Stalin's organ

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Stalin's organ.wav

Calque of German Stalinorgel, in reference to its resemblance to a pipe organ and its distinctive sound.

(military, World War II, slang) A Katyusha rocket launcher.


glass chin

(boxing, figurative) Synonym of glass jaw


SOFA

international relations
international relations

(international relations, military, law, politics) Acronym of status of forces agreement, an agreement that allows long-term garrisoning of foreign troops in the host country


SCIF

w:sensitive compartmented information facility

(military, government) Acronym of sensitive compartmented information facility


throw-weight

en-noun

throw-weight (countable and uncountable, plural throw-weights)

throw-weights (plural)
throw weight (alternative)

The Soviet arsenal of deliverable nuclear weapons was significantly smaller than the American one in 1960, but grew fast. By 1964 it had reached about 1,000 megatonnes, or about 13 per cent greater than the US 'throw weight' in that year, but less than the Americans had had in 1964.

2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 76:

(military) A measure of the effective weight of ballistic missile payloads, given in kilograms or tonnes.

(military, nautical) A measure of the total weight of projectiles that can be delivered by a single broadside.


SVR

From Russian СВР (SVR), initialism of Служба Внешней Разведки (Služba Vnešnej Razvedki, “Foreign Intelligence Service”).

(initialism, Russia, politics, espionage, international relations) The civilian external intelligence directorate of Russia

СВР

Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, Foreign Intelligence Service


Stohwasser

Stohwassers (plural)
stohwasser (alternative)

"When I heard your cry and ran forward, and saw your head twisted half-off and your stohwassers kickin' in the air, I thought we were one short."

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

(military) A type of leather covering for the lower leg.


missile gap

Coordinate term: bomber gap

(US, military, historical) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with those of the United States.


bomber gap

Coordinate term: missile gap

(US, military, historical) The perceived superiority during the Cold War of the USSR's ability to deploy jet-powered strategic bombers.


LSST

(US, military, law) Initialism of legal services support team.


NDF

Namibian Defence Force
w:Namibian Defence Force

(Namibia, military) Initialism of Namibian Defence Force.


fascine knife

From fascine + knife, from one use of such knives which was to cut wood for fascines and gabions (“cylindrical wicker baskets or cages filled with earth or stones and used in fortifications, etc.”).

2000 Canteens. 600 Camp Kettles. 200 Fascine Knives. […] It is to be presumed the troops will be provided with these articles.

1779 March 2 (date written), George Washington, “To Major General Nathanael Greene”, in John C[lement] Fitzpatrick, editor, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745–1799 […], volume 14 (January 12, 1779 – May 5, 1779), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published August 1956, →OCLC, page 178:

The [artillery] men have a short rifle and bayonet, and carry also a fascine knife; 10 rounds of ammunition in the pouch.

[1876], W[illiam] S[mith] Cooke, compiler, “Servia”, in The Ottoman Empire and its Tributary States (Excepting Egypt), with a Sketch of Greece, London: W[illiam] Clowes and Son, […], →OCLC, page 162:

The private should have a side arm of the following description: A short sword, about 20 inches long and 2½ inches wide at the grip; the blade to be ground sharp on one side and provided with saw teeth on the other; have a brass guard and buckhorn grip, and to be carried in a leather scabbard on a frog and common black belt. This is called in Europe a fascine knife, and a very useful implement it is in camp and on the field.

1888 September 29, “Toujours Pret” [pseudonym], “The Hospital Corps [letter to the editor]”, in The United States Army and Navy Journal, and Gazette of the Regular and Volunteer Forces, volume XXVI, number 5 (number 1316 overall), New York, N.Y.: [Army and Navy Journal, Inc.], →OCLC, page 93, column 3:

Verily the man must feel as though he were in a dream; only a short time before, at a shoemaker's ordinary work, the knocking of his hammer mingling with the sighs of a sick wife, and now, fascine knife on hip, helmet on closely cropped head, officers' commands in ear, crowds of people, drums, music, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive!—to march far away to Bohemia; […]

1889, Cornelia McFadden, chapter V, in The Seamstress of Stettin, Cincinnati, Oh.: Curtis & Jennings; New York, N.Y.: Eaton & Mains, →OCLC, pages 141–142:

[I]f he were furnished with a hundred natives—whom he would get from the population on the coast—supplied with axes and fascine-knives, he would undertake to lead a caravan of beasts of burden to the Kenia without any delay worth mentioning.

1891, Theodor Hertzka, chapter II, in Arthur Ransom, transl., Freeland: A Social Anticipation, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, book I, page 10:

Sappeur sections carry in addition a mattock or a pick apiece, and each ammunition carrier also carries a pick, a fascine knife, or a saw.

1911, [William] Balck, “The Formal Tactics of Infantry”, in Walter Krueger, transl., Tactics […], 4th edition, volumes I (Introduction and Formal Tactics of Infantry), Fort Leavenworth, Kan.: United States Cavalry Association, →OCLC, footnote ‡, page 39:

Later, some military fascine knives were made with saw-toothed backs, notably the Prussian M1810, M1841 and M1855 Faschinenmesser. Fascine knives were widely issued to engineers, pioneers and foot-artillerymen; smaller numbers were issued to other arms as circumstances dictated.

