CANISTER ROUND: Tank main gun or artillery round containing hundreds or thousands of small steel balls. Used against attacking personnel, “soft-skin” vehicles, or to clear a street.
CAP: Combat Air Patrol; fighter aircraft (manned or UAVs) flying missions to protect other aircraft with specialized roles, such as ground attack or reconnaissance. A mission Air Force pilots love when faced with inferior enemies.
CHART: Christian Heritage Advance Rescue Team. Biblical-archaeology reconaissance element deployed by MOBIC forces.
COMPUTER PLAGUES: Later-generation computer viruses that, after penetrating a system, can overcome all internal defenses.
DEUCE: Nickname for the primary staff officer for intelligence at all tactical and operational levels; from the formal nomenclature “G-2.”
DRONE: 1.) Nickname for an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV. In this war, they aren’t passive drones, but, once launched, can think for themselves, swarm “instinctively,” locate targets, act singly or as an integrated force, and duel with other UAVs or manned aircraft. 2.) Any Air Force general.
DSI-40 SATELLITE: Multipurpose intelligence-gathering satellite.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM: The invisible realm of wavelengths through which systems communicate. Disruptions, such as jamming, can interfere with everything from radio reception to satellite transmissions, depending on the frequencies attacked and the sophistication of the attacker’s weapons.
EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse. Destructive wave generated by a nuclear detonation or simluation thereof. Burns out electronic circuits to a catastrophic, irreparable degree.
EMP MINE: A landmine designed to simulate an EMP wave on a local level.
EXPLORER ATGM: A French-designed, Russian-enhanced antitank missile system with an effective range of eight kilometers maximum, but which detects a target as early as eight and a half to nine kilometers away. Can be programmed to launch itself, taking the human being out of the decisionmaking process. After lock-on, it ignores all additional commands. Built under license or pirated by various countries, including China, Pakistan, and South Africa.
FAO: Foreign Area Officer. A U.S. Army officer trained in foreign languages and culture. A good FAO will go alone into enemy territory to support his commander.
FIFTY CAL.: M-2.50 caliber machine gun, nicknamed “Ma Deuce.” Introduced into U.S. Army service early in the 20th century, it remains the world’s most effective and most reliable heavy machine gun.
FRAGO: Fragmentary Order. A brief, swiftly issued outline of a forthcoming order. Intended to give subordinate commanders and staffs additional time to prepare for a mission. Sometimes preceded by a Warning Order. Followed by a full OPORD, or Operations Order, once the controlling headquarters staff has completed it.
G-2: Primary staff officer for intelligence at the division and corps levels. Also known as “the Two,” or “the Deuce.”
G-3: Primary staff officer for operations — combat activities — at the division and corps levels. Also known as “the Three,” or “that sonofabitch.”
G-4: Primary staff officer for logistics. Has to supply the elaborate schemes concocted by the G-3. Also known as “the Four.”
GAB: “Get-Ashore Boats.” Hastily designed and built landing craft deployed in five variants, from a small Number One GAB that carries a reinforced platoon to a Number Five GAB that can land multiple armored vehicles or large quantities of supplies. Number Four and Number Five GABs can extend their own tactical docking facilities to cover a to-the-beach distance of up to thirty-five meters. A U.S. Marine Corps initiative, but crewed by U.S. Navy personnel.
GHOST NETTING: Breakthrough-technology camouflage netting that, once connected to its portable power supply, automatically reads and blends in with the local environment.
GPS: Global Positioning System. Before this war, it has been effectively jammed, with numerous key satellites physically destroyed. Weapons systems reliant upon GPS for guidance or locational data no longer work.
GUARDIANS: Personal bodyguards and support personnel devoted to the MOBIC commander they serve.
HE ROUND: High-explosive round for a tank, artillery piece, or mortar.
HHC: Headquarters Company in a battalion, to which all the unit’s noncombat resources are assigned. Affectionately known to combat troops as “Hindquarters Company.”
HOLCOM: Holy Land Command. Nicknamed “Hokum” by the troops.
HUMINT: Human Intelligence. Information gathered by or from human sources. Of uneven reliability and dependent upon the quality of the source or observer, but often more helpful than data collected through technical means.
HUNTER ATGM: Antitank guided missile system, usually deployed along with the longer- range Explorer ATGM. Maximum effective range of six kilometers, with target identification and lock-on at six and half kilometers. After launch, ignores all additional commands. Can operate robotically, without human control. Built internationally from pirated designs.
HYPERJAMMERS: Late-generation jammers that can wipe out all communications in a sector and, in some cases, physically destroy electronic circuits.
IDF: Israeli Defense Force, the military forces of the former state of Israel.
IEF: Israeli Exile Force, the successor to the IDF after the Iranian-launched nuclear holocaust and subsequent Arab conquest of Israel.
KILLER DRONE: Also known as a “kamikaze drone” by the troops. A small UAV programmed to seek out targets with specific profiles and crash into them, detonating either a penetrating or high- explosive warhead. Can loiter for hours over the battlefield until a target is detected.
LOC: Line of communication. Military parlance for a road, rail link, or sea route, or a complex of such routes.
LONG-DISTANCE KINETIC-ENERGY ROUND: “Lima-Delta,” a tank round designed to destroy other armored vehicles or similar targets.
LOOPHOLE AT (ANTITANK) TECHNOLOGY: Sophisticated programs that allow late- generation antitank missiles to immediately identify gaps in the electronic defenses of an enemy. In wide use in this war.
MA DEUCE: An M-2.50 caliber heavy machine gun.
MOBIC: The Military Order of the Brothers in Christ. A crusading American military or ga ni za tion originally founded on the structure of the National Guard in the wake of the nuclear destruction by terrorists of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Its leaders are determined that the MOBIC will become the sole military service of the United States.
MORPHING PARASITE: A program that can enter an electronic network and simulate any aspect of its control mechanisms to achieve an attacker’s desired ends. Cutting-edge versions can be broadcast at an enemy but can penetrate only systems with a gap or weakness in their shielding.
MR. NO-SHOULDERS: A snake.
MUSSIE-BABBLE: Arabic.
