Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force

Glossary

A-10 Air Force single seat, twin turbofan close support aircraft, nicknamed “Warthog.” Armed with 30mm automatic cannon and heavily armored. About 650 produced.

ACC Air Combat Command. Major command of the USAF formed in 1992 by the merger of Strategic Air Command (bombers and tankers) and Tactical Air Command (fighters).

AFB Air Force Base. NATO or Allied bases are usually identified simply as AB (air base). The Royal Air Force designates its bases by place name, i.e. RAF Lakenheath.

Afterburner Device that injects fuel into the exhaust nozzle of a jet engine, boosting thrust at the cost of greater fuel consumption. Called “Reheat” by the British.

AGL Above Ground Level. A practical way of measuring altitude for pilots, even though engineers prefer the more absolute measure ASL, “Above Sea Level.”

AGS Armored Gun System. Innovative light tank with 105mm cannon, intended to replace M551 Sheridan in the 82nd Airborne. Program cancelled in 1996.

AH-64 Army McDonnell Douglas “Apache” attack helicopter. Armed with 20mm cannon and various missiles or rockets. Equipped with laser designator and night-vision capability. Over 750 in service. Some units to be upgraded with advanced Longbow radar in late 1990s.

AI Airborne Intercept; usually used to describe a type of radar or missile.

AIM-9 Sidewinder Heat-seeking missile family, used by the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army, and many export customers. Variants are designated by a letter, such as AIM-9L or AIM-9X.

AIT Advanced Individual Training. Where you go after Basic Training.

ALICE All-purpose, Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment

AMC Air Mobility Command. Major USAF command that controls most transports and tankers. Based at Scott AFB, Illinois.

AMRAAM AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile. First modern air-to-air missile to use programmable microprocessors with active radar homing (missile has its own radar transmitter, allowing “fire and forget” tactics).

ANG Air National Guard. Combat and support units nominally under the authority of state governments, manned largely by part-time veterans (“weekend warriors”) including many commercial airline pilots. Administratively distinct from Air Force Reserve.

AOC Air Operations Center.

AOR Area of Responsibility (“trouble spot”).

APFT Army Physical Fitness Test.

API Armor Piercing Incendiary. A type of ammunition favored for use against armored ground vehicles.

APU Auxiliary Power Unit. A small turbine engine with associated electrical generators and hydraulic pumps. Used on many aircraft and some combat vehicles to provide starting and standby power without having to run main engines.

AT-4 84mm shoulder-fired rocket launcher based on a Swedish design. Modern version of the bazooka.

ATACMS Army Tactical Missile System. Long-range precision-guided heavy artillery rocket used against deep, high-value targets, such as missile sites and command/control centers.

ATGM Anti-Tank Guided Missile. A rocket with a shaped-charge warhead, using wire, laser beam, inertial, or other precison-guidance system to ensure high probability of hits against a moving target.

ATO Air Tasking Order. A planning document that lists every aircraft sortie and target for a given day’s operations. Preparation of the ATO requires careful “deconfliction” to ensure the safety of friendly aircraft. During Desert Storm the ATO ran to thousands of pages each day.

Avionics General term for all the electronic systems on an aircraft, including radar, communications, flight control, navigation, identification, and fire control computers. Components of an avionics system are increasingly interconnected by a “data bus” or high-speed digital network.

AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System. Specifically used to describe the Boeing E-3 Sentry family, but also used generically to describe similar types used by other Air Forces.

BAS Basic Airborne School. U.S. Army “Jump School” at Fort Benning, Georgia. Conducts parachute training for all military services and defense agencies.

Battalion Military unit consisting of several companies, typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. Cavalry units use the term “Squadron” for units of this size.

BDA Bomb Damage Assessment. The controversial art of determining from fuzzy imagery and contradictory intelligence whether or not a particular target has been destroyed or rendered inoperative.

BDU Battle Dress Uniform.