2021, Bill Harriman, “Development: Blades for Firearms”, in Martin Pegler, editor, The Bayonet (Weapon; 78), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN, page 28:

(military, weaponry, historical) A large, heavy knife or short sword used by 17th- to 19th-century artillery and infantry soldiers as a sidearm and a tool for cutting fascines (“cylindrical bundles of small sticks of wood, used for strengthening purposes”) and other things.

hukari

large, heavy knife or short sword formerly used by artillery and infantry soldiers as a sidearm and tool

砲兵刀 (ほうへいとう, hōhei gatana, literally “artilleryman’s knife”)


ebanzuke

(sumo) A banzuke illustrated with pictures of the wrestlers


fudadome

(sumo) sold out said of spectators' seats


hanamichi

(sumo) Either of the East or West paths that lead to the dohyo


harite

(sumo) A slap (strike with an open hand)


hazuoshi

(sumo) The act of pushing the opponent with hands beneath his armpits


hiwaza

(sumo) Any of passive several ways of winning because the opponent makes a mistake


itamiwake

(sumo) A draw due to the injury of one of the wrestlers


kadoban

(sumo) An ozeki who is in danger of demotion


kuisagaru

(sumo) A technique in which a wrestler lowers his centre of gravity and pushes his opponent out of the ring


maemitsu

(sumo) A grip on the front of the mawashi


makikae

(sumo) A quick change from an overarm to an underarm grip on the opponent's mawashi


nekodamashi

(sumo) The act of clapping the hands in order to distract one's opponent.


nodowa

From Japanese 喉輪 (literally “throat ring”).

(sumo) A thrust at the opponent's throat.


okamisan

From Japanese 女将さん (okami-san, literally “miss proprietress”).

bor

(sumo) The wife of a stablemaster who oversees all activities except coaching


sewanin

(sumo) A retired wrestler who assists at a stable.


shimenawa

(sumo) A length of straw that lines the ring (used as ritual purification in shinto)


shingitai

(sumo) The qualities of head, technique and body held to be essential for a successful wrestler


shonichi

(sumo) The first day of a basho, or the first win after a string of defeats


tegatana

From Japanese 手刀 (tegatana, “knife hand”).

(sumo) The ceremonial gesture made by a winning wrestler after receiving his prize money.


wakaimonogashira

(sumo) A retired wrestler who works with new recruits


zanbara

(sumo) hair that is loose and dishevelled and too short to be arranged into a chonmage


buck general

(US, military slang) A brigadier general.


bugger's grip

Humorous reference to their supposed use as handholds during anal sex.

(military, slang, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) Bushy sideburns.


bundleman

From bundle + -man, from the idea of their taking a bundle of possessions ashore when visiting their spouse.

(naval slang, historical) A married member of the navy.


chest candy

Coordinate term: scrambled eggs

(military, slang) Medals and ribbons worn on the chest.


training ground

en-noun

training ground (plural training grounds)

(sports, military) A place or ground used for training.


heavy artillery

(military) Large and powerful artillery, often large-caliber and large-distance.


wet heater

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(military, mechanical engineering) A torpedo engine where water is injected into the combustion chamber alongside fuel and compressed air or oxygen, cooling the engine and increasing its power through the production and expansion of steam.


dry heater

(military, mechanical engineering) A torpedo engine powered by the burning of fuel with compressed air or oxygen, which does not inject water into the combustion chamber for engine cooling and extra power.


ordnanceman

Ordnancemen stenciled bombs with “greetings” on behalf of friends and loved ones back home or slogans playing on beer and cigarette advertisements[…]

1993, Joseph T. Stanik, "Swift and Effective Retribution": The U.S. Sixth Fleet and the Confrontation with Qaddafi (The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series; 3), Naval Historical Center:

(military) A person responsible for storing, maintaining, and handling ordnance.


firecan

When the firecan jockeys have flown their blowtorches some 100,000 miles, the doctors take over for the ground physical.

1949, Popular Science, volume 155, number 6, page 120:


dual phenomenology

(US, military) The requirement for an incoming nuclear attack to be confirmed by both satellite and radar before retaliatory action is taken.


ship over

en-verb

ship over (third-person singular simple present ships over, present participle shipping over, simple past and past participle shipped over)

ships over (present singular third-person)
shipping over (participle present)
shipped over (participle past)
shipped over (past)

His friend had just shipped over in the Navy and was sporting a new hashmark, and talked Smokey into going to the recruiting office.

2002, Enlisted Naval Aviation Pilots, page 56:


meritorious mast

en-noun

meritorious mast (plural meritorious masts)

(naval) A modern version of the mast (naval disciplinary hearing) in which the commanding officer singles out a crewmember for formal discipline.


ruptured duck

(US military, slang) The Honorable Service Lapel Button, a military award bearing the image of an eagle.


Beretta

The officer fired his Beretta at the protesters.

The gun turned out to be an empty, dirty Beretta nine millimeter.

1993, Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower, HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP (2019), page 221:

(firearms) A firearm (especially a handgun) made by the Beretta company.


poncho liner

(US, military) An item of field equipment, made from quilted nylon with a polyester filling, that can be attached to a standard-issue poncho to provide additional warmth, or used alone as a blanket, sleeping bag or protective cover.


Rocks and Shoals

From the language of Article 4, Section 10, which prescribed the death penalty for "any person in the naval service...[who] intentionally or willfully suffers any vessel of the Navy to be stranded, or run upon rocks or shoals".

(US, naval, informal, historical) The Articles for the Government of the United States Navy.


teeth arm

During the recent hostilities all the teeth arms units of the Territorial Army were embodied for military service.

1967, Military Year-book, volume 3, page 37:

(military, slang, chiefly in the plural) Any branch of the military that engages in direct combat.


swab jockey

(US military, slang, derogatory) A member of the United States Navy.


open the range

en-verb

open the range (third-person singular simple present opens the range, present participle opening the range, simple past and past participle opened the range)

opens the range (present singular third-person)
opening the range (participle present)
opened the range (participle past)
opened the range (past)

Even after receiving the order to withdraw, the battle-cruiser squadron took several more hits before they managed to open the range.

In the confusion, Johnston manages another about-face and heads away to open the range, with its torpedoes spent.

