Glossary
1SL/CNS – British First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff [1904-Present]
A-1 – US Air Force personnel staff
A-2 – US Air Force intelligence staff
A-3 – US Air Force operations staff
A-4 – US Air Force logistics staff
A-5 – US Air Force public relations staff
AA – Armée de l’Air or French Air Force [1934-Present]
AAA – Anti-Aircraft Artillery (see Flak)
AAFSAT – United States Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics [1942-1946]
ABRE – British Air Battalion Royal Engineers [1911-1912]
AC – United States Air Support Command
ACM – Air Combat Maneuvers
ACTS – United States Army Air Corps Tactical School [1920-1942]
ADC – United States Air (later Aerospace) Defense Command [1946-1980]
AEAF – Allied Expeditionary Air Forces [1944]
AEWC – Airborne Early Warning Control; often generalized as AWACs (a specific AWEC system) [1949-Present]
AF – Air Force
AFB – Air Force Base
AFPAC – United States Army Forces in the Pacific [1945]
AG – Aktiengesellschaft or German Shareholder Corporation, typically translated as Incorporated
Airco – Aircraft Manufacturing Co. Ltd. [1912-1920]
AIM – Airborne Interception Missile
AM – Aeronautica Militare or Italian Air Force [1946-Present]
AMF – Slang for “Adios, Mother Fucker;” indicates that one is about to lose radio contact or be captured
ANEF – Allied Naval Expeditionary Force [1944-1945]
ANVIL – Original code name for Allied landings in southern France
ARC LIGHT – Code name for tactical Boeing B-52 strikes during the Vietnam War [1965-1973]
ARVN – Quân lực Việt Nam Cộng Hòa or Army of the Republic of South Vietnam [1955-1975]
ASC – Air Service Command
ASPIRIN – RAF code-name for the jamming of radio navigation systems (see HEADACHE)
AT – Armée de Terre or French Army [1830-Present]
ATC – Air Transport Command [1942-1948]
AU – Air University [1946-Present]
AVALANCHE – Code name for Allied invasion of Italy [1944]
AWPD-1 – Air War Plans Division Plan, 1941
AWPD-42 – Revised Air War Plans Division Plan, 1942
BA – British Army (United Kingdom) [1660-Present]
Backseater – Slang term for RIO
Bandit – Term for enemy aircraft spotted
BATDU – RAF Blind Approach Training and Development Unit
BC – Bomber Command
BEF – British Expeditionary Force
BF – Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG or Bavarian Aircraft Works, Inc. [1916-1938]
BG – Bombardment Group
BIOYA – Slang term for “Blow It Out Your Ass”
Blue Riband – An unofficial, yearly honor granted to the fastest ocean-liner crossing of the Atlantic Ocean west-to-east
Bogey – Term for aircraft spotted but not identified
BOLERO – Code name for Allied build-up for SLEDGEHAMMER and ROUNDUP [1942-1943]
BS – Bombardment Squadron
BUFF – Slang for “Big Ugly Flying Fucker,” a term of endearment for Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses
BRABAG – Braunkohlen Benzin AG or Brown Coal/Benzine, Inc. [1933-1945]
BVR – Beyond Visual Range
BW – Bombardment Wing
CAP – Combat Air Patrol
CAM – Corpo Aeronautico Militare or Italian Military Aviation Corps [1915-1922]
CARPET – US code-name for chaff in Second World War
CARTWHEEL – Code name for a series of operations that cut supply lines to, and bombed, Japanese-held Rabaul [1943-1944]
CAS – British Chief of the Air Staff [1918-Present]
CAS – Close Air Support
Caterpillar Club – Slang term, now an actual club, for those who have successfully parachuted from a crashing aircraft
CATF – US China Air Task Force; division of the 10AF which later forms the 14AF [1942-1943]
CAVU – Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited
