Glossary

Thank you very much to super fan Anne for putting this together!!

Acronyms Used in The Kidd Incident

(SOURCES: Google, Wikipedia, Glossary of Military Acronyms,)

1MC                               1Main Circuit – shipboard public address circuits

1SQ                               Highest-degree of preparedness

AA                                 Air-to-Air

AAA                               Anti-Aircraft Artillery

AALC                             Amphibious Landing Assault Vehicle

ABM                              Anti-ballistic Missile

ABMDS                         Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System

AD                                 Air Defenses

ADAR                            Air Defense Artillery Regiment

ADIZ                              Air Defense Identification Zone

AEF                               Amphibious Expeditionary Forces

AFARPAP                     Air Force Attack Remotely Piloted Aircraft Pilot

AFB                               Air Force Base

AGL                               Above-Ground Level

AICS                              Airborne Air Control Squadron

AIM                                Air Intercept Missile

AIMS                             Altitude Identification and Measuring System

AIP                                Air Independent Propulsion

Alpha Charlie                Verbal reprimand

AMARG                         Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group

AMRAAM                      Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile

AN/AAQ-37                   Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System

AN/PRQ-7                     CSEL Hand-held Radio

AOA                               Airport Operations Area

AOE                               Hull classification – U.S. Navy’s largest combat logistics ship, designed as an oiler, ammunition and supply ship and operated by Military Sealift Command.

AOR                              Area of Responsibility

APC                               Armored Personnel Carrier

APFSDS                       Armor-piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot

APNIC                           Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (Regional Internet Registry)

ARG                              Amphibious Ready Group

ARTE                            Airborne Radar Threat Evaluation

ASA                               Anti-Submarine Aircraft

ASBM                            Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile

ASG                               Air-to-Ground missile

ASM                              Air-to-Surface missile

ASROC                         Anti-Submarine Rocket

AST                               Aircraft System Trainer

ASuW                           Anti-Surface Warfare

ASW                              Anti-Submarine Warfare

ATC                               Air Traffic Control

AV                                 Attack Vertical (AV-8B “Harrier II”)

AW                                Alpha Whiskey – Anti-Air Warfare Commander

AWACS                         Airborne Warning and Control System (specifically 707 derived E-3 Sentry)

AWO                              Air Warfare Officer

ABCT Armored Brigade Combat Team

BARCAP                       Barrier Combat Air Patrol

BB                                 Battleship

BDA                               Battle Damage Assessment

Bird                                Helcopter

BM                                 Ballistic Missile

BONE                            B-1 bomber (B-One)

Buddy Stores                Tanks used to transfer fuel to another aircraft during flight.

BUFF                             Big Ugly, Fat Fucker (or fellow) (B-52)

BX                                  Base Exchange

BZ                                  Bravo Zulu “great Job”

C2V                               Command and Control Vehicle

CAG                              Commander Air Group (Chief pilot aboard carrier)

CAP                               Combat Air Patrol

CASE                            Computer Aided Software Engineering

CAW                              Carrier Air Wing

CCA                               Carrier Controlled Approach

CCC                              Command and Control Center

Chaff                              Small fibers (aluminum foil and aluminum-coated glass fibers) that reflect radar, when dispersed from aircraft.

ChiComs                       Chinese Communist (Slang for People’s Republic of China)

CIA                                Central Intelligence Agency

CIC                                Combat Information Center

CIU                                Cockpit Interface Unit

CIWS                             Close-in Weapon System

CJCS                             Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff

CMC                              Command Master Chief (Navy or Marines)

CMDS                           Cockpit Management Display System

CNO                              Chief of Naval Operations

CO                                 Commanding Officer

COB                              Chief of Boat

COMCARSTRKGRU    Commander, Carrier Strike Group

COMFLTPAC               Commander, Pacific Fleet

COMPACSUB              Commander, Pacific Sumarine Fleet

COMPHIBRON             Commander, Amphibious Squadron

COP                              Combat Outpost

CP                                 Command Post

C-RAM                          Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar

CSD Communications at Speed and Depth

CSEL                             Combat Survivor/Evader Locator

CSG                              Carrier Strike Group

CTO                               Chief Technical Officer

CWO                             Chief Warrant Officer

DAF                               Department of the Air Force

DDG                              Guided Missile Destroyer

DLS                               Decoy Launching System

DMZ                              Demilitarized Zone

DNA                               Defense Nuclear Agency

DOD                              Department of Defense

DPRK                            Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)

ECS                               Engagement Control Section

EFIS                              Electronic Flight Information System

ELF                                Explosive-Actuated Light Filter, Eye-safe Laser Filter

EMCON                        Emissions Control (Radio Silence)

Enfil                               Infiltrate – pass small numbers of troops through opening in enemy’s position.