BLU Air Force nomenclature for a “bomblet” or “submunition,” dispenser followed by a number designating a particular type such as BLU-109.

Blue-on-Blue Accidental firing of weapons at friendly forces due to erroneous identification, breakdown of communications, or system malfunctions.

BRAC Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Organization created by Congress to tackle the politically sensitive task of selecting military bases to be closed, merged, or sold off.

Bradley Heavy (up to 67,000 lbs/30,450 kg) tracked armored vehicle with 25mm cannon and TOW missile launcher. M2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle carries a 3-man crew (driver, gunner, commander) and 6-man infantry squad. M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle carries a 2-man scout team and extra ammunition instead. Over 6,700 built.

Brigade Military unit consisting of several battalions, typically commanded by a colonel or brigadier general. U.S. Army divisions generally contain 3 or 4 brigades.

C² Command and Control. Currently used to describe electronic systems that assist warfighters.

C-5B Galaxy Long-range Lockheed Martin heavy lift transport. Four TF39 turbofan engines. Maximum takeoff weight is 837,000 pounds. Nose structure swings up and tail ramp drops down for rapid loading and unloading. About 82 in service.

C-17 Globemaster III Heavy-lift McDonnell Douglas transport designed for operation into short, unimproved runways. Four P&W F117 turbofan engines. Max. takeoff weight 585,000 lbs/266,000 kg. Advanced cockpit with flight crew of 2 plus enlisted loadmaster in cargo bay.

C-47 Dakota Twin-engine transport version of Douglas DC-3 airliner. Workhorse of Allied airborne operations in WWII. Produced from 1939 to about 1950, and still flying.

C-119 Twin-engine tactical transport of the 1950s, nicknamed “Flying Boxcar.”

C-130 Hercules Lockheed tactical transport. Four Allison T56 turboprops. Over 2000 of these classic aircraft have been built since 1955 and it is still in production. Hero of 1976 Israeli hostage rescue mission to Entebbe, Uganda. Many models and variants, including AC-130U gunship and EC-130H communications jammer. New C-130J under development has advanced avionics and new Allison T406 engine with six-bladed propellers. Standard transport has maximum takeoff weight of 175,000 lb/80,000 kg.

C-141 Starlifter Long-range heavy lift transport, built by Lockheed, entered service in 1964. Four TF33 turbofan engines. About 227 remain in service, subject to weight restrictions due to airframe fatigue. Equipped for in-flight refueling. Maximum takeoff weight 325,000 pounds.

C³I Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence; the components and targets of information warfare. Pronounced “see-three-eye.”

CAS Close Air Support. “Air attacks against hostile targets which are in close proximity to friendly forces and which require detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of those forces.” (Official Defense Department definition.)

Cavalry Combat arm based on mobility, reconnaissance, surprise, and shock action. Before the 20th century, used horses. The U.S. Army applies the term Cavalry to certain units equipped with armored vehicles, attack helicopters, or both.

CBU Cluster Bomb Unit. A munition that is fuzed to explode at low altitude, scattering large numbers of “submunitions” over an area target. Submunitions can be explosive grenades, delayed action mines, antitank warheads, or other specialized devices.

CENTCOM United States Central Command, a unified (joint service) command with an area of responsibility in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Headquartered at McDill AFB, Florida and generally commanded by an Army four-star general. CENTCOM normally commands no major combat units, but in a crisis situation it would be rapidly reinforced by units of the Army’s XVIIIth Airborne Corps, the U.S. Marine Corps, and Allied forces.

CH-47 Chinook Aging Boeing Vertol “Chinook” twin-rotor helicopter found in Army medium helicopter squadrons.

“Chalk” Group of paratroops assigned to one aircraft. In World War II, the term was “stick.”

CinC Commander in Chief. Used to designate the senior officer, typically a four-star general or admiral in charge of a major command, such as CINCPAC (Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command).