2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 18:40 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03:

(military) To draw oneself or one's vehicles (warships, tanks, aircraft, etc.) out of range of the enemy's fire.


arresting gear

en-noun

arresting gear (countable and uncountable, plural arresting gears)

(aviation, military) A system used to quickly decelerate a landing aircraft, essential for landing on an aircraft carrier (although land-based airfields can also be equipped with arresting gear); the most common system consists of a series of transverse wire ropes designed to snag an aircraft's tailhook, connected to a hydraulic or mechanical energy-absorbing system, but other systems exist (typically only for use in an emergency situation) which use a net to slow down an aircraft.


squad bay

(US, military) A barracks for junior members of the Marine Corps.


administrative loading

(military) The loading of troops and equipment so as to make the maximal use of the available space, without regard to tactical considerations such as speed and convenience of unloading.


tactical loading

(military) The loading of troops and equipment in a way that facilitates their tactical operations, rather than merely making the maximal use of the available space.


all standing

[…] and then with a terrific crash the ship brought up all standing, and we were hurled against the bridge screens by the force of the collision.

2008, Robert C. Stem, Destroyer Battles: Epics of Naval Close Combat:

A couple of girls were standing alongside an ambulance drawn up next to the lorry, out of which they had apparently just crawled, having slept all standing, as all had I suppose.

1917, Edward Percy Stebbing, At the Serbian Front in Macedonia, page 77:

No man had aught to cover him save his blankets, in which he slept “all standing,” i.e., with his clothes on.

1925, Fitzhugh Green, Our Naval Heritage, page 106:

(UK, naval) Wearing one's clothes, for example while sleeping.


grazing fire

(military) Gunfire approximately parallel to the ground and where the centre of the cone of fire does not rise above one metre from the ground.


nearfall

(wrestling) Alternative spelling of near-fall


near-fall

(wrestling) A wrestling maneuver where shoulders are pinned to the mat for between one and two seconds. Alternatively a two second approach of shoulders to within two inches of the mat also counts for scoring.


armored cruiser

armored cruiser (plural armored cruisers)

armored cruisers (plural)
armoured cruiser (alternative)

(military) A type of cruiser (the warship) common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, carrying a small number of moderately-heavy main guns plus a large secondary battery of smaller guns and with armor protecting the sides and upper and lower decks, but lighter and with thinner armor and less powerful guns than a battleship; a mainstay of battle fleets around the turn of the 20th century, but displaced from this role by the more powerful battlecruiser after ca. 1908, becoming obsolescent by the time of WWI.


protected cruiser

protected cruiser (plural protected cruisers)

(military, nautical) A type of cruiser (the warship) carrying moderately-heavy main guns (although considerably lighter than those of a battleship) in armored turrets or other enclosures and having the machinery and magazine spaces protected by an armored lower deck, but leaving the sides of the ship unarmored (relying on the ship's coal bunkers to absorb hits to the sides of the hull) to save weight and allow for a high speed and long range; common in the late 19th century, but rendered obsolescent by the armored cruiser around 1900 as technological advances reduced the weight penalty of a side-mounted armor belt and made warships lacking belt armor increasingly vulnerable to enemy gunfire.


FGS

Federal German Republic
Federal German Republic#English

(military, nautical) Initialism of Federal Germany Ship. A ship prefix used for naval ships of the Federal German Republic, both West Germany and unified Germany.


SHORAN

(military) Acronym of short-range navigation.


mess trap

(naval) Synonym of mess kit (“set of eating utensils”)


mixed manning

(military) The bringing together of people representing different nations for some military project.


wire cartridge

When we arrived at the knoll, after having crossed the frozen bog, I took on account of the considerable distance at which the bird would have to be shot at, if he, as we supposed, would settle in the top of the fir tree the shot out of my gun, and loaded again with a wire cartridge.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 89:

(firearms) An early type of shotgun cartridge that had wire lining in the case to assist concentrating the shot.


slopshoot

I stopped by the slopshoot and had a couple of beers before going to the barracks and hitting the sack.

2000, John R. Hull, Takeoff: Career Adventures in General Aviation and the FAA, page 72:

(US, military, slang) A drinking establishment.


highly-enriched uranium

(nuclear physics, military) Enriched uranium containing at least 20% uranium-235 (some applications, such as fission weapons and naval reactors, use uranium enriched to as high as 80-95% uranium-235), and therefore capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction without needing a moderator; used in nuclear weapons and in a few types of nuclear reactors requiring very high power density or high neutron flux.


tacnuke

tacnukes (plural)
tac-nuke (alternative)
tac nuke (alternative)

Probably it would go as this: the Soviets attack with as little warning as possible in a holiday with a massive BC assault together with their mechanized wave. Maybe a tacnuke or two (or two dozens) are exchanged between WARPACT and NATO troops in Germany and Turkey (i'm thinking of the Thrace area). After 2-3 weeks either the Soviets reach the Rhine and ask for an armistice or the war stalemates and ask for an armistice.

2018 October 16, El_Presidente, “Reply to "WW3 in the late 80s: How long does the munition last?"”, in alternatehistory.com, archived from the original on 2021-02-21:

(military, slang) A tactical nuclear weapon.


MCM

MCM (countable and uncountable, plural MCMs)

(military, nautical) Initialism of (naval) mine countermeasure(s).


campoo

(India, military, historical) A kind of infantry brigade.


observation balloon

observation balloon (plural observation balloons)

(military) A type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting.


ace in a day

(aviation, military) An aviator (usually a fighter pilot) who destroys five or more enemy aircraft (the number required to become an ace) in a single day.


LCI

(military, nautical) Initialism of landing craft, infantry.


infantier

infantiers (plural)
infanteer (alternative)

(Canada, military) A soldier in the infantry; an infantryman.


ten-shun

Company, 'ten-shun—(More violently.) 'ten-shun, please... (He draws himself up exaggeratedly.) Stand straight, like soldiers!

1946, Harry Lester Baum, Prelude to Victory: A Masonic Play:

(US, military) Used to bring a marching band or group of soldiers to attention.


at-ten-shun

Respelling of attention to show the stress pattern.

"At-ten-shun !" commanded he, with that peculiar inflexion only attainable after considerable service.

1906, Joseph Edgar Crowell, The Young Volunteer: The Everyday Experiences of a Soldier Boy in the Civil War:

At-ten-SHUN! ¶ The United States Marine Corps wants your children.

2003, “Family Fare”, in The New York Times:


buzzerphone

buzzerphones (plural)
buzzer phone (alternative)

(military, historical) A portable buzzer system for transmitting messages in Morse code.


