commands Special Mission Units that include SEAL Team Six, Delta Force, and the air force’s Twenty-Fourth Special Tactics Squadron.
JTF: Joint Task Force
KIA: Killed In Action
KNOT: one knot equals roughly 1.15 miles per hour
LAW: Light Antitank Weapon that fires one 66 mm unguided rocket. Replaced by the AT-4.
LITTLE BIRD: special operations light helicopters. Armament includes guns, rockets, and missiles.
LOADOUT: the equipment, munitions, and materials for an operation or exercise. A loadout can include all the weapons, ammunition, and equipment used by a single man or by an entire unit.
LST: Lightweight Satellite Terminal; an encrypted radio that can send burst packets to a satellite for fast relay
LZ: Landing Zone
M60: a machine gun that fires 7.62 mm ammunition
MI6: a basic .223-caliber weapon, used in Vietnam
MC-130: USAF special operations aircraft
MNF: MultiNational Force
MOB-6: Mobility-6; SEAL Two’s counterterror unit, a precursor of SEAL Team Six
MP5: an HK submachine gun favored by CT units including SEAL Team Six and GSG-9
NAVY PLATFORMS: ships and other assets of the U.S. Navy used to launch or go to during an operation
NCO: NonCommissioned Officer
NVDS: Night Vision Devices. Also NVGs: Night Vision Goggles. Electro-optical devices that are handheld, weapons mounted, or worn over the eyes to magnify or convert available light and allow vision at night.
OPSEC: OPerational SECurity. Very important in black ops.
P-3 ORION: Navy spy plane
PEARY, CAMP: CIA training facility near Williamsburg, Virginia, also known as the Farm
PLASTIQUE: plastic explosive (see C-4)
RH-53D: Pave Low special operations chopper
RPG: Rocket-Propelled Grenade (Soviet-made)
SAS: British Special Air Service. Motto: “Who dares, wins.”
SATCOM: SATellite COMmunications
SCIF: Special Classified Intelligence Facility. A secure room that cannot be eavesdropped on using electronic or human means
SDV: Swimmer Delivery Vehicle
SEALS: the Navy’s Sea-Air-Land units
SECNAV: SECretary of the NAVy
SFOD-D: Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (Delta Force).
SIGINT: SIGnals INTelligence. Intelligence gathered by intercepting signals between people and intercepting electronic signals
SNARE: horse-collar loop used for snatching SEALs from the water into an IBL
SOF: Special Operations Force
SPECWAR: Special Warfare
STAB: SEAL Tactical Assault Boat
TAD: Temporary Additional Duty (in SEAL slang: Traveling Around Drunk)
TASK FORCE 160: nicknamed the “Night Stalkers,” this army helicopter unit usually operates at night, flying fast and low, to avoid radar detection
TAT: Terrorist Action Team
TECHINT: TECHnical INTelligence
TRIDENT: the common name for the naval special warfare insignia. It is a large, gold, uniform device made up of four parts: the anchor, which symbolizes the Navy; Neptune’s three-pronged trident, which symbolizes the underwater world; a cocked flintlock pistol that shows the Team’s constant preparedness for war; and behind it all is the bald eagle, symbol of the United States of America.
UDT: Underwater Demolition Team. The frogmen, ancestors of the SEALs.
WARCOM ( also SPECWARCOM and NAVSPECWARCOM): the Navy Special Warfare Command, the overall command structure for the Navy SEAL Teams and all their attached units
WIA: Wounded In Action
WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction. Nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons that will affect an area or population far out of proportion to the physical size of the weapon
WPS ( also WILLY PETERS): White Phosphorous grenades
XO: Executive Officer
ZULU: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) designator, used in all formal military communications