Rogue Warrior

Glossary

ALUSNA: Air Liaison, U.S. Naval Air (naval attache for air).

Baader-Meinhof: also known as Red Army Faction (RAF); operations are primarily ün the Federal Republic of Germany.

Balaclava: a knitted hood commonly used by CT operators to conceal facial features.

Bearcat: radio-frequency scanner, available at Radio Shack, etc. black: synonym for any covert or clandestine activity.

BlackHawk: H-60 Army chopper (troop transport).

Boomer class: U.S. Navy strategic nuclear submarine.

BUPERS: BUreau of PERSonnel.

C-130: Hercules turboprop transport aircraft, originally made by Lockheed in 1951 and still flying all over the world.

C-141: Lockheed’s StarLifter, a jet transport with a range of up to five thousand miles.

C-3: a yellowish, solid plastic explosive of pre-Vietnam War vintage, used in Mk-135 satchel charges.

C-4: white plastic explosive. It is so stable you can ignite it and nothing bad will happen. Just don’t stamp on it to put the fire out.

C-5A: no explosives here — this is the Air Force’s biggest transport plane.

Christians In Action: SEAL slang for Central Intelligence Agency or its personnel.

Chu-hoi: (Vietnamese) defector. Chu-hois were often used in Provincial Reconnaissance Units (see PRU),

CINC: Commander-IN-Chief.

CINCLANT: Commander-IN-Chief, AtLANTic.

CINCLANTFLT: Commander-IN-Chief, AtLANTic FLeeT.

CINCPAC: Commander-IN-Chief, PACific.

CINCPACFLT: Commander-IN-Chief, PACific FLeeT.

CNO: Chief of Naval Operations.

Cobra Feast: Cambodian ceremony that makes snake-eaters eat beaucoup snake.

Cockbreath: what SEALs call people who only pay lip service.

COD: Carrier On-board Delivery aircraft.

COMNAVSPECWARGRU: COMmander, NAVal SPECiat WARfare GRoUp. There are two of these: ONE, based at Coronado, California; TWO, based at Little Creek, Virginia.

COMPHIBTRALANT: COMmander, AmPHIBious TRAining Command, AtLANTic.

CSO: Chief of Staff Officer.

CTJTF: CounterTerrorist Joint Task Force.

DCM: (State Department) Deputy Chief of Mission. di-di-mau: (Vietnamese) get outta here.

Dip-dunk: nerdy asshole (see NILO).

Diplo-dink: cookie-pushing diplomat apparatchik type.

Dirtbag: grungy blue-collar look favored by SEAL Team Six.

DOD: Department Of Defense. doom on you: corruption of Vietnamese phonetic for “go fuck yourself.”

Draeger: German-manufactured oxygen rebreather unit (it produces neither bubbles nor sound and is therefore perfect for clandestine SEAL insertions). du-ma-nhieu: (Vietnamese) go fuck yourself (see DOOM ON YOU).

Dumbshit: expression of affection used by chiefs to describe their favorite people.

E-5: an E-2 is an airplane. So is an E-4 (the military designation for a 747). But an E-5… is a Navy rank, equivalent to an Army or Marine sergeant.

EC-130: A C-130 configured by the Navy (or Air Force) as a command/control/communications (C3) aircraft.

Ekerntorde: home of the German Frogmen.

EOD: Explosives Ordnance Disposal.

ERA: (Equal Rights Amendment) Marcinko’s philosophy about people: Treat them ail the same — JUST LIKE SHIT.

F-111: Air Force aircraft that can kick ass wherever there is air.

F-14: Navy aircraft that can kick ass wherever there is air, ‘t and land on a carrier.

Fakahani: the district in West Beirut where the PLO made its headquarters

Flat: configuration of parachute (it glides and sails).

Four-striper: U.S. Navy captain (equal in rank to a colonel). frags: fragmentation grenades.

FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond AU Repair (see GOATFUCK).

FUC: Female Ugly Commander.

GED: General Equivalency Diploma (high-school equivalency). geek: durobshit (see MARCINKO).