Fullerphone

(military, historical) A kind of buzzerphone designed to prevent messages being overheard by nearby enemies.


crew-served

A heavy machine gun, anti-materiel rifle, or rocket launcher might be crew-served.

(military, notably USMC) Of a weapon system: requiring a crew or more than one individual to function due to its high operational complexity.


test depth

test depth (usually uncountable, plural test depths)

(nautical, military) The maximum depth at which a submarine is permitted to operate in peacetime.


operating depth

operating depth (usually uncountable, plural operating depths)

(nautical, military) The maximum depth at which a submarine is permitted to operate when actively engaged in battle.


ZELL

(aviation, military, historical) Initialism of zero-length launch.


ambulancer

(military) A medic working in a mobile field hospital.


SOW

(military) Initialism of standoff weapon.


command and control

"American police simply were not prepared for the challenge that they faced in terms of planning, logistics, training and police command-and-control supervision," said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit that advises departments on management and tactics.

2021 March 20, Kim Barker, Mike Baker, Ali Watkins, “In City After City, Police Completely Mishandled Black Lives Matter Protests”, in The New York Times:

(military, law enforcement) The management and logistics of a military or paramilitary force.


NDB

non-directional beacon
nuclear depth bomb

(military, nautical) Initialism of nuclear depth bomb.


(US, military) Synonym of 4F (“military draftee rejected for being physically unfit”)


overpenetrate

en-verb

overpenetrate (third-person singular simple present overpenetrates, present participle overpenetrating, simple past and past participle overpenetrated)

overpenetrates (present singular third-person)
overpenetrating (participle present)
overpenetrated (participle past)
overpenetrated (past)

(intransitive, transitive, weaponry, of a bullet or other projectile) To pass completely through a target and out the other side, potentially striking another person or object located further downrange.


MICV

mechanized infantry combat vehicle#English

(military) Initialism of mechanized infantry combat vehicle.


TKD

(informal, martial arts) Initialism of tae kwon do.


white crane

en-noun

white crane (countable and uncountable, plural white cranes)

white crane style
white crane style#English

(martial arts) Ellipsis of white crane style.


White Crane

From white + crane. Calque of Chinese 白鶴派 /白鹤派 (“white crane style”)
* (Tibetan White Crane): From Cantonese 白鶴派 /白鹤派 (“white crane style”), from 西藏白鶴拳 /西藏白鹤拳 (“Tibetan white crane boxing”)
* (Fujian White Crane): From Hokkien 白鶴派 /白鹤派 (“white crane style”)

bor

Tibetan White Crane
Tibetan White Crane#English

(martial arts) A style of Chinese martial arts

Ellipsis of Tibetan White Crane, a style of kung fu popularized across the world from its popularity in Cantonese media, adopted in Southern China as a native style, after being introduced from Western China.

Tibetan White Crane

Fujian White Crane
Fujian White Crane#English

A style of Chinese martial arts
Ellipsis of Fujian White Crane.


white crane style

en-noun

white crane style (plural white crane styles)


rule of engagement

rule of engagement (plural rules of engagement)

The military, which acknowledged that the killings violated its rules of engagement, announced the deaths on Friday, hours after saying it had recovered the bodies of three other Israeli hostages in Gaza.

2023 December 16, Aaron Boxerman, Ben Hubbard, Thomas Fuller, “Israel Says 3 Hostages Bore White Flag Before Being Killed by Troops”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(military, law enforcement, chiefly in the plural) An internal rule among a military, police, etc. force defining the circumstances in which and manner with which to use force.


Blind Half-Hundred

So called because many members suffered from ophthalmia.

(UK, military, historical, slang) The 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot.


cold meat train

cold meat train (plural cold meat trains)

So called because this train used to convey corpses to Woking on behalf of the London Necropolis Company.

(UK, slang, obsolete, military) The last railway train of the night by which officers could reach Aldershot via the South Western Railway.


anti-ballistic missile

anti-ballistic missile (plural anti-ballistic missiles)

anti-ballistic missiles (plural)
antiballistic missile (alternative)

(military, astronautics) A missile designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in flight.


doughnut dolly

doughnut dolly (plural doughnut dollies)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-doughnut dolly.wav

So called because they served doughnuts at mobile canteens.

Carter said they flew some doughnut dollies out to Colt the other day, but they live way up at the headquarters compound, and you said you've only been between here and the hospital.

1984, William E. Holland, Let a Soldier Die, page 151:

Rankin said she recommended the producers drop the character of K.C., a "doughnut dolly” who became a prostitute

1988, Media Report to Women - Volumes 16-17:

(US, military, slang, historical) A female volunteer for the American Red Cross providing support to servicemen.


line of communication

line of communication (plural lines of communication)

lines of communication (plural)
line of communications (alternative)

(military) The networks of land, water, and air routes that connects a battlefield and its military personnel, supplies, etc.


missile farm

(military) An integrated facility with factories, silos, etc. for the production and recycling of missiles.


SQT

(military) Initialism of SEAL Qualification Training.


teeth-to-tail ratio

teeth-to-tail ratio (plural teeth-to-tail ratios)

(US, military) The ratio of combat troops to support forces.


soft ordnance

Some of the planes were loaded with "soft" ordnance—cluster bombs or napalm—others with "hard" ordnance such as high explosives. The planes were scrambled according to what the troops on the ground called for. If enemy soldiers were in the open, soft ordnance was on the menu; […]

2000 December 31, Dale Andradé, America's Last Vietnam Battle: Halting Hanoi's 1972 Easter Offensive, University Press of Kansas, →ISBN, page 364:

(US, military, euphemistic) Napalm or cluster bombs (for use against soft targets), as opposed to high explosives (for hardened targets).


second-order threat

second-order threat (plural second-order threats)

(military) A factor that may eventually lead to a direct military threat.


782 gear

So called for the form for issue of individual equipment, NAVMC Form 782.

