otherwise engaged stands shoulder to shoulder on the flight deck and slowly walks from one end of the flight deck to the other, searching for FOD.
Fox: Tactical shorthand for a missile firing. Fox one indicates a heatseeking missile, Fox two an infrared missile, and Fox three a radar guided missile.
GCI: Ground Control Intercept, a procedure used in the Soviet air forces. Primary control for vectoring the aircraft in on enemy targets and other fighters is vested in a guy on the ground, rather than in the cockpit where it belongs.
GIB:
GMT: Greenwich Mean Time.
green shirts:
Handler: Officer located on the flight-deck level responsible for ensuring that aircraft are correctly positioned, “spotted,” on the flight deck. Coordinates the movements of aircraft with yellow gear (small tractors that tow aircraft and other related gear) from maintenance areas to catapults and from the flight deck to the hangar bar via the elevators. Speaks frequently with the air boss.
HARMS: Anti-radiation missiles that home in on radar sites.
Homeplate: Tactical call sign for
Hot: In reference to a sonobuoy, holding enemy contact.
Huffer: Yellow gear located on the flight deck that generates compressed air to start jet engines. Most Navy aircraft do not need a huffer to start engines, but it can be used in emergencies or for maintenance.
Hunter: Call sign for the S-3 squadron embarked on the
ICS: Interior Communications System. The private link between a pilot and a RIO, or the telephone system internal to a ship.
Inchopped: Navy talk for a ship entering a defined area of water, e.g. inchopped the Med.
IR: Infrared, a method of missile homing.
isothermal: A layer of water that has a constant temperature with increasing depth. Located below the thermocline, where increase in depth correlates to decrease in temperature. In the isothermal layer, the primary factor affecting the speed of sound in water is the increase in pressure with depth.
JBD: Jet Blast Deflector. Panels that pop up from the flight deck to block the exhaust emited by aircraft.
USS
leading petty officer: The senior petty officer in a work-center, division, or department, responsible to the leading chief petty officer for the performance of the rest of the group.
LINK:
lofargram: Low Frequency Analyzing and Recording display. Consists of lines arrayed by frequency on the horizontal axis and time on the vertical axis. Displays sound signals in the water in a graphic fashion for analysis by ASW technicians.
long green table: A formal inquiry board. It’s better to be judged by six than carried by six.
machinists mate: enlisted technician that runs and repairs most engineering equipment onboard a ship. Abbreviated as “MM” e.g. MM1 Sailor is a Petty Officer First Class Machinists Mate.
MDI: Mess Decks Intelligence. The heartbeat of the rumor mill inboard onboard a ship and the definitive source for all information.
MEZ: Missile Engagement Zone. Any hostile contacts that make it into the MEZ are engaged only with missiles. Friendly aircraft must stay clear in order to avoid a blue on blue engagement, i.e. fratricide.
MiG: A production line of aircraft manufactured by Mikoyan in Russia. MiG fighters are owned by many nations around the world.
Murphy, law of: The factor most often not considered sufficiently in military planning. If something can go wrong, it will. Naval corollary: Shit happens.
national assets: Surveillance and reconnaisance resources of the most sensitive nature, e.g. satellites.
NATOPS: The bible for operating a particular aircraft.
NFO: Naval Flight Officer.
nobrainer: Used to signify an evolution or decision that should require absolutely no significant intellectual capabilities beyond that of a paramecium.
Nomex: Fire-resistant fabric used to make “shirts.”
NSA: National Security Agency. Primarily responsible for evaluating electronic intercepts and sensitive intelligence.
OOD: Officer of the Day, in charge of the safe handling and maneuvering of the ship. Supervises the conning officer and other underway watchstanders. Ashore, the OOD may be responsible for a shore station after normal working hours.
Operations specialist: Formerly radar operators, back in the old days. Enlisted technician who operates combat detection, tracking, and engagement systems, except for sonar. Abbreviated OS.
OTH: Over the horizon, usually used to refer to shooting something you can’t see. Targeting can be provided by virtually any other military platforms, including aircraft, satellites, or ground forces, or can be based on latitude and longitude.
P-3’s: Shore-based anti-submarine warfare and surface surveillance long-range aircraft. The closest you can get to being in the air force while still being in the navy.
Phoenix: Long-range anti-air missile carried by US fighters.
Pipeline: Navy term used to describe a series of training commands, schools, or necessary education for a particular speciality. The fighter pipeline, for example, includes Basic Flight then fighter training at the RAG (Replacement Air Group), a training squadron.
Punching out: Ejecting from an aircraft.
purple shirts:
PXO: Prospective Executive Officer — the officer ordered into a command as the relief for the currect XO. In most squadrons, the XO eventually “fleets up” to become the commanding officer of the squadron, an excellent system that maintains continuity within an operational command — and a system the surface navy does not use.
rack: A bed. A rack-monster is a sailor who sports pillow burns and spends entirely too much time asleep while his or her shipmates are working.
red shirts:
RHIP: Rank Hath Its Privileges.
RIO: Radar Intercept Officer.
RTB: Return to base.
S-3: Command and control aircraft sold to the navy as an anti-submarine aircraft. Good at that, too. Within the last several years, redesignated as “sea control” aircraft, with individual squadrons referred to as torpedo-bombers. Ah, the search for a mission goes on. But still a damned fine aircraft.
SAM: Surface to air missile, e.g. the Standard missile fired by most cruisers. Also indicates a land-based site.
SAR: Sea-Air Rescue.
SCIF: Specially Compartmented Information. Onboard a carrier, used to designated the highly classified compartment immediately next to TFCC.
