Rules of Engagement

GLOSSARY

AAA — Antiaircraft artillery, also known as triple-A. Rapid-firing cannons or machine guns, often aimed by radar and computers.

ACM — Air combat maneuvering. Two or more fighter pilots engaged in aerial combat.

Afterburner — Also known as burner. Jet-thrust augmentation by injecting raw fuel into the engine.

Air Boss — Air officer responsible for all hangar and flight-deck operations.

Alert Five — Fighter aircraft armed, fueled, and manned. Ready to launch in five minutes.

Alpha Strike — All-out carrier air-wing attack.

Annunciator Panel — Display lights that warn a pilot about aircraft cautionary or emergency situations.

Atoll — NATO code name for Soviet-manufactured heat-seeking air-to-air missile.

Ball — The optical landing device on an aircraft carrier. Also referred to as "meatball."

Bandits — Enemy aircraft.

BARCAP — Barrier combat air patrol. Used to protect vessels at sea.

Barrel Roll — Air combat maneuver for achieving an advantage over an adversary.

Barricade — Safety net of nylon webbing used to stop aircraft unable to make a carrier-arrested landing.

Bingo — The amount of fuel needed to divert to a shore base.

Blue Water Operations — Carrier flight operations beyond the range of land bases.

Bogie — Unidentified or enemy aircraft.

Bolter — Carrier landing attempt in which the tail hook misses the arresting wire, necessitating a go-around.

Bow — Front of the ship.

Break — A hard turn to avoid a missile. Also known as pitchout-break over an airfield or carrier (ninety-degree knife-edge turn to position the aircraft for landing).

Bridge — Command post in the superstructure of a ship. Bulkhead Naval terminology for a wall.

CAG — Commander of the air group; oversees all aircraft squadrons embarked on a carrier.

CAP — Combat air patrol.

CATCC — Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (Cat-see).

Check Six — Refers to visual observation behind an aircraft. Fighter pilots must check behind them constantly to ensure that enemy aircraft are not in an attack position.

CIC — Combat Information Center. Central battle-management post in naval surface ships.

CINCPAC — Commander in chief of Pacific Fleet.

COD — Carrier on-board delivery aircraft. Used to transfer cargo and personnel to and from shore installations and the carrier.

Combat Spread — Tactical fighter formation, providing mutual support for the flight leader and the wingman.

Dash Two — Second plane in a two-aircraft section; the wingman. Departure Refers to an aircraft departing from controlled flight.

Dixie Station — Position in the Gulf of Tonkin, off South Vietnam, used for carrier air strikes into North Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

EOD — Explosive ordnance detachment.

Feet Dry/Wet — Pilot radio call indicating a position over land/ water.

FOD — Foreign-object damage to a jet engine.

Fox One/Two/Three — Pilot radio calls indicating the firing of a Sparrow (One), Sidewinder (Two), or Phoenix (Three) missile.

Furball — Multiaircraft fighter engagement.

GCA — Ground-controlled approach. Radar guidance provided to a pilot in the process of landing his aircraft.

g Force — Force pressed on a body by changes in velocity, measured in increments of earth gravity.

g-LOC — g-Induced loss of consciousness.

Gomers — Combat adversaries.

High Yo-Yo — Air combat maneuver.

Hot Pump — Refueling an aircraft while the engine is running.

ICS — Intercom system in cockpits of multiseat aircraft.

Idle and Boards — Throttles to idle and speed brakes extended.

IFF — Identification or Identification Friend or Foe. Military transponder used to identify aircraft. The transponder sends a coded signal to the radar installation.

IFR — Instrument flight rules.

JBD — Jet blast deflector.

Jink — Abrupt and irregular flight path designed to make it difficult for gunners to track the aircraft.

Knot — One nautical mile per hour. A nautical mile equals approximately 1.15 statute miles.

Loose Deuce — Navy and marine tactical fighter formation. Loud Handle Slang for the ejection-seat handle.

LSO — Landing-signal officer. Squadron pilot responsible for assisting other aviators onto the flight deck of an aircraft carrier; also called Paddles.

Mach — Named for physicist Ernst Mach; term used to describe speed of an object in relation to the speed of sound.

Main mount — Aircraft main landing gear.

Marshal — Aircraft holding pattern behind the carrier.

NATOPS — Naval aviation training-and-operations procedures. Provides rules and regulations for safe and proper operation of all navy and Marine Corps aircraft and helicopters.

Nugget — Rookie naval aviator.

Overrotate — Pull back too aggressively on the aircraft's control stick.

Plane Guard — Helicopter assigned to search and rescue during carrier flight operations.

PLAT — Pilot's landing-aid television. Closed-circuit television that monitors the flight deck.

Port — Naval terminology for the left side.

Posit — Position.

Pri-Fly — Primary Fly. Control tower on aircraft carrier.

Push Time — Designated time for a pilot to commence an approach to the carrier.

Radar Vector — Heading given to pilot by radar operator.

Ramp — Aft end of the flight deck; round-down.

Ready Room — Squadron headquarters on board an aircraft carrier.

RESCAP — Rescue combat air patrol.

RIO — Radar-intercept officer. Naval flight officer in the backseat of F-14 Tomcat or F-4 Phantom aircraft.

ROE — Rules of engagement.

SA-2 — Guided Missile (SAM) Soviet-manufactured surface-to-air missile.

SAR — Search and rescue.

Section Takeoff — Two aircraft taking off in formation.

Sidewinder — AIM-9 heat-seeking air-to-air missile.

Sparrow — AIM-7 radar-guided air-to-air missile.

Split-S — Aircraft is rolled inverted, then the nose is pulled toward the ground to rapidly reduce altitude.

Squawk — Transponder code to ground-or air-based radar installations.

Starboard — Naval terminology for right side.

Stern — Naval terminology for the back (aft) end of ship.

TACAN — Navigation aid that provides the pilot with bearing and distance to an aircraft carrier or air base.

Tally — Derivative of tallyho; target in sight.

TARCAP — Target combat air patrol.

Tone — Sound that indicates a pilot's air-to-air missile has locked onto his adversary.

Torso — Harness Snug-fitting flight clothing that attaches to the ejection seat.

Trap — Arrested landing on an aircraft carrier.

Unload — Release pressure on aircraft control stick to ease g load.

Vertical Reverse — Air combat tactic.

VFR — Visual flight rules.

Vulture's Row — Observation deck on the superstructure (island) of an aircraft carrier.

Wardroom — Officers' dining room.

Wave Off — Landing-signal officer's order to abort the approach and go around for another try.

Winchester — Out of ammunition and ordnance.

XO — Executive officer.

Yankee Station — Position in the Gulf of Tonkin south of Hainan Island. The point for carrier-launched strikes into North Vietnam.

Zuni — Air-to-ground rocket.