(US, military) Military gear for use in the field, including a rifle, bedding, first aid kit, etc.


vertrep

vertrep (countable and uncountable, plural vertreps)

vertical replenishment
vertical replenishment#English

(military) Short for vertical replenishment.


vertrep

en-verb

vertrep (third-person singular simple present vertreps, present participle vertrepping, simple past and past participle vertrepped)

vertreps (present singular third-person)
vertrepping (participle present)
vertrepped (participle past)
vertrepped (past)

vertical replenishment
vertical replenishment

(military) To supply by vertical replenishment.


vertical replenishment

en-noun

vertical replenishment (countable and uncountable, plural vertical replenishments)

(military) The transfer of supplies to a seaborne vessel by helicopter.


earbanger

He also knows that he has a tendency towards being overweight and watches his diet carefully, and he can tell you everything there is to know about every man in his platoon. Yet, more than once, I've read him off for being partial to a couple of obvious earbangers, and the simplest problem can make him indecisive.

In fact, the platoon sergeant was very smart, but he was loath to show it off, especially in front of superiors, who were prone to label even junior staff noncoms who talked to them too much as “earbangers,” a blunt, unflattering nautical term for ass kisser.

2020, Eric Hammel, Til The Last Bugle Call, page 28:

(US, military, slang, derogatory) An obsequious member of the military who attempts to curry favor with superiors.


pox doctor's clerk

(military, slang, derogatory) A person who is showily dressed.


break squelch

en-verb

break squelch (third-person singular simple present breaks squelch, present participle breaking squelch, simple past broke squelch, past participle broken squelch)

breaks squelch (present singular third-person)
breaking squelch (participle present)
broke squelch (past)
broken squelch (participle past)

McWilliams and his capsule task force continued with an impressive show. Vehicles moved, different kinds of light flared in the night, radios broke squelch, doors slammed, […]

1981, Army Trainer, volume 1, number 1, page 37:

I acknowledge yes to Craig, and he broke squelch twice. It was my turn to pull point. I moved slowly and quietly down the path toward the company.

2013, Dan Rodgers, Call Me Sergeant Rock: How a Boy Becomes a Man in Vietnam, page 238:


groupment

(military) A temporary, improvised grouping of forces.


train bombing

en-noun

train bombing (countable and uncountable, plural train bombings)

Set all other switches as you would for train bombing. […] When bombs are released they then drop in proper sequence.

1945, United States. Army Air Forces, Office of Flying Safety, Bombardiers' Information File:

[…] which allowed either automatic or manual control for individual, selective, or train bombing release of the bombs […]

2005, William Wolf, Boeing B-29 Superfortress: The Ultimate Look, page 153:

(military) The dropping of a series of bombs one after another.


KDF

Kenya Defence Forces
w:Kenya Defence Forces

(Kenya, military) Initialism of Kenya Defence Forces.


H&I

harassment and interdiction
harassment and interdiction#English

(US, military, historical) Initialism of harassment and interdiction.


harassment and interdiction

harassment and interdiction (uncountable)

(US, military, historical) The periodic firing of unobserved rounds of ammunition at trails known to be used by the enemy, during the Vietnam War.


hasty breaching

Hasty breaching requires speed with a minimum of planning. Leading combat units must often clear a lane of all mines. Special mechanical or explosive devices, artillery or aerial bombardment, or specially trained teams accomplish this.

Combat arms units are responsible for: Hasty breaching of barriers to include minefields.

1973, The Engineer, volume 3, number 2, page 15:

(military) The clearing of a passage through a minefield or other barrier by various improvised means.


feet dry

The aircraft headed “feet-dry” by the pilot's judicious use of rudders and afterburners.

Feet wet: Fighter direction brevity code used to report that a plane had left land ("feet dry") and was now over water.

1994, Paul T. Gillcrist, Tomcat!: The Grumman F-14 Story, page 196:


feet wet

Three minutes later, at 2015, Captain Brindel entered the CIC and was notified of TN 2202 “feet wet” (aviation terminology meaning that an aircraft is over water) in the northern Persian Gulf and heading south.

1997, Jeffrey L. Levinson, Randy L. Edwards, Missile Inbound: The Attack on the Stark in the Persian Gulf, page 71:

[…] when you'd crossed the coastline after departing the ship Roger Klondike twelve dash four, understand flight of three. Feet wet.

2008, David A. Ballentine, Gunbird Driver: A Marine Huey Pilot's War in Vietnam, page 56:


finite deterrence

(military) The strategy of making a nuclear victory so costly that it is preferable for the enemy not to fight.


cab rank

Their presence with the army greatly heartened the rank and file, as did the appearance above the battlefield of "cab ranks" of fighters and fighter-bombers.

1953, Denis George Richards, Hilary Aidan St. George Saunders, Royal Air Force: The fight is won (page 352)

(military) A group of aircraft that remain airborne in order to attack targets quickly when requested.


cold launch

cold launch (countable and uncountable, plural cold launches)

(military) A form of vertical launching system where the missile is expelled by gas produced by a separate gas generator, and only ignites afterwards.


combat loading

tactical loading
tactical loading#English


brown bar

Making a rather astute deduction from the fact that the brown bar in white fatigues was loaded down with a huge bottle of clear liquid and an assortment of tubes and needles, […]

Afterward, Lindenmeyer made his way over to Lieutenant Turchan's radioman who, considering the brown-bar's greenness, almost appeared to be running the platoon.

1991, Keith William Nolan, Operation Buffalo: USMC Fight for the DMZ, page 118:

(US, military, slang) A second lieutenant.


point defence

point defence (countable and uncountable, plural point defences)

point defences (plural)
point defense (alternative)

(military) The defence of a single object or a limited area, such as a ship or a building.


oil burner route

oil burner route (plural oil burner routes)

In reference to the smoke trails that jet engines may leave behind at low altitudes.

(aviation, slang, military) A region of airspace in which military jets are authorized to carry out low-altitude training.