EOTS                            Electro-Optical Targeting System

ER                                 Extended Range

ESSM                            Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile

ETA                               Estimated Time of Arrival

ETL                                Extract, Transform and Load

EW OpFor                     Electronic Warfare – Opposing Force

EW                                Electronic Warfare

EWO                              Electronic Warfare Officer

Ex-fil                              Exfiltration, to leave an area of combat or engagement

F/A                                  Fighter Attack. Non-standard designation for the F/A-18 Hornet. Legacy of original plan to produce two different aircraft which merged into a single plane.

FARP                            Forward Arming and Refueling Point

FAST                             Forward Area Support Team

FEBA                             Forward Edge of the Battle Area

Flight Level   (FL)                 Aircraft’s altitude at standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. Computed at sea level and may not be aircraft’s actual level above sea or ground level.

FLTSATCOM                Fleet Satellite Communications

FM                                 Fucking Magic (phenomena of dysfunctional devices working again)

FOB                               Forward Operating Base (larger than a COP)

FONOPS                       Freedom of Navigation Operations (Slang: “take the Navy to places that others don’t want the Navy to be.”)

Frigates                         Protect warships and merchant marine ships, especially ASW or AEF. Smaller than a Destroyer, larger than a Corvette.

FTN                               Fuck the Navy. But, if asked the actual meaning: Fun, Travel and Adventure or Finest Training Available.

Fuze                              Device for setting off an explosive charge

GIB                                Guy in Back (backseat aviator)

GOFO                           Grasp of the Fucking Obvious

GPM                              Gallons Per Minute

GPS                               Global Positioning System

GQ                                 General Quarters

GU ARNG                     Guam Army National Guard

HAHO                            High Altitude High Opening parachute

Hawk                             term for “cold weather.”

Helo                               Helicopter

HF                                 High Frequency

IBS                                Inflatable Boat, Small

ICAAN                           Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICBM                             Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

IED                                Improvised Explosive Device

IFDL                              Intra-Flight Data Link

IFF                                 Identification, friend or foe

IOC                                Initial Operational Capability

IR                                   Infrared

IR-Guided                     passive weapon guidance system which uses Infrared light emission from a target to track and follow it.

IRST                              IfraRed Search and Track. System used for finding and detecting aircraft based on their heat signature.

J2                                  Joint intelligence function for coordination military intelligence functions across all U.S. military branches

JAOP                             Joint Oil Analysis Program

JASSM                          Stand-off Missile Joint Air-to-Surface

J-DAM ER                     Joint Direct Attack Munition – Extended Range

JDAM                            Joint Direct Attack Munition (guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or “dumb bombs,” into all-weather precision-guided munitions).

JSOW                            Joint Standoff Weapons – “Glide Bomb”

J-STARS                       Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System

LAV                               Light Armored Vehicle

LCAC                            Landing Craft Air Cushion (hovercraft)

LCC                               Navy – Amphibious Command Ship

LCS                               Littoral Combat Ship (littoral – part of sea, lake or river that’s close to shore)

LHA                               Landing, Helicopter, Assault

LHD                               Landing Helicopter Dock (Navy hull classification for multipurpose amphibious assault ships of the Wasp class).

Link 11                          Tactical data link used by NATO to exchange digital data

Link 16                          Military tactical data link network used by NATO and nations allowed by the MIDS International Program Office (IPO) (MIDS – Multifunctional Information Distribution System)

L-JDAMS                      Laser-Guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions

LOAL                             Lock On After Launch

LPD                               Amphibious Transport Dock or Low Probability of Detection

LPI                                 Launching Position Indicator (radar lock)

LPWS                            Land-based Phalanx Weapon System

LRASM                          Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile

LSD                               Landing ship, dock – has a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles.

LZ                                  Landing Zone

MADL                            Miniature Air Launched Decory

MANPADS                    Man-portable air Defense Systems (SAMs)

Mark 1                          Your eyes. Also, “Mark 1 Eyeball”

MAU                              Marine Assault Unit

MDS                              Mission Design Series (Air Force)

MEU                              Marine Expeditionary Unit

MGS                              Mobile Gun System

MIDS                             Multifunctional Information Distribution System

MiG                          MiG designed by Artem Mikoyan (M) and Mikhail Gurevich (G) The “i” is Russian for “and.”

MSL                               Sea Level

NATO                            North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NCA                               National Command Authority

NFO                               Naval Flight Officer – weapons officer responsible for discharging weapons during flights. Not a pilot.

NMCB                           Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (Seabees)

NMD                              National Missile Defense or Navy Movement Data

NRO                              National Reconnaissance Office

Nulka                             Rapid Response Active Expendable Decoy (AED) In the Australian Aboriginal Dialect, it means “be quick.”