CBI – China-Burma-Indian Theater of Operations [1942-1945]
CBO – Allied Combined Bomber Offensive [1943-1945]
CCS – British and American Combined Chiefs of Staff [1942-1945]
CEMA – Chef d’État-Major des Armées or French Chief of Staff of the Armies
CENTERBOARD – Code name for the fission-based nuclear strikes against Japan [1945]
CG – Commanding General
Chaff – Radar countermeasure wherein clouds of aluminum foil are used to disrupt radar-guided weaponry (see WINDOW)
CGS – British Chief of the Imperial General Staff [1904-Present]
Chaff – Bundles of aluminum strips released by aircraft to give-off false radar readings
CIA – Central Intelligence Agency [1947-Present]
CINC – Commander in Chief
CIRCUS – Code name for RAF fighter sweeps using bombers as bait [1941-1945]
CNO – Chief of Naval Operations
CO – Commanding Officer
COA – Committee of Operations Analysts
Collier Trophy – A yearly honor bestowed by the NAA for aviation achievement in the US [1911-Present]
CROSSBOW – Code name for Allied bombings of V-weapon research and launch sites [1943-1945]
CROSSROADS – Code name for fission-based nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll [1946]
CS – Chief of Staff
CSA – Chief of Staff of the Army
CSAF – Chief of Staff of the Air Force
DBR – Damaged Beyond Repair
DCAS – British Deputy Chief of Chair Staff [1918-Present]
DETACHMENT – Code name for the Allied invasion of Iwo Jima [1945]
DFC – Distinguished Flying Cross
DH – de Havilland Aircraft Company [1920-1964]
DH – Deutsches Heer or German Army [1871-Present]
Ditching – Crash-landing an aircraft into a body of water
DL – Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte or German Army Air Force [1916-1920]
Do – Dornier Flugzeugwerke or Dornier Aircraft Works [1922-2002]
DRAGOON – Code name for Allied landings in southern France [1944]
Droptanks – Slang term for externally-carried jettison-able fuel tanks
ECM – Electronic Counter-Measures
EI – Esercito Italiano or Italian Army [1946-Present]
ETO – European Theater of Operations [1942-1945]
EWO – Electronic Warfare Officer
FAC – Forward Air Control
FC – Fighter Command
FE – United States Far East Command [1947-1957]
FEAF – United States Far East Air Forces [1941-1954]
FEATHERWEIGHT – Code name for USAF program to lighten strategic bombers through removal of defensive armament [1954]
Feet Wet/Feet Dry – Terms for when an aircraft is over water or over land
FFA – Feldflieger Abteilung or Field Flying Company [1910-1916]
FG – Fighter Group
FICON – Fighter Conveyor; code name for USAF project wherein bombers carry their own escort and/or reconnaissance aircraft [1952-1956]
Flak – Slang for AAA; comes from Fliegerabwehrkanone or aircraft defense cannon
FLAMING DART – Code name for USAF reprisal airstrikes against North Vietnam [1965]
FLENSBURG – Code name for German passive radar receiver that allowed fighters to home in on British MONICA systems
FRANTIC – Code name for Russo-US shuttle missions wherein USAAF bombers rearm and refuel in Soviet territory [1944]
FREYA – Code name for German early-warning Radar in Second World War
FS – Fighter Squadron
FUBAR – Slang term for “Fucked-Up Beyond All Recognition”
FUJIGMO – Slang term for “Fuck You, Jack, I Got My Orders”
FW – Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG or Focke-Wulf Aircraft Construction, Inc. [1923-1964]
G-1 – US Army personnel staff
G-2 – US Army intelligence staff
G-3 – US Army operations staff
G-4 – US Army logistics staff
G-5 – US Army public relations staff
GE – General Electric [1892-Present]
