Acronym Glossary
ABP – Afghan Border Patrol
ADA – Air Defense Artillery
AEG – Air Expeditionary Group
AMTRACK – An amphibious troop transport vehicle used by the Marines
ANA – Afghan National Army
AO – Area of Operations
AOR – Area of Responsibility
AP – Armor Piercing
ASR – Alternate Supply Route
ASVAB – Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Competency test that all enlisted personnel must take prior to enlisting. It helps to determine what jobs that recruits are and are not eligible for.
AT4 – Shoulder fired, single-shot, recoilless anti-tank weapon
BAS – Battalion Aid Station
BCG – Birth Control Glasses. Standard military-issue glasses that get their nickname because they are unattractive. It is difficult to charm members of the opposite sex while wearing them.
BDA – Battle Damage Assessment
BDOC – Base Defense Operations Center
BDU – Battle Dressing Uniform
BIAP – Baghdad International Airport
BSA – Bilateral Security Agreement
BUD/S – Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training
BUMED – US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
CASREC – Casualty Receiving
CAG – Commander, Air Group
CG – Commanding General
CHU – Containerized Housing Unit
CJSOTF-A – Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan
CLS – Combat Lifesaver course
CNO – Chief of Naval Operations
COIN – Counter Insurgency
Conex Box – a large container designed for international shipping. These containers were fashioned into living quarters for personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
COP – Combat Outpost
C-RAT – Individual wet ration
CROWS – Common Remotely Operated Weapons Stations
CSH – Combat Surgical Hospital
CST – Cultural Support Team
CTM – Combat Trauma Management
DEA – Drug Enforcement Agency
DFAC – Dining Facility
DI – Drill Instructor
ECM – Electronic Counter-Measures
ECP – Entry Control Point
EOD – Explosive Ordnance Disposal
EPW – Enemy Prisoner of War
FMF – Fleet Marine Force. A warfare designation given by the Navy to Corpsman who have achieved proficiency with the Marines.
FMSS – Field Medical Service School. Training facility that Navy Corpsmen attended to learn field medicine and Marine Corps operations [later renamed Field Medical Training Battalion – FMTB].
FMTB – See FMSS.
FOB – Forward Operating Base
FOD – Foreign Objects and Debris
G-BOSS – Ground-Based Operational Surveillance System
GBU – Guided Bomb Unit
GWOT – Global War on Terrorism
HESCO Barrier – collapsible square or rectangular mesh barriers that are filled with earth and used to fortify bases. Named after the company that produces them.
HLZ – Helicopter Landing Zone
HME – Homemade Explosives
HSEP – Hospital Surgical Expansion Package
HVI/HVT – High Value Individual/High Value Target
IDF – Indirect Fire
IED – Improvised Explosive Device
IRAM – Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortars
ITB – Infantry Training Battalion. A nine week course immediately after boot camp to train Marine Corps infantry personnel.
JAG – Judge Advocate General
KA-BAR – tactical knife
LAAD – Low Altitude Air Defense
LAV – Light Armored Vehicle [Marine Corps]. An eight-wheeled, amphibious assault vehicle most often used by Light Armored Reconnaissance units.
LAW – Light Anti-Tank Weapon
LPO – Leading Petty Officer
LSA – Logistics Support Area
MARSOC – Marine Special Operations Command
MACE – Military Acute Concussion Evaluation
MCMAP – Marine Corps Martial Arts Program
MCRD – Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Marine Corps basic training facility. There are two: one in San Diego, California and one in Parris Island, South Carolina.
MCT – Marine Combat Training. A school attended by non-infantry Marines immediately after boot camp to learn basic infantry techniques.
MEDCAP – Medical Civil Action Program
MEDEVAC – Medical Evacuation
MEF – Marine Expeditionary Force
MEU – Marine Expeditionary Unit
MIDRATS – Midnight Rations
MiG – a Russian-manufactured military aircraft
MOS – Military Occupational Specialty [used by the Army, Marines and Air Force]
MOUT – Military Operations in Urban Terrain
MRAP – Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle
MRE – Meal Ready to Eat
MSR – Main Supply Route
MSSG – Marine Service Support Group
MWR – Morale, Welfare and Recreation (Navy and Marine Corps)
NAVPERS – Navy Personnel
NBC – Nuclear Biological Chemical
NCO – Non-Commissioned Officer. All enlisted ranks of E4 and above are Non-Commissioned Officers.
NETC – Naval Education and Training Command
NJP – Non-Judicial Punishment
NSW – Naval Special Warfare
ODA – Operational Detachments-Alpha (also known as Special Operations detachment “A-Teams”)
OIC – Office In Charge
OJT – On the Job Training
OP – Observation Post
OPSEC – Operational Security
OPTEMPO – Operations Tempo
OSUT – One Station Unit Training
PB – Patrol Base
PC – Plane Captain (Navy)
PCS – Permanent Change of Station
PFT, PFA, PRT – Physical Fitness Tests in the Navy and Marine Corps
PMARCHP – Patient safety, Massive hemorrhaging, Airway, Respiratory, Circulation, Head trauma & hypothermia, Pain management and patient evacuation
POL – Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants
POSREP – Position Report
PRT – Provincial Reconstruction Team
PSD – Personal Security Detail
PT – Physical Training
PX – Post Exchange. A shopping center on military bases.
QRF – Quick Reaction Force
Rate/Rating – Pay grade and occupational specialty in the Navy
RCE – Regional Command East
RDC – Recruit Division Commander
RIP – Ranger Indoctrination Program
ROE – Rules of Engagement
ROK – Republic of Korea [South Korea]
ROTC – Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
SAS – Special Air Service (British Special Forces)
SAW – Squad Automatic Weapon
SERE – Survival, Evasion Resistance and Escape. SERE School teaches service members how to survive as a prisoner of war.
SOCOM – Special Operations Command
SOI – School of Infantry [Marine Corps infantry training school. There are two – one at Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Geiger at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.]
SOP – Standard Operating Procedure
TC – Team Commander
TDY – Temporary Duty Assignment
UDP – Unit Deployment Program
UXO – Unexploded Ordnance
VCP – Vehicle Check Point
VETCAP – Veterinary Civil Action Program
VSO – Village Stability Operation
VSP – Village Stability Platform