CNN Atlanta-based global newsgathering organization, highly regarded as a source of 24-hour real-time information by the defense and intelligence community. The U.S. military has deployable satellite terminals that allow commanders to monitor CNN from anywhere in the world.

Company Military unit consisting of several platoons, typically commanded by a captain. Within a battalion, companies are designated by letters (A, B, C, etc.). Cavalry units use the term “troop” for company-sized units, while Artillery units use the term “battery.”

CONOPS Concept of Operations. The commander’s guidance to subordinate units on the conduct of a campaign.

CRAF Civil Air Reserve Fleet. Commercial transport aircraft, some with government subsidized modifications, such as strengthened floors, designated for requisition by Air Mobility Command in time of national emergency.

CSAR Combat Search and Rescue. Recovery of downed aircrew evading capture in an enemy-held area. Typically a helicopter mission supported by fixed-wing aircraft.

CSS Combat Service Support. Military term for administrative units such as supply, maintenance, and finance.

DARO Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office. A Pentagon agency created in 1992, charged with fixing the mess in U.S. airborne recon.

DISCOM Divisional Support Command. Administrative, maintenance and logistic elements of a division.

DIVARTY Divisional Artillery. Several battalions, often reinforced with additional Corps level units. Typically commanded by a brigadier general. U.S. Army doctrine calls for dispersed deployment of artillery, but tightly centralized control and synchronization of fires.

DMA Defense Mapping Agency.

DoD Department of Defense. U.S. government branch created in 1947, responsible for the four armed services and numerous agencies, program offices and joint projects.

DSCS Defense Satellite Communication System. A family of geosynchronous satellites and ground terminals ranging from 33-inch airborne antennae to 60-foot ground dishes. The current generation, DSCS III, includes five satellites, providing global coverage. Some earlier DSCS II satellites are still operational.

DZ Drop Zone. An area designated for parachute dropping of personnel or equipment. A “hot DZ” is one under enemy fire. This is very bad.

ECM Electronic Countermeasures. Any use of the electromagnetic spectrum to confuse, degrade or defeat hostile radars, sensors or radio communications. The term ECCM (electronic counter-countermeasures) is used to describe active or passive defensive measures against enemy ECM, such as frequency-hopping or spread spectrum waveforms.

ECWCS Extended Cold Weather Clothing System. New winter/arctic gear based on technology developed for skiers and mountain climbers, such as Gore-Tex.

EFOG-M Enhanced Fiber-Optic Guided Missile. Army advanced-technology demonstration project (cancelled and revived several times) to develop a missile that trails an ultra-strong, ultra-light fiber optic cable, providing a video data link for precision guidance. Good for killing point targets on the other side of the hill.

ELINT Electronic Intelligence. Interception and analysis of radar, radio and other electromagnetic emissions in order to determine enemy location, numbers, and capabilities.

E/O Electro-optical. A general term for sensors that use video, infrared or laser technology for assisting navigation or locating, tracking or designating targets.

ESM Electronic Security Measures. Usually refers to systems that monitor the electromagnetic spectrum to detect, localize and warn of potential threats.

FAC Forward Air Controller. Designates both the aircraft and the pilot with the dangerous mission of circling over a battlefield to locate targets and direct strike aircraft.

Fallschirmjäger German for “paratroop.” Literally, schirm means “umbrella”, and fallschirm means “parachute.” Jäger means “hunter” and is a traditional designation for light infantry units.

FARP Forward Arming and Refueling Point. An austere temporary base for helicopters and STOVL aircraft, established as close to the combat zone as possible to reduce transit time.

FCSL Fire Control Support Line. Hypothetical line in front of friendly ground troops beyond which CAS and other aircraft must deliver ordnance.

Fire team Four-man unit, the basic maneuver element for U.S. Army infantry.

FLIR Forward Looking Infrared. An electro-optical device similar to a television camera that “sees” in the infrared spectrum rather than visible light. A FLIR displays an image based on minute temperature variations in its field of view, so that hot engine exhaust appears to stand out.

