Military parlance is the vernacular used within the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and embraces all aspects of service life; it can be described as both a "

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

" and a "

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

" of something. Like many close and closed communities, the language used can often be full of jargon and not readily intelligible to outsiders—sometimes this is for military operational or security reasons; other times it is because of the natural evolution of the day-to-day language used in the various units. For example: "Captain, this situation is 'Scale A'", "Scale A" being an army's parlance for "This situation requires the closest of attention and resources and all members of relevance should be present." The military has developed its own slang, partly as means of self-identification. This slang is also used to reinforce the (usually friendly)

interservice rivalries Interservice rivalry is the rivalry between different branches of a country's armed forces, in other words the competition for limited resources among a nation's land, naval, coastal, air, and space forces. The term also applies to the riva ...

. Some terms are derogatory to varying degrees and many service personnel take some pleasure in the sense of shared hardships which they endure and which is reflected in the slang terms.

Military abbreviations

The military often use initials and abbreviations of all kinds - partly for security and operational reasons and partly for the simple convenience of their use; like all such things they can be hard to understand for outsiders. A few examples are given below:

US Army

G.I. G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Force and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or " ...

- originally stood for "Galvanized Iron" but has come to be interpreted as everything from "General Infantry" (soldiers) to "Government Issue" and "Government Inductee". *

SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF th ...

- Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (WWII) * AO - Area of Operations

Indian Army

*GD - General Duty - usually indicates the equivalent of G.I. in the US Army. *CO -

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

(of a Major Unit). *LC -

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...

(usually referred to as LoC in non-Military Parlance).

British Army

*HQ - Headquarters *CGS - Chief of the General Staff (formerly

Chief of the Imperial General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial G ...

(CIGS) - as in Lord

Alanbrooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Se ...

) *

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

- UK Government Communications Headquarters (Cheltenham) *ADC - aide de camp (a military or naval officer who helps an officer of higher rank) *OC - Officer Commanding *GOC - General Officer Commanding (usually followed by number indicating what rank of General is being mentioned) * SIS - Secret Intelligence Service *

MI8 MI8, or ''Military Intelligence, Section 8'' was a British Military Intelligence group responsible for signals intelligence and was created in 1914. It originally consisted of four sections: MI8(a), which dealt with wireless policy; MI8(b), b ...

- British signals intelligence group in World War II. Also known as the Radio Security Service, it tracked radio broadcasts about German bombers during The Blitz. *

MI9 MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a highly secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: (1) assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (P ...

- Escape & Evasion services (WWII) * VC - Victoria Cross * MM - Military Medal * MC - Military Cross *RV - Rendezvous Point *FRV - Final Rendezvous Point

Tactics

The "Four Fs" is a

term used in the United States military, especially during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Designed to be easy to remember, the "Four Fs" are as follows: * Find - Locate the enemy * Fix - Pin them down with suppressing fire * Flank - Send soldiers to the enemy's sides or rear * Finish - Eliminate all enemy combatants The

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

uses the

mnemonic A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imag ...

"Perry Rat Likes Shooting Arseholes Regularly" as a way of remembering its Six Section Battle Drills (Squad Tactics): * P - Prepare for battle * R - Reaction to effective enemy fire (RTR (Return fire, Take cover, Return appropriate fire)) * L - Locate the enemy * S - Suppress the enemy * A - Assault the enemy position * R - Reorganise Alternatively, the

uses the

P.R.E.W.A.R. to remember the 6 section battle drills. These are: *P-Preparation/Prep for battle *R-Reaction to effective enemy fire *E-Enemy Location *W-Winning the Fire Fight *A-Assaulting the enemy Position *R-Reorganisation The seven Ps * Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Military songs and bands

Many armed forces, particularly the US Army, use songs as part of the training process, to help build morale and allow troops to train to a unified rhythm. Historically armies also went into battle led by a military band and such bands are still maintained in the armed forces today - albeit for mainly ceremonial purposes. Apart from the official side of music, fighting troops have always sung to keep up their morale and to ridicule the enemy, examples from the two world wars include: *" Hitler has only got one ball" (Colonel Bogey) *"

It's a long way to Tipperary "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (or "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary") is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed. It ...