GIGN: Gendarmerie Nationaie (Groupemeni d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale). French counterterror unit.

GIGO: computerese for Garbage In/Garbage Out.

GIS: Italian carabinieri CT unit (Groupe Inierventional Speciale). Known as grappa drinkers.

Goatfuck: FUBAR

GSG-9: Gremchutzgruppe-9, West German CT unit.

HAHO: High Altitude, High Opening.

HALO: High Altitude, Low Opening.

HH-53H: a Sikorsky H-53 Sea Stallion helicopter outfitted for SpecWar operations.

HK: Heckler & Koch weapon, usually a 9mm submachine gun. hop and pop: this is what you’re about to do if you’re a SEAL carrying an HK and going out of an aircraft.

HUMINT: HUMan INTelligence, gathered by an agent or agents. hush-puppy: silencer (suppressor) for a weapon,

Hydra-Shok: extremely lethal hollow-point ammunition manufactured by Federal Cartridge Company.

IBL: Inflatable Boat, Large.

IBS: Inflatable Boat, Small.

IED: Improvised Explosive Device.

Intelbabble: bureaucratic gobbledygook often used by NILOs.

JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command.

JTF: Joint Task Force. jumpmaster: the operator responsible for the safe conduct of parachute operations.

Kampfschwimmerkompanie: (German) combat swimmers equivalent of SEALs).

KATN: Kick Ass and Take Names.

KC-135: USAF flying gas station.

KH-11: NSA spy-in-the-sky satellite.

KIA: Killed In Action.

KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Langley: CIA headquarters.

LANTFLT: AtLANTic FLeeT.

LDO: Limited Duty Officer (or, in SEAL slang, Loud, Dumb, and Obnoxious).

LSD: Landing Ship/Dock (amphibious ship).

LSP: Louisiana State Police.

LURPs: Rations used on LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) missions.

LZ: Landing Zone.

M16: basic .223-caliber weapon used in Vietnam

M60: a machine gun that fires 7.62mm ammunition.

MAC-lOs: submachine guns favored by drug dealers.

MAC: Military Air Command (also known as trash haulers — you call, they haul).

Marcinko: see DUMBSHIT.

Marvin: SEAL rhyming slang for Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) personnel.

KC-130: USAF special operations aircraft.

Memcon: MEMorandum of CONversation written by intelligence or diplomatic officers after meeting with any contacts.

MEP: Movement for the Ejaculation of Palestine.

M4s: Ruger’s ubiquitous .223-caliber semiautomatic rifle.

MNF: MultiNational Force

MOB-6: MOBility-6. SEAL Two’s countertenor unit, a precursor of SEAL Team Six.

Mossad: Mossad Leiafkidim Meouychadim, or the Central Institute for Intelligence and Special Duties. Israel’s foreign-intelligence organization.

MP5: an HK submachine gun favored by CT units including i SEAL Team Six and GSG-9.

Navyspeak: redundant, bureaucratic naval nomenclature, either in written nonoral, or nonwritten oral, mode, indecipherable by non-military (conventional) individuals during interfacing configuration conformations.

NCA: National Command Authority. The top-level chain of), command consisting of the president and the secretary of defense.

‘NCO: Noncommissioned Officer.

‘NILO: Naval Intelligence Liaison Officer (see DIP-DUNK).

NIS: Naval Security and Investigative Command (see SHIT-FOR-BRAINS).

NMN: Navyspeak for No Middle Name.

Nung: Chinese mercenary.

NVA: North Vietnamese Army.

OP-06: Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy, and Operations.

OP-06B: Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy, and Operations.

OP-06D: formal Navy designation for the Red Cell.

OPSEC: Operational SECurity. Very important in black ops.

PBR: Patrol Boat/River. The Jacuzzi-powered plastic battleship used on the Vietnamese rivers

Peary, Camp: CIA training facility near Williamsburg, Virginia, also known as The Farm.

Pencil-dicked: a no-load, bean-counting pain-in-the-ass.

Phoque: (French) seal.

