BN: Bombardier/Navigator. The right seat position in an A-6 Intruder.
Bogie: Unidentified radar target.
CAG: Commander Air Group. Commanding officer of a carrier air wing. The title, which rhymes with 'rag,' is left over from the days when carriers had air groups rather than air wings.
CAP: Combat Air Patrol.
Carrier Battle Group: One aircraft carrier and air wing, with between 5 and 7 support ships.
CATCC: Carrier Air Traffic Control Center, pronounced 'Cat-see.' Nerve center of Carrier Air Operations on the 0–3 level, responsible for traffic control outside Pried-Fly's 5-mile radius.
CIC: Combat Information Center. Department where combat is monitored and directed. Also called 'Combat.'
CINCPAC: Commander-in-Chief, PACific. The admiral in command of Pacific Naval forces.
COD: Carrier On-board Delivery. Aircraft used to carry mail, personnel, and supplies to a carrier at sea.
CVIC: Carrier (CV) Intelligence Center, pronounced 'civic.' An intelligence briefing room. Also where addresses by senior officers are televised for the benefit of the ship's crew.
DCI: Director, Central Intelligence. Head of American intelligence agencies, including both the CIA and the NSA.
DCO: Damage Control Officer.
DMZ: Demilitarized Zone. Refers to the no-man's-land between North and South Korea.
E&E: Escape and Evasion.
ECM: Electronic Counter Measures. Jamming and other strategies designed to interfere with enemy attempts to locate, identify, and track friendly aircraft.
Element: In fighter tactics, a two-plane unit, a leader and his wingman.
EW: Electronic warfare.
FAC: Forward Air Controller. Officer in the air or on the ground who calls in and coordinates ground attacks by air support units.
Fantan: NATO code for Nanchang Q-5 ground attack fighter.
Feet Dry: Call from an aircraft passing from over water to over land. As opposed to 'feet wet.'
Fishbed: NATO code for MiG-21.
5-MC: Loudspeaker on carrier flight deck.
Flag Bridge: Bridge set aside for use of the admiral in command of a Naval squadron.
Flag Plot: Mapping and operations room set aside for use by the admiral commanding a Naval squadron.
Flight: In fighter tactics, two elements, four aircraft.
FLIR: Forward-Looking InfraRed. IR targeting system allowing bombing runs at night or in bad weather.
Fox One: Radio code for launch of a radar-guided missile such as Phoenix or Sparrow.
Fox Two: Radio code for launch of a heat-seeker missile such as Sidewinder.
Grail: NATO code name for SA-7 Strela, shoulder-launched SAM.
G2: Intelligence.
Homeplate: Radio code for the carrier.
HUD: Heads Up Display. System of projecting flight and targeting information on a screen between the pilot and his canopy, or, in some cases, on the canopy itself.
Hush Puppy: Slang for S&W Mark 22 9-mm suppressed automatic pistol favored by SEAL teams in covert operations. The name came from their use to silence guard dogs in Vietnam.
IBS: Inflatable Boat, Small. Rubber boat favored by SEALs and other covert forces. Sizes vary from four to fourteen men.
ICS: Intercom system aboard two-man fighters.
IFF: Identification Friend or Foe. Known informally as the 'parrot,' the device transmits coded signals which allow identification on friendly radar screens as an aid to traffic control.
Immelmann: A vertical ACM; the aircraft twists as it climbs straight up, exiting at the top in an unexpected direction.
JBD: Jet Blast Deflector.
KH-12: Latest in a series of extremely sophisticated spy satellites. 'KH' is shorthand for 'Keyhole,' the security designation for the entire project.
Kimchi: Korean delicacy prepared by soaking cabbage in various, spicy potions and burying it in a clay pot for days or weeks. Smells like rotten cabbage.
KorCom: Korean Communist.
LCAC: Landing Craft, Air Cushion. Marine landing hovercraft which rides above water or land on a cushion of air.
Loose Deuce: Air tactic favored by American pilots, allowing for great flexibility within individual elements.
LSO: Landing Signals Officer, responsible for monitoring incoming aircraft during carrier landings.
MAC: Military Armistice Commission. Group which oversees Korean armistice, meeting regularly to discuss incidents and violations along the DMZ.
Mangler: Deck Handler, in Flight Deck Control on the 0–4 level. Responsible for moving aircraft between flight deck and hangar deck. Also 'Handler.'
MEU: Marine Expeditionary Unit. Formerly MAU, the smallest air-ground task force, normally built around a reinforced battalion and a Marine air squadron.
MiG: Any of a series of fighter interceptors from the Soviet design team of Mikoyan- Gurevich. Thousands have been exported all over the world, and many are built in third-world countries under license. Loosely: any Russian-made aircraft.
Mike Boat: Smallest Naval landing craft, also known as an LMC. Carries 25 Marines.
MRE: Meal, Ready to Eat. Packaged, dehydrated field rations for U.S. combat troops.
Mule: Flat-topped, yellow tractor used to tow aircraft aboard a carrier.
NFO: Naval Flight Officer. Commissioned member of an aircrew other than a pilot. RIOs are NFOs.
NPIC: National Photo Interpretation Center. Department in Washington, D.C., which receives and analyzes photographic reconnaissance.
NSA: National Security Agency. Secret organization based at Fort Meade, Maryland, and headed by the DCI which is charged with electronic signals intercepts and decoding.
1-MC: Internal loudspeakers on carrier.
0–1 Deck, 0–2, etc.: Decks on a carrier are identified by their location relative to the hangar deck which is the 0–1 level. The next deck up is the 0–2 level, and so on going up through the various decks in the island. The 0–3 level is directly below the flight deck, while the flight deck itself is 0–4. Going down, the deck immediately below the hangar deck is the first deck, the next is the second deck, and so on down toward the ship's keel.
PLAT: Pilot Landing Aid Television. Closed-circuit channel on a carrier used to monitor, record, and critique pilot landings.
Pried-Fly: Primary Flight Control.
RAG: Reserve Air Group stationed in U.S. from which new aviators are drawn.