" *"

Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile" is the full name of a World War I marching song, published in 1915 in London. It was written by Welsh songwriter George Henry Powell under the pseudonym of "George Asaf", and s ...

" *"

Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home "Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home" (also known as "I Don't Want No More of Army Life") is a traditional, humorous song satirizing life in the Armed Forces. Each verse has two lines relating what recruits are told, followed by an exaggerated description ...

" *"

Mademoiselle from Armentières "Mademoiselle from Armentières" is an English song that was particularly popular during World War I. It is also known by its ersatz French hook line, 'Inky Pinky Parlez Vous,' or the American variant 'Hinky Dinky Parlez-vous' (variant: ''Parlay v ...

Ranks

Purpose

Military ranks are necessary to identify the role of each serving individual and to show the hierarchy of command; however they can be obscure to non-military personnel and even comparing comparative ranks between different services is not always straightforward; the following pages detail these matters in more detail: * Army ranks * Navy ranks *

Air force ranks The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

* Comparative ranks

Insignia

Rank insignia is worn on military uniforms to identify the rank of the wearer and can involve such diverse elements as different uniforms, shoulder flashes, armbands and cap insignia. For more information, see the following pages: *

British Army officer rank insignia Listed in the table below are the insignia—emblems of authority—of the British Army. Badges for field officers were first introduced in 1810 and the insignia was moved to the epaulettes in 1880. On ceremonial or parade uniforms these ranks c ...

and British Army other ranks rank insignia *

Royal Navy officer rank insignia Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

RAF officer ranks The officer ranks of the Royal Air Force, as they are today, were introduced in 1919. Prior to that Army ranks were used. Ranks Notes Origins Lieutenant General David Henderson originally proposed that Royal Air Force officers use a comb ...

and

RAF other ranks The term used in the Royal Air Force (RAF) to refer to all ranks below commissioned officer level is other ranks (ORs). It includes warrant officers (WOs), non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and airmen. __TOC__ Ranks Origins Upon the fo ...

U.S. Navy enlisted rate insignia In the United States Navy, a ''rate'' is the military rank of an enlisted sailor, indicating where the sailor stands within the chain of command, and also defining one's pay grade. However, in the U.S. Navy, only officers carry the term ''ran ...

and U.S. Navy officer rank insignia *

United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia The chart below represents the current enlisted rank insignia of the United States Air Force. While all Air Force military personnel are referred to as ''airmen'', it can specifically refer to the pay grades of E-1 through E-4, which are below t ...

and

United States Air Force officer rank insignia The United States Air Force officer rank insignia in use today. Current insignia This chart displays the United States Air Force officer rank insignia. The ranks are divided into three sections: company grade, field grade, and general officers. ...

United States Marine Corps rank insignia This is a list of rank insignia of the United States Marine Corps (the maritime land forces of the United States of America). Different styles of rank insignia are worn on different marine uniforms. Commissioned officers, which are distinguishe ...

U.S. Marine Corps rank insignia
/ref>

British Army jargon/slang

The British Army has a rich and diverse history of slang usage; the following links provide more detail on the subject:
List of British army slang

Medals

Medals are issued to military personnel to commemorate an event, campaign or as a sign of distinction. The history of medals is a subject in itself and more information can be found on the following pages: See the following pages: *

British and Commonwealth orders and decorations This article concerns the orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms awarded by the sovereign in right of each nation. Awards are listed by order of wear. Antigua and Barbuda * Order of the National Hero * Order of the Nation * Order of Me ...

Awards and decorations of the United States military The United States Armed Forces awards and decorations are primarily the medals, service ribbons, and specific badges which recognize military service and personal accomplishments while a member of the U.S. Armed Forces. Such awards are a means t ...

Code names

Code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

s such as

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

and

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

are given by the military to plans being developed and then executed. They serve to disguise the nature of the operation should an enemy or unauthorised person come across the name (although the military of the United States have recently used codenames to trumpet the operation's intention, such as

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

References

{{reflist

External links

British Code names of WWII
Military terminology