OPFOR

(military) Abbreviation of opposing force.


ground wallah

(UK, military, aviation, slang, dated) An officer who does not fly aircraft.


shoulder-strap

(military) An ornamental distinguishing band worn over the shoulder


surf torture

(US, military) A training exercise for Navy SEALs that involves exercising in cold seawater on the beach.


cross-counter

(boxing) A counterattack begun immediately after an opponent throws a jab, exploiting the opening in the opponent's position.


cross-counter

en-verb

cross-counter (third-person singular simple present cross-counters, present participle cross-countering, simple past and past participle cross-countered)

cross-counters (present singular third-person)
cross-countering (participle present)
cross-countered (participle past)
cross-countered (past)

(boxing, ambitransitive) To employ a counterattack of this kind on (someone).


mud-crusher

From mud + crusher, i.e. one who walks over the ground.

(military, slang, derogatory) A member of the infantry.


KPA

Korean People's Army
w:Korean People's Army

(military) Initialism of Korean People's Army.


zero-length

zero-length launch system; zero-length take-off

(military) Being or relating to a method whereby jet fighters and attack aircraft could be near-vertically launched using rocket motors to rapidly gain speed and altitude.


ZLL

(military) Initialism of zero-length launch.


Kaffrarian

Kaffrarians (plural)
Caffrarian (alternative)

(military, historical) A member of the Kaffrarian Rifles (now the Buffalo Volunteer Rifles), an infantry regiment of the South African Army.


RATOG

(British, aviation, military) Initialism of rocket-assisted take-off gear.


flag list

(military, nautical) A list of active flag officers.


Perisher

A pun on periscope and perish, in allusion to the supposedly low pass rate.

(UK, naval, slang) The Submarine Command Course.


Sea Lord

The legend and sketch designs were submitted to the Board on 27th March 1916 and, after examining a model and the drawings, the Sea Lords generally favoured proposal 'B'; the extra weight involved being acceptable.

1976, Alan Raven, John Roberts, British Battleships of World War Two: The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy's Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946, page 63:

(UK, naval, historical) Any member of the British Board of Admiralty who is also a serving admiral in the navy.


browning shot

See brown (“mass of birds or animals in hunting”).

[…] the U-boat would ordinarily be able to have only a "browning shot" (a random shot in the hope of hitting one ship in the convoy), which might or might not hit.

2014, Arthur J. Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, volume IV, page 132:

(naval) A haphazard shot at a group of vessels.


tactical warning

en-noun

tactical warning (plural tactical warnings)

Coordinate term: strategic warning

(military) A warning of an ongoing or immediately impending attack.


protective reaction

protective reaction (countable and uncountable, plural protective reactions)

(military, euphemistic) The bombing of enemy targets, ostensibly in self-defense.


NSSL

Coordinate term: EELV

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of National Security Space Launch program.; a U.S. government program for assured access to space


NSSL

national security
national security#English

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of national security spacelaunch.; a high security spacelaunch of U.S. government payloads, such as spy satellites


EELV

Coordinate term: NSSL

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.; a U.S. government program for assured access to space


EELV

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of evolved expendable launch vehicle.; a rocket developed under the EELV government program


NROL

(US, government, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of National Reconnaissance Office launch.. An NRO spacelaunch for delivering a high security government payload into space.


GBU

→ Indonesian: GBU


swallow the anchor

en-verb

swallow the anchor (third-person singular simple present swallows the anchor, present participle swallowing the anchor, simple past and past participle swallowed the anchor)

swallows the anchor (present singular third-person)
swallowing the anchor (participle present)
swallowed the anchor (participle past)
swallowed the anchor (past)

My grand pa was the carpenter on his ship, but had a few years before swallowed the anchor and stepped on land to repair boats.

2008, Scott Telek, The Ghost Ship, page 184:


ADIZ

Thursday morning began with reports of multiple warplane incursions into the ADIZ, and cyber-attacks targeting the websites of the president’s office and the ministries of foreign affairs and defence.

2022 August 5, Helen Davidson, “What the fallout from Pelosi’s visit means for Taiwan and China”, in The Guardian:

air defense identification zone
w:air defense identification zone

(military, aviation) Initialism of air defense identification zone.


biscuit bomber

(military, slang) A military supply plane that drops food supplies from the air.


NBMR

(military) Initialism of NATO basic military requirement.


Chauchat

Named after Colonel Louis Chauchat, who led the development project.

(military, historical) The standard light machine gun of the French army during World War I.


target of opportunity

en-noun

target of opportunity (plural targets of opportunity)

(military) A target onto which one's attack is diverted as soon as it is seen or becomes known.


NAFOD

(US, military) Acronym of no apparent fear of death; a disqualifying condition for hazardous or combat duty.


hyperactive battlefield

hyperactive battlefield (plural hyperactive battlefields)

The result is a ‘hyperactive’ battlefield where the “differences between strategic, operational, and tactical levels, as well as between offensive and defensive operations, are being erased,” and that can quickly overwhelm the capacity and will of any combatant.

2018 June 1, Stephen Marr, “Stability in Multi-Domain Battle”, in U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institue: Defense Technical Information Center, page 6:

[…] are shaping the future operational environment: increased competition across all five warfighting domains, an increasingly lethal and hyperactive battlefield, an operational environment that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, and challenges to deterrence […]

2019, Justin R. Wegner, “49th Staff Judge Advocate Course Wrap-Up”, in Army Lawyer, number 4:

“The reason we say we need a joint concept more than ever is because the tempo of warfare, and the complexity of all the domains. Because all of these domains are controlled at different echelons or by different services, military forces must integrate all domains quickly to take advantage of opportunities on a very lethal, hyperactive battlefield."...Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Futures Command and director of the Futures and Concepts Center

2019 November 19, “The new era of high-power electromagnetic weapons”, in Military & Aerospace Electronics (article), retrieved 2021-07-06:

The Pentagon is kicking off a new series of joint war games and exercises this fall designed to figure out how to confront peer adversaries like China and Russia, as military leaders rush to come up with new ideas for how to fight through what one Army general describes as a “hyperactive” battlefield.