FY Fiscal Year. Begins on October 1. Used for budget planning purposes by the U.S. government.

GBU Guided Bomb Unit. General term for a class of precision-guided munitions, such as the GBU-10 Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb (LGB).

GCE Ground Combat Element. Part of a Joint Task Force, normally commanded by the senior Army or Marine officer present.

Geosynchronous Also called “geostationary.” A satellite in equatorial orbit at an altitude of 35,786 km (about 22,000 miles) will take twenty-four hours to circle the Earth. In twenty-four hours the Earth rotates once on its axis, so the satellite will appear to be “fixed” over the same point on the Earth.

GHz Gigahertz. A measure of frequency. 1 GHz=1,000,000,000 cycles per second.

Goldwater-Nichols Common name for the Military Reform Act of 1986, which created a series of unified commands cutting across traditional service boundaries and strengthened the power of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

GPS Global Positioning System. A constellation of twenty-two Navstar satellites in inclined Earth orbits, which continuously broadcast navigational signals synchronized by ultra-precise atomic clocks. At least four satellites are usually in transit across the sky visible to a user.

Have Quick A family of jam-resistant secure airborne radios operating in the UHF band utilizing frequency hopping.

HEAT High Explosive Anti-Tank. A “shaped charge” missile or cannon projectile that focuses an explosion on a metal liner, producing a superheated gas jet that cuts through armor plate (incinerating those unfortunate enough to be on the other side).

HEI High Explosive Incendiary. A type of ammunition commonly used with air-to-air guns.

Hellfire Heavy (100 lb/45 kg) laser-guided antitank missile fired by attack helicopters. Over 30,000 built by Rockwell and Lockheed Martin.

HEMTT Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck. A family of off-road trucks in the ten-ton class, built by Oshkosh Truck Co. Particularly valuable for bulk fuel, ammunition and water supply.

HHC Headquarters and Headquarters Company. The Army’s rather awkward term for a command element, including the commanding officer, his immediate staff, and their directly supporting administrative, transport, and security personnel.

HMMWV High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. Commonly called “Humvee” or “Hummer.” Rugged and reliable 4X4 diesel introduced in the 1980s to replace the Jeep as the standard light utility vehicle of U.S. Armed Forces.

HOTAS Hands on Throttle and Stick. A cockpit flight control unit that allows the pilot to regulate engine power settings and steering commands with one hand.

Howitzer A short-barreled artillery piece designed to fire at medium angles of elevation (distinguished from flat-trajectory guns and high-angle mortars).

HUA “Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged.” All-purpose Airborne response, uttered with a variety of nuances and inflections, but always with great enthusiasm.

HUD Heads-Up Display. A transparent screen above the cockpit instruments on which critical flight, target and weapons information is projected, so that the pilot need not look down to read gauges and displays during an engagement.

IFF Identification Friend or Foe. A radio frequency system designed to reduce the risk of shooting down friendly aircraft. An IFF “interrogator” transmits a coded message intended for the IFF “transponder” on an unknown target.

IIR Imaging Infrared. An electro-optical device similar to a video camera that “sees” small differences in temperature and displays them as levels of contrast or false colors on an operator’s display screen.

ILS Instrument Landing System. A radio-frequency device installed at some airfields that assists the pilot of a suitably equipped aircraft in landing during conditions of poor visibility.

INS Inertial Navigation System. A device that determines location and velocity by sensing the acceleration and direction of every movement since the system was initialized or updated at a known point.

Infantry The combat branch that seizes and holds ground. The 82nd Airborne Division has a very high proportion of infantry.

Interdiction Use of airpower to disrupt or prevent the movement of enemy military units and supplies by attacking transportation routes, vehicles and bridges deep in the enemy’s rear areas.

IOC Initial Operational Capability. The point in the life cycle of a weapon system when it officially enters service and is considered ready for combat, with all training, spare parts, technical manuals and software complete. The more complex the system, the more distant the IOC.

