FW: Modern War Words???

[David Barnhart]

The following is from my nephew who was deployed in Afghanistan a couple of
years ago.

Regards,
David

barnhart at highlands.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Hoelscher [mailto:brad.hoelscher at gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 5:01 AM
To: David Barnhart
Subject: Re: Modern War Words???

All are familiar, but I have never heard anyone use T-man for Taliban.

Black is not almost out, but dangerously low.  It implies a sense of dire
need. Going black on something is a BIG DEAL, and will usually mean a
speedball is needed.

Speed Ball is an actual body bag filled with supplies for aerial resupply.
Kicking speed balls means throwing these heavily laden body bags out of a
helicopter.

Calling Afghans Hajji is prevalent, but commonly just Haj.  Can be used as
an adjective.  Example:  Go to the Haj shop and get some Boom Booms (afghan
energy drink).  Chain of command attempts to limit the use of this word as
it is offensive.

Meat Eaters as I have seen and heard it used refers to all combat troops.
Special Operations personnel are referred to as "Cool Guys."  Cool Guys is
also used as an adjective when describing equipment or missions.  Example:
"Those cool guy sun glasses are not authorized eye pro[tection]."

Willie Pete is used for to create an instant smoke cloud for screening, or
for marking targets for air support.  We have illumination rounds to
illuminate an area.

Not on here:

-PPE: personal protective equipment.  Eye protection, hearing protection,
gloves, body armor, etc. "Make sure you have all of your PPE before going
outside the wire"

-Cool Guy

-IDF:  Indirect Fire, noun or verb. "We got IDFed last night, and I didn't
get back to sleep."

-CAB Chaser: someone  who goes out looking to get shot at so they can submit
for the Combat Action Badge.  Usually does not go back out again.

-Combat Tourist:  people from random military organizations who briefly
visit the war zone to get "on the ground perspective" and still draw combat
pay, and receive combat patches.

-RCP: Route Clearance Patrol/Platoon/Package.  They look for IEDs.

-Guardian Angel: Armed Soldier who watches over other Soldiers while
training Afghans to protect agains insider attacks.

-Green on Blue: attack on Americans by Afghan National Army or Police.

-Turd Burglar:  bad soldier

-Shitbag: Soldier who shirks duties/slovenly appearance/etc.

-Pred:  Predator, armed UAV.

-On station: refers to aircraft being overhead.  "When are those Apaches
getting on station?"

-CLP: pronounced "clip."  Combat Logistics Patrol.  A resupply convoy.

-Rip-It:  generic energy drink served in DFACs in Afghanistan and Iraq.

-Hero Flight:  a helicopter mission to return the body of a dead soldier.

-Hero: euphemism for a fallen soldier or marine.

-Gold Star families: euphemism for the family of a fallen soldier

-CONOP: a powerpoint plan that is used to deliver operational plans.
Simplified Operations Order (OPORD), condemned by many because it doesn't
contain detailed guidance or instructions.

-mike mike: short for milimeters, used when referring to ammunition.
Usually only used when referring to 40mm (fired by the Mark 19), 25mm (fired
by the Bradley), 30mm (fired by the Apache).  Everything else is just
referred to by the number.  Ex.: 556, 762, 60, 120, 105, 155.

-Drop: anything dropped by an aircraft, usually refers to bombs.  "Are we
going to get clearance to drop?"

-CDE: colateral damage estimate.  "We cannot fire 155 on that target.  The
CDE is too high."

-9 Line: MEDEVAC request.  The NATO standard format contains 9 lines of
information.  The official name is "9-Line MEDEVAC request."  Ex. "we just
hit an IED, stand by for 9-Line."

-ILLUM: Illumination Rounds.  Rounds that release a flare suspended by a
parachute that slowly falls to the ground which illuminates the area below
it.  "Fire some ILLUM so we can see whats going on."

-Pogey-bait: junk food.

-Smoke: kill

-Waddi: a ravine/gultch/dry riverbed.

-Qalat: walled compound that most Afghans live in.  Can be large or small,
but most Afghan homes have walls around the house with a small courtyard.

-MAMs: Military Aged Males.  This use of this term has been discouraged.

-Mudj: Short for mudjahideen.  Usually refers to village elders who fought
the soviets.  "That guy is an old mudj fighter."

-Local Nationals: Afghan workers on US bases.

-TCNs:  Third Country Nationals.  Bengali/Sri Lankan/Indian contract workers
on US bases.  Look down on the local nationals.

-Battlespace Owner:  Unit Responsible for a certain geographic area.

-RIP/TOA:  pronounced "rip toe-uh."  Short for relief in place, transition
of authority.  When one unit hands over control of an area to another unit.

-BOG: boots on ground.  refers to a date that a unit will arrive either in
theater or home.

-Class VI:  On post liquor stores (stateside only)

-General Order Number 1: forbids sex, alcohol, pornography, and many other
things.  Applies in theater only.

-In Theater: in Iraq or Afghanistan.  "When did you get in theater?"

-Dwell Time:  amount of time since a Soldier's last deployment.  Measured
from the day they arrived back to the US.

These are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.  If you have
any questions, let me know.

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