2019 September 4, “Major War Game to Jolt 4 Services, Force Decisions”, in Breaking Defense (article), retrieved 2021-07-06:

Future wars will likely be decided in the realm of “high-speed information-networking,” software upgrades that include artificial intelligence, long-range sensing, stealth, precision weapons and, perhaps most of all, sensor-to-shooter decision cycles. Army Futures Command Commander Gen. John Murray has often said that the future of warfare is expected to be what he called a “hyperactive battlefield.”

2021 July 4, “The National Interest: Future Wars Will Be Fought on the ‘Hyperactive Battlefield’”, in The National Interest (blog), retrieved 2021-07-06:

information technology
information technology

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(US military jargon) Warfare involving advanced technologies that expand military engagement beyond the physical battlefield, such as high-speed information technology, artificial intelligence, long-range sensors, stealth, precision-guided munitions and sensor-to-shooter systems.


balloon buster

(slang, military, historical) A pilot known for destroying enemy observation balloons.


base chief

chief petty officer
chief petty officer#English

(Canada, military, Royal Canadian Navy) A chief petty officer, the highest ranked warrant officer on a military base.


Flags

Suddenly the flag lieutenant grabbed an air vice-marshal's daughter by the hand and dragged her past the Charltons […] Flags was always doing something of this sort, and although Paul did not know him, he disliked it […]

1959, John Gilbert, Face in the Clouds, page 102:

[…] up the Flag Lieutenant to inform him that a cow would have to accompany the distinguished passenger. "Flags" was rather horrified at this, so Louis, overworked and slightly irritable, said, "Very well — no damn cow, no damn general — […]

1971, Piet van der Byl, From Playgrounds to Battlefields, volume 1, page 193:

(military, slang) Nickname for a flag lieutenant.


police special

(US, firearms, historical) A pistol manufactured for police use.


police positive

police positive (plural police positives)

(US, firearms, historical) Synonym of police special (“pistol manufactured for police use”)


avcat

From aviation, aviation carrier (aircraft carrier), and aviation turbine fuel (avtur).

(US, military, aviation, nautical) Synonym of JP-5, the U.S. Navy jet fuel.


BFM

(military, aviation) Initialism of basic fighter maneuvers. The corpus of maneuvers and tactics expected of fighter aircraft and their pilots


BFM

(military, aviation) Initialism of basic fighter maneuver. A foundational maneuver or tactic used by fighter planes and fighter pilots.


supermissile

supermissiles (plural)
super missile (alternative)
super-missile (alternative)

An interview with Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Chief of Naval Operations in which he describes the Navy's role in an era of H-bombs and supermissiles.

1956, Army Library (U.S.), Special Bibliographies, United States Department of the Army, Army Library, page 91:

For example, the details of the new Soviet SS9 supermissile, which apparently was not thought to be a proper subject to include in a formal “posture statement” were abruptly declassified and trotted out as Exhibit A in the case for Soviet aggressiveness as it was presented live for all to see and hear.

1969, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on International Organization and Disarmament Affairs, Strategic and Foreign Policy Implications of ABM Systems, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 316:

“It’s a bomber! It’s a supermissile! No — it’s a dove.”

1981 November 20, Herbert Lawrence Block, “‘It’s a Dove”, in coldwar.unc.edu:

(military) An extremelypowerful, self-propelled projectile whose trajectory is adjustable after it is launched.


echelonment

echelonment (usually uncountable, plural echelonments)


well-served

en-adj

well-served (comparative more well-served, superlative most well-served)

more well-served (comparative)
most well-served (superlative)

(military, weaponry) (of a gun, artillery, etc.) Operated well.


LOAC

(law, military) Acronym of laws of armed conflict.


QF

(military, chiefly nautical, of artillery) Initialism of quick-firing.


leg sweep

(martial arts) A swipe of a fighter's leg meant to destabilize the adversary


teleman

The classification is for graduates of a class A teleman school with no significant experience and for other personnel who are not qualified for a specialized classification.

1949, Manual of Navy Enlisted Manpower and Personnel Classifications and Occupational Standards, United States Bureau of Naval Personnel:

(US, military) A petty officer in the US Navy who performs clerical, coding and communications duties.


gun-howitzer

gun-howitzers (plural)
gun howitzer (alternative)
howitzer-gun (alternative)

Sometimes the distinction between an artillery gun and a howitzer becomes blurred due to the development of gun-howitzers that can perform both roles. The best-known Allied gun-howitzer used during World War II was the British 25-Pounder Gun, which had a caliber of 87 mm.

2000, Michael and Gladys Green, “Artillery Weapons”, in Weapons of Patton's Armies:

The Pattern of 1857 12-pounder Napoleon gun-howitzer was one of the most versatile and popular field pieces used during the Civil War. […] Although technically a gun, the Napoleon was often referred to as a gun-howitzer for its ability to also fire explosive shell.

2007, Jeff Kinard, “Nineteenth-century U.S. Artillery, 1800–1865”, in Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact:

(military) An artillery piece designed both for direct fire and indirect fire at a wide range of angles of elevation, thus capable of fulfilling the roles of a traditional field gun and howitzer.

armatohaubica

artillery piece capable of fulfilling the roles of a traditional field gun and howitzer


nonbasing

(military) Not involving or not permitting the basing of foreign troops in one's own territory.


nonbasing

Norwegian membership in NATO has rested from the beginning on the principle of nonbasing in times of peace.

2013, W. Laqueur, L. Sloss, European Security in the 1990s, page 36:

(military) The policy of not permitting the basing of foreign troops in one's own territory.


IAF

An IAF representative told an Indian parliamentary committee that due to the Ukraine war a “major delivery” from Moscow “is not going to take place.”

2023 March 24, Rhea Mogul, “Russia can’t meet India arms deliveries due to Ukraine war, Indian Air Force says”, in CNN:

(military, aviation) Any of several air forces

Any of several air forces
Initialism of Indian Air Force.