Javelin Next-generation shoulder-launched medium anti-tank missile.

JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff. The senior U.S. military command level, responsible for advising the President on matters of national defense. The JCS consists of a chairman, who may be drawn from any service, a deputy, and the four service chiefs.

JFACC Joint Forces Air Component Commander. The officer who has operational control over all air units and air assets assigned to a theater of operations. The JFACC is typically drawn from the service that has the greatest amount of air power in the area of operations.

Joy Stick The control stick of a fixed-wing aircraft. Moving the stick forward or back makes the nose pitch up or down. Moving the stick left or right makes the aircraft bank in the corresponding direction. The rudder is separately controlled by foot pedals.

JP-5 Standard U.S. military jet fuel. A petroleum distillate similar to kerosene. JRTC Joint Readiness Training Center. Fort Polk, Louisiana.

JSTARS Joint Surveillance and Targeting Attack Radar System. An Army/Air Force program to deploy about twenty Boeing E-8C aircraft equipped with powerful, side-looking, synthetic aperture radar to detect moving ground targets at long range.

JTF Joint Task Force. A military unit composed of elements of two or more services, commanded by a relatively senior officer. JTFs may be organized for a specific mission, or maintained as semi-permanent organizations, such as the anti-drug JTF-4 based in Florida.

JTFEX Joint Task Force Exercise.

KC-10 Extender Heavy tanker/transport based on Douglas DC-10 wide-body commercial airliner. Fifty-nine aircraft in service, some modified with drogue refueling hose reel as well as tail boom. Three CF6 turbofan engines. Maximum takeoff weight 590,000 lbs.

Kevlar Dupont trademark name for a high-strength synthetic material used to manufacture helmets and body armor.

Knot Nautical miles per hour. Often used by U.S. Air Force and Navy to measure aircraft speeds, particularly in the subsonic range. One knot equals one nautical mile per hour.

LANTIRN Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night. A pair of electronic pods mounted on F-15E and certain F-16 fighter aircraft. Built by Lockheed Martin.

LAPES Low Altitude Precision Extraction System. Use of a small drogue parachute to extract a cargo pallet or vehicle from the ramp of a cargo aircraft skimming just above a runway. Visually impressive, but rarely used, since it is risky and requires highly trained crews and loadmasters.

LAW M72 Light Antitank Weapon. Single-shot disposable rocket launcher, now obsolete.

LGB Laser-Guided Bomb.

LGOP Little Groups of Paratroops. Airborne-style of small-unit tactics, deriving from WWII experience, when combat jumps resulted in severe scattering and intermixing of units.

LIC Low Intensity Combat. Army jargon for “small war.” A term rarely used by the people actually doing the fighting.

LMSLR Program designation (Logistic Military Sealift Long-Range) for conversion of 50,000-ton fast container ships for prepositioning Army equipment in the Western Pacific (Saipan).

LOSAT Line of Sight Antitank. A big (177 lb/ 80.4 kg) high-velocity unguided rocket that relies on kinetic energy to destroy armored targets. Originally intended for mounting on a (now cancelled) light armored vehicle chassis, program status in 1996 was uncertain.

LPI/LPD Low Probability of Interception/Low Probability of Detection. What you want in your combat electronic systems.

LZ Landing Zone. Designated area for tactical landing of gliders or helicopters.

M1 Abrams U.S. Main Battle Tank since 1981. First mass-produced tank with a gas turbine engine. The Al variant has heavier armor and a 120mm gun, while the A2 has been equipped with digital control, monitoring, and communications gear.

M9 Beretta 9mm automatic pistol, standard handgun of U.S. Armed Forces.

M16A2 5.56mm automatic rifle, standard U.S. Army infantry weapon.

M551 Sheridan Sheridan light tank. Over 1,500 produced 1965-70. Complex 152mm gun/missile launcher plagued by problems.