GM – General Manager
GmbH – Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or Society of Limited Liability, typically translated as Limited Liability Company
GOMORRAH – Code name for RAF strike against Hamburg [1943]
GvIAD – Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelniy Aviatsionniy Diviziya or Soviet Guards Fighter Aviation Division
GvIAP – Gvardeyskiy Istrebitelniy Aviatsionniy Polk or Soviet Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment
GYMNAST – Original code name for Allied invasion of French North Africa
HALPRO – Or Halverson Project; code name for bombing of Ploesti, Romania [1942]
Hangar Queen – Derisive term for an aircraft constantly in need of repair
HARM – High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile
He – Heinkel Flugzeugbau or Heinkel Aircraft Construction [1922-1965]
HEADACHE – RAF code-name for German blind-bombing systems
Homo Go – Slang for a serviceman soon to be sent home, originates from Korean War airmen imitating native-Okinawans
HQ – Headquarters
HMS – British His/Her Majesty’s Ship [1789-Present]
HUSKY – Code name for Allied invasion of Sicily [1943]
HYDRA – Code name for the bombing of the V-Weapon Research center in Peenemünde, Germany [1943]
IAC – An tAerchór or Irish Air Corps [1924-Present]
IAD – Istrebitelniy Aviatsionniy Diviziya or Soviet Fighter Aviation Division
IAK – Istrebitelniy Aviatsionniy Polk Korpus or Soviet Fighter Aviation Corps
IAP – Istrebitelniy Aviatsionniy Polk or Soviet Fighter Aviation Regiment
ICHI-GO – Or Number One; code name for Japanese invasion of southeast China [1944]
IGFC – Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches or Imperial German Flying Corps [1910-1916]
IGNAD – Marine-Fliegerabteilung des deutschen Kaiserreiches or Imperial German Naval Air Division [1911-1920]
IJA – Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun or Army of the Greater Japanese Empire (Imperial Japanese Army) [1867-1945]
IJAAS – Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun Kōkūtai or Army Air Service of the Greater Japanese Empire (Imperial Japanese Army Air Service) [1912-1945]
IJN – Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun or Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire (Imperial Japanese Navy) [1868-1945]
IJNAS – Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun Kōkūtai or Navy Air Service of the Greater Japanese Empire (Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service) [1912-1945]
Interdiction – Term for air strikes against targets impeding enemy mobility and logistics
IP – Initial Point
IRON HAND – Code name for aircraft tasked with destroying enemy SAM and radar sites (see WILD WEASEL)
IRN – Voyenno-Morskoy Flot Rossiyskaya Imperiya or Imperial Russian Navy [1696-1917]
JCS – United States Joint Chiefs of Staff [1942-Present]
JG – Jagdgeschwader or German Hunting Squadron
Ju – Junkers Flugzeug-und Motorenwerk or Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works, Ltd. [1895-1969]
JUBILEE – Code name for the Allied landings in Dieppe, France [1942]
JUGGLER – Code name for USAAF bombing of the ball-bearing plants of Schweinfurt, Germany, the Messerschmitt plants of Regensburg, Germany, and the Messerschmitt plants of Wiener Neustädt, Austria [1943] (see POINTBLANK)
KIA – Killed in Action
KGB – Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti or Soviet Committee for State Security [1954-1991]
KM – Kriegsmarine or German War Navy [1935-1945]
Knickebein – “Crooked Leg;” German nickname for blind-bombing system developed by the Telefunken Co.