NVD                               Night Vision Device

NVGs                            Night Vision Goggles

NWU                              Navy Working Uniform

ODA                              Operational Detachments – A (Special Forces Teams)

OSC                              Officer Candidate School

OSO                              Offensive Systems Officer

PACAF Command        Pacific Air Force Command

PACCOM                      Pacific Command

PAVE                            Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment 

PAVN                            People’s Army of Vietnam

PHIBRON                     Amphibious Squadron

Picket                            Line of soldiers, aircraft or ships placed on a line forward of a position to provide warning of enemy advance.

PJ                                  Parachutist Jumper, USAF Special Forces specialized in Search and Rescue

PK                                 Probability of Kill

PLA                               Chinese People’s Liberation Army – World’s largest military force. (see PRC, ROC)

PLAAF                           People’s Liberation Army Air Force

PLAN                             People’s Liberation Army Navy

PLF                                Parachute Landing Fall

PMS                              Preventive Maintenance Scheduled or Pure Meaningless Shit or Pre-Menstrual Syndrome

PRC                               People’s Republic of China (see PLA, ROC)

PX                                  Post Exchange

RAMZ                            Rigging Alternate Method Zodiac

RAN                               Royal Australian Navy

Red Team                     Experts on a specific topic who research and suggest alternative methods for a course of actions.

REMF                            Rear Echelon Mother Fucker.

RHIB                              Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat

RIM-162 ESSM            Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile

ROC                              Republic of China (see PLA, PRC)

ROCS                            Radio Operated Combat System, Realistic Operational Communications System

ROE                              Rules of Engagement

RORO                           Roll on, Roll Off

RORSAT                       Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite

RPA                               Remotely Piloted Aircraft

RPG                              Rocket Propelled Grenade

RPK                               “Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikova” Russian light, hand-held Kalishnikov machine gun.

RTB                               Return to Base

Ruck Up                        Ruck Sack are backpacks. To Ruck Up is to get through a challenging or stressful situation.

SA                                 Situational Awareness

SAM                              Surface-to-Air Missile

SAP                               Synthetic Aperture Radar

SAR                               Search and Rescue

SatComms                    Satellite Communications

SCS                               South China Sea

SEAD                            Suppression of Enemy Defenses

SeaRAM                       Rolling Airframe Missile

SECAF                          Secretary of the Air Force

SECARMY                    Secretary of the Army

SECDEF                       Secretary of Defense

SECNAV                       Secretary of the Navy

SF                                  Special Forces

SITREP                         Situation Report

SLOT                             Self-Load/Offload Trailer used for communications with submarines

SM-3                              Standard Missile 3 – used to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System

SO                                 Special Operations

SOCOM                        Special Operations Command

SOP                               Standard Operating Procedure

Sortie                             One or more aircraft, ship or troops dispatched from a strongpoint.

SSBN                            Sub-surface Ballistic Nuclear (nuclear-powered and carrying/launching ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons)

SSGN                            Ship, Submersible, Guided Missile, Nuclear

STF                               Special Task Force

STOL                             Short Takeoff and Landing

SWAG                           Seriously Wild Ass Guess                   

TAC                               Tactical Air Command, Tactical Action Center or Total Allowable Catch, if you’re fishing!

TACNET                       Tactical Air Command Network     

TAFDS                          Tactical Airfield Fuel Dispensing Systems

Talon HATE                  High Altitude Tactical Exploitation – Boing communication platform/pods that allows aircrew on two aircraft to talk to each other through military Link 16, Common Data Link and Wideband Global Satellite communication satellite networks.

TDY                               Temporary Duty Yonder

TFCC                            Territorial Force Commissioning Course

THAAD                          Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (formerly Theater HAAD) American anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to shoot down short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase (descent or approach) 

Thermocline                  A steep temperature gradient in a body of water, marked by layers of water above and below with different temperatures.

TLD                               Top-Level Domain names

TOC                               Tactical Operations Center

Topgallant Breeze        Topgallant sails may be properly carried. On a square-rigged sailing vessel, the topgallant sail is the square-rigged sail(s) immediately above the topsail(s). Topgallant pronounce – “t-gallant.” Topgallant sail pronounced “t’garns’l.”