Maverick AGM-65 family of air-to-surface missiles, produced since 1971 by Hughes and Raytheon with a variety of guidance and warhead configurations.

MBT Main Battle Tank. A tracked, heavily armored vehicle mounting a large-caliber gun in a rotating turret.

MFD Multi-Function Display. A small video monitor or flat panel display on an aircraft control panel that allows the operator to display and manipulate different kinds of sensor information, status indications, warnings, and system diagnostic data.

MID Mechanized Infantry Division. A “heavy” division equipped with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled artillery.

MIL-STD-1553 U.S. Military Standard that defines cable specifications, connectors and data formats for a digital data-bus, or high-speed network for aircraft, naval or ground-based electronic systems. One of the most successful standards in aviation history.

MILES Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System. Realistic but safe simulation used in Army field training exercises. Coded pulsed lasers are fitted to weapons; vehicles and personnel are rigged with laser detectors to register hits.

Mk. 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher, used by heavy weapons units, also mounted on vehicles and combat vessels.

MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System. A twelve-round 227mm artillery rocket system mounted on a tracked armored carrier. Nicknamed “Steel Rain.” A truck-mounted six-round launcher is under development for light forces.

MOS Military Occupational Specialty. Alphanumeric code used to designate the primary “job” of enlisted personnel. The infantry MOS is 11B, pronounced “eleven-bravo.”

MOPP Mission Oriented Protective Posture. Military term for wearing nuclear, biological, and chemical protective gear, including gas masks. There are four levels of protection, depending on the immediacy of the threat. MOPP-IV is the highest.

MPF Maritime Prepositioning Force.

MPS Maritime Prepositioning Ship.

MPSRON Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron.

MRC Major Regional Contingency. Current Pentagon euphemism for small war or crisis requiring intervention of U.S. military forces as directed by the President.

MRE Meals, Ready to Eat. Military field ration in individual serving packs. Eaten by personnel in the field until regular dining facilities can be deployed. Humorously known as “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.”

MSC Military Sealift Command. Navy component of U.S. Transportation Command, responsible for operating, maintaining, or chartering shipping to transport military personnel and equipment.

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An alliance of sixteen nations that has preserved peace in Europe since 1949. NATO agreements standardize the specifications for a wide variety of ammunition types.

Nautical mile 6,076 feet. Not to be confused with Statute Mile, which is 5,280 feet.

NBC Nuclear, Biological, Chemical. General term for weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear bombs or weapons designed to disperse radioactive material, toxic gases, liquids or powders, infectious microorganisms, or biological toxins. Forbidden by many nations and treaties.

NCO Noncommissioned Officer. Includes ranks ranging from E-3 (sergeant) to E-9 (command sergeant major). NCOs are enlisted personnel with supervisory or technical responsibilities.

NEO Noncombatant Evacuation Operations.

NRO National Reconnaissance Office. Formerly super-secret intelligence agency established in late 1950s within the Department of Defense, but not officially acknowledged to exist until 1990s. Responsible for procurement, operation, and management of various reconnaissance satellite systems.

NVG Night Vision Goggles.

O/C Observer/Controllers. The “referees” in military exercises.

OH-58D Kiowa Warrior Army Kiowa Warrior light scout and attack helicopter.

O&M Operations and Maintenance. A major budget category for most military units.

OOTW Operations Other Than War. Military jargon for peacekeeping, humanitarian relief and similar adventures.

OPFOR Opposing Force. Units designated to play the enemy in military exercises. Usually depicted in red on maps.

Optempo Operational Tempo. Subjective measure of the intensity of military operations. In combat high optempo can overwhelm the enemy’s ability to respond, at the risk of burning out your own forces. In peacetime a high optempo can adversely affect morale and readiness.

Ordnance Weapons, ammunition, mines or other consumable armament.