KPA – Königlich Preußische Armee or Royal Prussian Army [1701-1871]
KPAAF – Chosŏn Inmin Kun Kongun or Korean Peoples Army Air Forces [1947-Present]
LICHTENSTEIN – Code name for German airborne fighter interception radar in Second World War
LINEBACKER – Code name for interdiction campaign against North Vietnamese Easter Offensive [1972]
LINEBACKER II – Code name for strategic bombing of North Vietnam to force the release of American POWS and an agreement at current peace talks [1972]
Lucky Bastards Club – Slang term for airmen who have completed their tour-of-duty
LW – Luftwaffe or German Air Force; also known as GAF [1933-1946; 1956-Present]
LZ – Luftschiff Zeppelin or Airship Zeppelin [1908-1945]
MAAF – Mediterranean Allied Air Forces [1944-1945]
MAC – United States Military Airlift Command [1966-1992]
MACAF – Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force [1943-1945]
Mackay Trophy – A yearly honor bestowed by the NAA for military aviation achievement in the US [1911-Present]
MACV – Military Assistance Command Vietnam [1962-1973]
MAGIC – Code name for Allied decryptions of Japanese intelligence
MASAF – Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force [1943-1945]
MATAF – Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force [1943-1945]
MATS – United States Military Air Transport Service [1948-1966]
MATTERHORN – Code name for Allied creation and supply of 20AF bases in China [1944]
MCAS – United States Marine Corps Air Station
Me – Messerschmitt, Inc. [1938-1968]
MEETINGHOUSE – Code name for USAAF firebombing of Tokyo [1945]
MG – Machine Gun
MGB – Ministerstvo gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti or Soviet Ministry for State Security [1946-1953]
MIA – Missing in Action
MiG – Mikoyan and Gurevich OKB [1939-Present]
MN – Marine Nationale or French Navy [1624-Present]
MONDSCHEINSONATE – Or Moonlight Sonata; code name for German bombing of Coventry, England [1940]
MONICA – Code name for British airborne radar used to warn tail gunners of approaching German aircraft
MTO – Mediterranean Theater of Operations [1942-1945]
Nazi – Nationalsozialismus or German National Socialism
NAA – US National Aeronautic Association [1905-Present]
NJG – Nachtjagdgeschwader or German Night Hunting Squadron
NKVD – Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del or Soviet People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs [1934-1946]
OD – Olive Drab, the color usually prescribed as camouflage for US Army aircraft
OKB – Opytnoe Konstructorskoe Byuro or Russian Experimental Design Bureau
OKH – Oberkommando der Heer or Supreme High Command of the German Army
OKL – Oberkommando der Luftwaffe or Supreme High Command of the German Air Force
OKM – Oberkommando der Marine or Supreme High Command of the German Navy
OKW – Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or Supreme High Command of the German Defense Forces
OSS – Allied Office of Strategic Services [1942-1945]
OVERLORD – Code name for Allied landings in northern France [1944]
PAC – Pacific Area Command [1947-Present]
PAPERCLIP – Code name for OSS recruitment of Nazi scientists [1945-1947]
PAVN – Quân dội Nhân dân Việt Nam or People’s Army of Vietnam; also known as NVA for North Vietnamese Army [1944-Present]
Pe – Petlyakov OKB [1936-1946]
PM – Prime Minister
POINTBLANK – Code name for Allied strikes designed to aid in the achievement of air superiority prior to the invasion of France [1943-1944]
POL – Petroleum/Oil/Lubrication
POW – Prisoner of War
Pres. – President
PTO – Pacific Theater of Operations [1942-1945]
PTT – Post-target turn; aerial maneuver where an aircraft violently turns after bomb-drop to avoid nuclear blast
RA – Italian Regia Aeronautica or Royal Air Force [1923-1946]
RAF – British Royal Air Force [1918-Present]
RAMROD – Code name for bomber escort missions
RCM – Radio Countermeasures
RE – Regio Esercito or Italian Royal Army [1861-1946]
RED FLAG – USAF advanced air combat training course [1974-Present]
REDWING – Code name for fusion-based nuclear weapons tests at Bikini Atoll [1956]
RFC – British Royal Flying Corps [1912-1918]
RIO – Radar Information Officer; though technically a USN term, it is often applied to all airborne radar operators
RKKA – Raboche-Krest’yanskaya Krasnaya Armiya or Soviet Worker’s & Peasants’ Red Army [1918-1946]
RLM – Reichsluftfahrtministerium or German Ministry of Aviation [1933-1945]
RM – British Corps of Royal Marines [1923-Present]