TRACER                       Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar

TRAM                            Technology and Risk Assessment Meeting

TS                                  Top Secret

UAV                               Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

UFO                               Ultra High-Frequency Follow-On network

UHF Follow On             Second Generation UHF communications satelite

USAF                            United States Air Force

USAF-R                         United States Air Force Reserve

USPACOM                    United States Pacific Command

USSR                            Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922 to 1991)

Vampire                         A warning that a ship is under attack by missile(s)

VFR                               Visual Flight Rules

VL                                  Vertical Launch

VL-ASROC                   Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket

VLS                               Vertical Launching System

VTOL                             Vertical Take-off and Landing

WEPS                           Weapons Officer

WMD                             Weapons of Mass Destruction

XO                                 Executive Officer

Military Units in The Kidd Incident

Electronic Attack Squadron 133 (VAQ-133)

Guam Air National Guard 254^th REDHORSE Squadron (REDHORSE – Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers, MOTTO: Semper Ducimus – Always Leading)

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 (NMCB 3)

ODA 1211, A Co, 2^nd Btn., 1^st Special Forces Group

3^rd Battalion, 67^th Armor

4^th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (4^th ADAR), Battery A

9^th Bomb Squadron (7^th Bomb Wing), Anderson AFB, Guam

9^th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale AFB, California

21^st Airlift Squadron, Ft. Campbell Army Air Field

34^th Fighter Squadron***see 334^th FS

27^th Fighter Squadron, 1^st Fighter Wing, Langley AFB (Fighting Eagles), VA

44^th Reconnaissance Squadron, Creech AFB, Indian Springs, NV

60^th Military Airlift Wing, Travis AFB, California

93^rd Bomb Squadron, U.S. Air Force Reserve (USAF-R) Barksdale AFB, LA

101^st Airborne Division

131^st Rescue Squadron

142^nd Fighter Wing, Portland Air National Guard Base, Oregon

309^th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ

334^th Fighter Squadron

349^th Air Refueling Squadron

509^th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Missouri

554^th REDHORSE Squadron, Anderson AFB, Guam

961^st Airborne Air Control Squadron (AICS) E-3 “Sentry Seven”

Navy Vessels

USS America (LHA-6) Landing Helicopter Assault – Amphibious Assault Ship

USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) Amphibious Command and Control Ship

USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) Carrier, Fixed wing, Nuclear-powered – fixed wing, Aircraft Carrier

USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) Carrier, Fixed wing, Nuclear-powered – Aircraft Carrier

USS Kidd (DDG-100) Guided Missile Destroyer

USS Ohio (SSGN-726) Nuclear-powered, Guided Missile Submarine

USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) Guided Missile Cruiser

MV Cape Hudson (T-AKR 5066) Cargo Ship

Aircraft

Antonov Design Bureau An-2 “Annushka” or “Annie,” “kukuruznik” or “corn crop duster” – single-engine biplane utility/agriculture aircraft (1946 to 2001)

Bell Boeing MV-22B               Osprey – U.S. Marine Corps variant – multi-mission, tilt-rotor military aircraft with both VTOL and STOL capabilities

Boeing E-3                              Sentry – AWACS aircraft, only 68 produced – 1977 to 1992

Boeing EA-18G                      Growler – two-seat, twin-engine, carrier-based, electronic warfare aircraft

Boeing F/A-18E/F                  Super Hornet – tandem-seat, twin-engine, carrier-capable, fighter aircraft

Boeing KC-46A                      Pegasus – a military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft developed from its 767 aircraft

Boeing P-8                              Poseidon (767-based aircraft) – ASW, ASUW and shipping interdiction roles

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II – a single-seat, twin-turbofan engine, straight-wing jet aircraft, nicknames: Warthog or Hog

General Dynamics-Grumman EF-111A                Raven – an electronic warfare aircraft (1983 to 1988), nickname – Spark-Vark

General Dynamics F-16         Fighting Falcon – single-engine, super-sonic, multi-role fighter aircraft

Lockheed C-130                     Hercules – four-engine turbo-prop military transport aircraft. (now Lockheed Martin)

Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk – single-seat, twin-engine stealth attack aircraft

Lockheed P-3                         Orion – four-engine turbo-prop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft

Lockheed U-2                         Dragon Lady – single-jet engine, ultra-high altitude reconnaissance aircraft

Lockheed Martin C-5             Galaxy – heavy, large inter-continental range strategic airlift capability and military transport aircraft

Lockheed Martin F-22            Raptor – single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, stealth tactical fighter aircraft

Lockheed Martin F-35A            Lightning II – single-seat, single-engine, all-weather, stealth, 5^th-generation, multi-role combat, joint strike fighter aircraft. USAF variant.

Lockheed Martin F-35B         Short Take-Off and Vertical-landing aircraft (STOVL) variant of F-35.

Lockheed Martin MC-130P    Combat Shadow – refuel, infiltration and exfiltration, mostly at night.

McDonnell Douglas F-15E    Strike Eagle – two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather multi-role strike fighter aircraft

Northrup Grumman B-2         Spirit – two-seat, four-engine, heavy, non-afterburning turbofans, strategic stealth bomber, only 21 built (1987 to 2000)

Northrup Grumman E2-C      Hawkeye – five-seat, twin turbo-prop carrier-based, early warning and command and control aircraft

Northrup Grumman F-14       Tomcat – two-seat, twin-engine, long-distance fighter aircraft