PAA Primary Aircraft Authorized. The number of planes allocated to a unit for the performance of its operational mission. PAA is the basis for budgeting manpower, support equipment and flying hours.

PAO Public Affairs Officer. Military staff officer responsible for media relations, coordination with civil authorities, VIP escort duties, and similar chores.

Patriot Army long-range surface-to-air missile system. Requires a complex array of radar and fire-control vans along with four-round trailer-mounted launchers. Took almost thirty years to develop. Limited antiballistic missile capability, greatly improved in new PAC-3 version. Built by Raytheon and Loral. Sold to Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Kuwait.

Paveway Generic term for a family of laser-guided bombs produced by Texas Instruments Corporation.

PGM Precision-Guided Munition. Commonly called a “smart bomb,” any weapon that uses electronic, electro-optical, inertial or other advanced forms of terminal guidance to achieve a very high probability of hitting its target.

Platoon Military unit consisting of several squads, typically commanded by a lieutenant.

PLF Parachute Landing Fall. One of several tumbling exercises designed to allow a jumper to land safely on various types of terrain.

POMCUS Prepositioning of Material Configured in Unit Sets. A logistic innovation developed for U.S. forces in Europe, allowing U.S.-based units to fly in without equipment and rapidly pick up vehicles, weapons, and supplies from depots.

PT Physical Training. In the Airborne, much of this is running, but may include other exercises such as sit-ups and push-ups.

Pylon A structure attached to the wing or fuselage of an aircraft that supports an engine, fuel tank, weapon, or external pod. The pylon itself may be removable, in which case it is attached to a “hard point” that provides a mechanical and electrical interface.

R&D Research and Development. A form of taxpayer-funded guaranteed employment for engineers.

RAH-66 Comanche low-observable scout helicopter with advanced sensors and datalinks. A key system for the Army’s vision of the future digitized battlefield, Comanche is schedule to enter service around 2006.

RAM Radar Absorbing Material. Metal or metal-oxide particles or fibers embedded in synthetic resin applied as a coating or surface treatment on radar-reflective areas of a vehicle in order to reduce its radar cross section.

Redeye First-generation man-portable infrared-homing SAM built by General Dynamics. Introduced in 1972. Now considered obsolete.

Regiment Military unit consisting of several battalions or squadrons. The U.S. Army has only a few organized regiments, but retains regimental designations for all combat battalions, mainly for historical reasons.

ROE Rules of Engagement. Guidance, often determined at the highest levels of government, regarding how and when flight crews may employ their weapons. In air-to-air combat, ROE usually specify specific criteria for identifying a non-friendly aircraft as hostile.

ROWPU Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit. A mobile (semi-trailer mounted) ground facility capable of producing fresh water from seawater or brackish water.

RO-RO Roll-on/Roll-off. A cargo ship with vehicle parking decks, flexible ramps, and special ventilation, allowing loaded vehicles to drive on or off under their own power.

RWR Radar Warning Receiver. An electronic detector tuned to one or more hostile radar frequencies and linked to an alarm that alerts the pilot to the approximate direction, and possibly the type, of threat. Similar in concept to automotive police radar detectors.

SADARM Sense And Destroy Armor. An “intelligent” artillery projectile that dispenses sub-munitions that home on armored vehicles.

SAM Surface-to-Air Missile. A guided missile designed to kill enemy aircraft. Most SAMs use rocket or ramjet propulsion and some type of radar or infrared guidance.

SAR Search and Rescue (sometimes written as CSAR, Combat Search and Rescue). An urgent and dangerous mission to recover shot-down flight crew or survivors from enemy-controlled territory or waters.

SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar. An aircraft radar (or operating mode of a multi-function radar) that can produce highly accurate ground maps.

SAW Squad Automatic Weapon. M249 5.56mm light machine gun.

SCUD Western reporting name for Soviet R-11 (SCUD-A) and R-17 (SCUD-B) short-range ballistic missile. Based largely on WWII German technology. Range of 110–180 miles with 1000 kg/ 2200 lb. warhead. Inaccurate inertial guidance.