Phoquee: he or she who gets screwed by SEALs.

Plastique: plastic explosive (see 04 and SEMTEX).

PLF: 1. Parachute Landing Fall (how not to bust your ass). 2. Palestine Liberation Front. The terrorist group led by Muhammed at Abbas that hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro.

Plink: discriminating single shot, usually a kill shot to the head.

PLO: Palestine Liberation Organization.

PO: Petty Officer. According to Ev Barren, petty officers are petty until they become chief petty officers. Then they rule the world.

PO2: Petty Officer Second Class (same as a staff sergeant).

PO3: ditto, but Third Class (equivalent to a corporal).

PRC-101: man-portable satellite communications.

PROCOM: PROvincial COMmander. An ARVN officer who was nominally in charge of a specific province. prowl and growl: see KATN.

PRU: Provincial Reconnaissance Unit (Vietnam). U.S.-led, Vietnamese-staffed hunter/killer unit that liked to prowl and growl.

PSC-1: Portable Satellite Communications terminal.

PT: physical training. Hoo-yah!

Quantico: home of FBI Academy and base of their Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). recon: reconnaissance.

RFPF (Ruff-puff): Regional Force/Provincial Force (Vietnam).

RH-S3D: PAVE LOW special operations chopper. rock and roll: fan and games, usually with a shitload of hot lead flying.

RPG: Rocket-Propelled Grenade (Soviet-made).

RVN: Republic of VietNam.

SAS: British Special Air Service. Motto: Who dares, wins.

SATCOM: SATellite COMmunications.

SBS: British Special Boat Squadron (a unit of the Royal Marines).

SCIF: Special Classified Intelligence Facility (spook talk). A secure bubble room.

SDV: Swimmer Delivery Vehicle.

SEALs: the Navy’s SEa-Air-Land units. The most elite special operations force in the U.S. arsenal. When they were created in 1962, there were only fifty SEALs. In SEAL slang the acronym stands for Sleep, EAt, and Live it up.

Seawolves: USN chopper gunships in Vietnam.

SECDEF: SECretary of DEFense.

SECNAV: SECretary of the NAVy.

Semtex: the Czech version of C-4 plastic explosive. If it goes y, off prematurely, you end up with a canceled Czech.

SFOD-D: Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta Delta Force).

Shit: what happens.

Shit-For-Brains: a real numb-nuts pencil-dicked asshole; or: anyone from NIS.

Shoot and loot: the SEAL version of rape, pillage, and bum.

SIGINT: SIGnals INTelligence.

Smith: a Smith & Wesson pistol, generally a .357-catiber Model 66 stainless-steel revolver with four-inch barrel.

SNAFU: Situation Normal: All Fucked Up.

SNARE: horse-collar loop used for snatching SEALs from the water into an IBL.

SOF: Special Operations Force.

SOSUS: underwater listening-device network deployed to detect hostile submarines.

SpecWar: Special Warfare.

SR-71: high-flying intelligence collector (spy plane).

STAB: SEAL Tactical Assault Boat.

SURFLANT: SURface Force AtLANTic.

SWAT: Special Weapons And Tactics.

TAD: Temporary Additional Duty. (In SEAL slang: Traveling Around Drunk.)

TARFU: Things Are Really Fucked Up,

TAT: Terrorist Action Team.

TECHINT: TECHnical INTeIligence.

UDT-21: Marcinko’s first home away from home.

UDT-22: Marcinko’s second home away from home.

UDT: Underwater Demolition Team. (In SEAL slang: UnderDeveloped Twerp, or Urinal Drain Technician.)

UNODIR: UNless Otherwise DIRected.

USNR: United States Naval Reserve.

USS: United Slates Ship.

VC: (Victor Charlie) VietCong.

VCNO: Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

W.G.M.A.T.A.T.S.: Unofficial SEAL Team Six motto: We Get More Ass Than A Toilet Seat.

WIA: Wounded In Action.

WPs: (Willy-Peters) White Phosphorus grenades.

XO: Executive Officer.

Zulu: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) designator, used in all formal military communications.