SEAL Team

GLOSSARY

• AO - Area of operations

• Bagram - U.S. Air Force base in Afghanistan. The base has since been turned over to the Afghan military. During the war, Bagram housed the only U.S. Military Level III trauma center in Afghanistan.

• Brass - Naval Command

• BUD/S - Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training is the 26-week basic course of SEAL instruction. Described in the military lexicon as “demanding physically and mentally,” dropout rates of 80-90% are not uncommon. It is the crucible in which SEALS are made.

• Burn In - As a verb, it describes a parachute malfunction. A total burn-in usually results in a bad case of “dirt poisoning.”

• CACO - Casualty Assistance Calls Officer

• Cake Eater - Derogatory term for Navy officers. They are this nicknamed because they have “cushy desk jobs,” eat a lot of cake, and aren’t on the front lines taking fire.

• Charlie Mike - Continuing Mission

• COD - Call of Duty

• CWO - Chief Warrant Officer

• DADT - Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell - The military’s official policy on gays serving in the armed forces. DADT policy was in place between February 28, 1994 – September 20, 2011

• DEVGRU - Naval Special Warfare Developmental Group, also known as Seal Team Six.

• DOD - Department of Defense

• Double Tap - Two quick gunshots typically to the chest at center mass, a.k.a the heart or the head.

• Down Range - Combat Zone

• DUSTWUN - Duty Status: Whereabouts Unknown

• RTB - Return to Base

• E&E Kit - Escape and Evade Kit. There are standard items, but most people customize them to fit their needs and area of operation.

• Exfil - Exfiltration

• Forward Deployed - being deployed to the front lines, i.e. you’re getting shot at or you’re at a forward operating base.

• Forward Operating Base - a military base near the front lines of combat.

• Frog Hog - A female SEAL groupie

• Frogman - A nickname for Navy SEAL

• HAHO - High Altitude, High Opening. A method of parachute insertion where a ram-air parachute, opened at altitude, is flown toward the target. Great distances can be covered by this method.

• HALO - High Altitude, Low Opening. Converse of above on exiting high, the parachute is deployed at a low altitude directly over the target.

• HooYah - Class frogman yell. (“HooYah, HooYah, HooYah, HEY! Today’s gonna be another easy day!”)

• HUMINT - Human Intelligence

• HVT - High-Value Target

• IC - In charge. Preceded by a number shows team hierarchy. Ex. - 1IC = Team Leader, 2IC = 2nd in charge, etc.

• IFAK - Individual First Aid Kit

• In-country - taking place in a country that’s the focus of military activity.

• Infil - Infiltration

• ISR - Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance

• JAG - Judge Advocate General aka the military’s division of lawyers who prosecute offenses and defend the accused.

• J-Bad - Forward Operating Base in Jalalabad, Afghanistan

• JSOC - Joint Special Operations Command

• K-Bar - Navy issue diving and fighting knife. Also called the “rusty trusty.”

• Klick - One kilometer. Roughly 0.62 miles

• LZ - Landing Zone

• Lima Charlie - Loud & Clear

• Little Creek - U.S. Navy base in Virginia Beach

• LRMC - Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Affectionately nicknamed “Larmcy.” It’s the Level II trauma center for the U.S. Military overseas, but during the years of 2001 to 2014 it functioned as a Level I trauma center for injured servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• MP - Military Police

• NOD/NVD - Night Optical Device/Night Vision Device

• NOK - Next of Kin

• OCS - Officer Candidate School

• Op - A special warfare operation

• Oscar Mike - On the Move or On Mission

• PCS - Permanent Change of Station

• PMC - Private Military Contractor

• POS - Position

• POW - Prisoner of War

• QRF - U.S. Marine Quick Reaction Force

• RDC - Recruit Division Coordinator

• SAM - Surface to Air Missiles

• Sandbox - Military operations that take place in the Middle East

• SIGINT - Signal Intelligence

• Smooth Dog - As a noun, a slick-talking womanizer. As a verb, it means to talk your way out of a tough situation.

• Strap - Someone along for the ride on an operation who is not a Tier One Operator, or a member of the primary Seal team assigned to the operation.

• Tangos - Target

• Tinnitus - Ringing in the ears

• The Teams - The Navy Special Warfare Community.

• TOC - Tactical Operations Center. This can have its own call sign, depending on the mission.

• TTP - The Pakistani Taliban. The organization was originally named the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan. Various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border fall under their umbrella. Their goal is to remove power from the Pakistani government and military in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

• UCMJ - Uniform Code of Military Justice aka the law according to the U.S. Military.

• Vah Beach - A common nickname for Virginia Beach.

• Wilco - Will Comply

• Winchester - Out of ammunition or almost out of ammunition. The term comes from the single-shot lever action of a Winchester firearm.

• Zodiac - A type of boat Seals use