SIGINT Signal Intelligence. Interception, decoding and analysis of enemy communications traffic.

SINCGARS Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System. A family of secure frequency-hopping VHF-FM tactical radios standardized throughout the U.S. armed forces.

SKE Station Keeping Equipment. Precision radio navigation system that enables formations of troop carrier aircraft to maintain formation at night or in bad weather.

Sortie The basic unit of airpower: one complete combat mission by one aircraft. “Sortie generation” is the ability of an air unit to re-arm, re-fuel and service aircraft for repeated missions in a given period.

Squad Military unit consisting of nine to fourteen soldiers, led by a sergeant. Usually divided into two fire teams.

SRAW Short-Range Assault Weapon. A twenty-pound shoulder-fired antitank and bunker-busting rocket, to be fielded in the late 1990s. Also called MPIM (Multi-Purpose Individual Munition) and “Predator” (by the U.S. Marine Corps).

Stealth A combination of design features, technologies, and materials — some highly classified — designed to reduce the radar, visual, infrared, and acoustic signature of an aircraft, ship, or other vehicle to the point where effective enemy detection and countermeasures are ineffective.

Stinger Man-portable infrared-guided surface-to-air missile, also mounted on helicopters and ground vehicles. Weighs 34.5 pounds with launcher. Used very effectively by Afghan guerrillas against Soviet Air Force in the 1980s.

T-10 Standard Army Airborne static-line parachute, almost unchanged since WWII.

TARPS Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System. A 1700-lb/770-kg pod built by Naval Avionics Center and fitted to two F-14A fighters in each carrier air wing. Pod carries a nine-inch panoramic camera, twelve-inch frame camera, and infrared line scanner.

TDY Temporary Duty. A military assignment to a location away from one’s normal duty station. TDY generally involves separation from family and entitles personnel to supplementary pay and allowances.

TFW Tactical Fighter Wing. A unit of three fighter squadrons and supporting units.

TO&E Table of Organization and Equipment. The official document that prescribes in detail the structure and authorized assets of a military unit.

TOW Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided missile. Heavy antitank weapon fired by Army helicopters and ground vehicles. Heavy antitank missile fired by Army and Marine Corps ground vehicles and helicopters. First saw combat in Vietnam in 1972, continuously updated and improved since then.

TRAP Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel.

UH-1 Huey light utility helicopter. Now obsolete in most Army units.

UH-60 “Blackhawk” utility helicopter. Widely used for transporting troops and supplies, and casualty evacuation. Can be armed with door guns and weapon pylons. Special versions for command/control and electronic intelligence.

UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Also known as a drone or RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle). A recoverable pilotless aircraft, either remotely controlled over a radio data link, or pre-programmed with an advanced auto-pilot.

USACOM United States Atlantic Command. Unified Command that includes the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet and most Army and Air Force combat units based in the continental United States. USACOM’s special role is the training and “packaging” of joint task forces that may have to be deployed to support other unified commands, such as CENTCOM, EUCOM, or PACOM.

V-22 Osprey Twin-engine tilt-rotor aircraft. Combines the agility of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing turboprop. Joint Marine /Navy/Air Force program, deliveries scheduled to begin in 1997.

Viewgraph An overhead projector transparency or slide used in briefings or presentations. Sometimes used as a term of derision for a project that is incompletely developed, as “His plan was nothing but a set of viewgraphs,” or “that aircraft design is still in the viewgraph stage.”

Wing Air Force unit, typically commanded by a colonel, consisting of several squadrons with supporting ground elements. Depending on type, a Wing may have fewer than a dozen aircraft, or more than a hundred.

XO Executive Officer. Second in command of a unit.

XVIII Roman numeral for eighteen. The 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. Roman numerals have been used to designate Army Corps since the Napoleonic Wars, to the dismay of six generations of military historians.