RM – Italian Regia Marina or Royal Navy [1861-1946]
RMS – British Royal Mail Ship [1840-Present]
RMVP – Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or German Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda [1933-1945]
RN – British Royal Navy [1660-Present]
RNAS – British Royal Navy Air Service [1914-1918]
ROCA – Zhōnghuá Mínguó Lùjūn or Republic of China Army [1924-Present]
ROCN – Zhōnghuá Mínguó Hǎijūn or Republic of China Navy [1924-Present]
ROE – Rules of engagement
ROLLING THUNDER – Code name for bombing campaign against North Vietnam intended to destroy North Vietnamese support for insurgents in the South without invading the North or bordering countries [1965-1968]
ROUNDUP – Code name for aborted Allied invasion in Northern France [1943]
SA – Sovetskaja Armija or Soviet Army [1946-1991]
SAC – Strategic Air Command [1946-1992]
SAM – Surface to Air Missile
SAN ANTONIO – Code name for USAAF bombing of Tokyo [1944]
SCAP – Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers; Allied commander for occupation of Japan [1945-1951]
SHAEF – Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force [1944-1945]
SILVERPATE – USAAF program to save weight on Boeing B-29s by removing gunnery systems
SKW – Schweinfurter Präzisions Kugellagerwerke or Schweinfurt Precision Ball-Bearing Works
SLEDGEHAMMER – Code name for aborted Allied invasion in Northern France [1942]
SNAFU – Slang term for “Situation Normal: All Fucked Up”
SOAPSUDS – Original code name for USAAF low-level strike on Ploesti
SPAD – Société pour l’Aviation et ses Dérivés (Society for Aircraft and its Derivatives) [1911-1936]
SUSFU – Slang for “Situation Unchanged: Still Fucked Up”
SRG – USAF Strategic Reconnaissance Group
TAC – USAF Tactical Air Command [1946-1992]
Terrorfiegers – “Terror Fliers;” RMVP Minster P. Joseph Goebbels-coined term for Allied bomber crews
TIDAL WAVE – Code name for USAAF low-level strike on Ploesti, Romania [1943]
TIP-TOW – Code name for USAF project wherein escort fighters piggy-back off of the bombers by attaching wingtip-to-wingtip [1950-1953]
TOM-TOM – Code name for improved variant of USAF TIP-TOW project [1953-1956]
TOP GUN – Slang for USN Fighter Weapons School [1969-Present]
TORCH – Code name for Allied invasion of French North Africa [1942]
TRA – British Telecommunications Research Establishment [1935-1953]
Tu – Tupolev OKB [1922-Present]
ULTRA – Code name for Allied decryption of German intelligence
UNC – United Nations Command
US – United States of America [1776-Present]
USA – United States Army [1775-Present]
USAF – United States Air Force [1947-Present]
USAAC – United States Army Air Corps [1926-1942]
USAAF – United States Army Air Forces [1942-1947]
USAAS – United States Army Air Service [1918-1926]
USAFFE – United States Army Forces in the Far East [1941-1946]
USASC – United States Army Signal Corps [1863-Present]
USASTAF – United States Strategic Air Forces-Pacific [1945-1945]
USMC – United States Marine Corps [1775-Present]
USN – United States Navy [1775-Present]
USSR – Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [1922-1991]
USSTAF – United States Strategic Air Forces-Europe [1944-1945]
V-Weapon – Vergeltungswaffen or German Reprisal Weapon
VA – Vozdushnaya Armiya or Soviet Air Army
VNAF – Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa or South Vietnamese Air Force; also known as SVAF [1955-1975]
VP – Vice President
VPAF – Không quân Nhân dân Việt Nam or North Vietnamese People’s Air Force; also known as NVAF for North Vietnamese Air Force [1944-Present]
VULCAN – Code name for project to develop 20mm rotary cannon, resulting in the GE M61.
VVS – Voenno-Vozdushnye Сily or Military Air Forces of the Soviet Union; also known as SAF for Soviet Air Force [1918-1991]
WILD WEASEL – Code name for aircraft tasked with destroying enemy SAM and radar sites; though technically a USAF term, it is often applied to all operations against SAM and radar sites
WINDOW – British code-name for chaff in Second World War
WNF – Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke or Wiener Neustädt Aircraft Works
WSO – Weapons System Officer (see RIO)
WÜRZBURG – Code name for low-UHF band gun-laying German radar in Second World War
XO – Executive Officer
Yak – Yakovlev OKB [1934-Present]
ZAUNKOENIG – Or Wren; Code name for German bombardment of the Russo-US base at Poltava [1944]
ZERBERUS – Or Cerberus; Code name for German naval breakout of Brest, France for their bases in Germany [1942]