Any of several air forces
Initialism of Indonesian Air Force.

Any of several air forces
Initialism of Iraqi Air Force.

“Following precise IDF intelligence, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) is currently conducting strikes on strategic terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beirut. Among the targets struck are weapons production facilities, buildings used to store advanced weapons and key command centers of the terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement.

2024 September 27, Abeer Salman, “Israel continues striking Beirut buildings allegedly housing Hezbollah weapons and command centers”, in CNN:

Any of several air forces
Initialism of Israeli Air Force.

Any of several air forces
Initialism of Italian Air Force.

(dated) Initialism of Iranian Air Force.

Any of several air forces
Initialism of Iranian Air Force.

(military) Any of several armed forces
Initialism of Indian Armed Forces.

(military) Any of several armed forces
Initialism of Iraqi Armed Forces.

(military) Any of several armed forces
Initialism of Italian Armed Forces.


CFB

(Canada, military) Initialism of Canadian Forces Base.


RASC

Royal Army Service Corps
w:Royal Army Service Corps

(UK, historical, military) Initialism of Royal Army Service Corps.


outload

en-verb

outload (third-person singular simple present outloads, present participle outloading, simple past and past participle outloaded)

outloads (present singular third-person)
outloading (participle present)
outloaded (participle past)
outloaded (past)

It was found that the Division could outload itself almost entirely with the equipment normally found in a division. This was possible either by use of equipment organic to an airborne division or like equipment.

1943, United States. Army. Quartermaster Corps, Q.M.C. Historical Studies, page 256:

The division outloaded over the following three days and sailed for Pusan at mid-morning on the 15th.

1961, Billy C. Mossman, United States Army in the Korean War: Ebb and Flow:

The choice of outloading equipment is influenced by the size of ship to be filled and type of material to be handled.

(ambitransitive, especially military) to load (a watercraft etc.) with supplies or personnel.


Home Guard

Later in the year the title of Local Defence Volunteer was changed to the more appropriate one of Home Guard.

1940 December, “Railways and the War—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 629:

(military, historical) An armed citizen defence force supporting the British Army during the Second World War, in particular, defence against any invasion by enemy forces.


depriming

(firearms) The action of the verb to deprime; the removal of primer from cartridge


deprimed

(firearms) Pertaining to a cartridge missing is priming/primer


green door

While this cannot be done in all cases, no commander should accept the notion that whole blocks of intelligence are permanently behind a special “green door” until his intelligence officer has carefully examined the regulations.

1976, Michael T. Chase, “All-Source Intelligence”, in Military Review: Professional Journal of the U.S. Army, volume LVI, number 7, page 45:

The so-called “green door”, behind which intelligence is alleged to hoard its secrets has always been, and forever will be, a problem. […] Arranging for dissemination of a specific, known product is relatively easy—it’s the products you don’t know about that the green door hides.

1995, Douglas H. Dearth, R. Thomas Goodden, Strategic Intelligence: Theory and Application, second edition, page 66-67:

The NSA is the opposite of the NGA in that the controlled serendipity of its collection-management processes is hidden not only from those beyond the “green door” but from many intelligence community insiders as well.

2005, editors Burton Gerber, Jennifer E. Sims, Transforming U.S. Intelligence, page 151:

This information on how the enemy conducted fighter operations came to the Aggressors from many sources behind the “green door” of the US intelligence gathering and interpreting community.

2012, Gaillard R. Peck, Jr, America’s Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG:

(espionage) The barrier between compartmentalized intelligence information and those without access to it, especially military personnel who may need it.


CQBW

(military, weaponry) Abbreviation of close quarters battle weapon.


combat engineer

en-noun

combat engineer (plural combat engineers)

With him were 60,000 combat engineers for multiple bridgings of the river, and hundreds of thousands of tons of supplies, landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.

2007, Stanley Weintraub, 15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall, page 325:

(military) A soldier employed to carry out engineering tasks in support of land forces during combat operations, facilitating the mobility of friendly forces while impeding that of the enemy.


Dirty Half Hundred

On account of their tattered and soiled appearance during the Peninsular War.

(UK, military, slang, historical) The 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot.


pankratist

(martial arts) A competitor in pankration.


breech face

(firearms) The area around the firing pin, which is situated against the head of the cartridge.


Keystoner

From keystone + -er, after the "Keystone State" (Pennsylvania) from whose National Guard it originated.

(US, military) A member of the 28th Infantry Division (United States).


dishonorable discharge

dishonorable discharge (plural dishonorable discharges)

dishonorable discharges (plural)
dishonourable discharge (alternative)

Coordinate term: honorable discharge

The soldiers could be charged with wilful disobeying of orders, which could lead to dishonourable discharge, forfeit of pay and up to five years' confinement.

2004 October 16, Dan Glaister, “Doubts about US morale in Iraq as troops refuse 'suicide mission'”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(military) Release from military service because of conduct that is considered reprehensible.

erottaminen

no strict equivalent in the Finnish military

but see wydalony z wojska

no strict equivalent in the Polish military


hyperbomb

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hyperbomb.wav

The hyperbomb of that day will have lost meaning as a weapon and gained meaning as a complex substitute for Francoise Sagan's "sports" car, as this death device is so playfully called.

1957, Clifton Fadiman, Any Number Can Play, World Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 33:

"He went back inside," Igor grunted. "After examining the artefacts we'd packed for dispatch. Probably wants to make sure the computer records don't describe them as ultra-guns or hyperbombs or whatever the hell."

1974, John Brunner, Total Eclipse, Doubleday, →ISBN, page 33:

We entered an area where a hyperbomb had been detonated during the war.

2014, J. Michael Reeves, Terry Austin, Byron Preiss, I—Alien, J. Boylston, →ISBN:

(rare, military, science fiction, video games) An exceedingly powerful, destructive bomb; superbomb.


DDG

guided-missile destroyer
guided-missile destroyer#English

(military, nautical) Initialism of guided-missile destroyer.


nondisappearing

Allotments were made for the test of the gun-lift battery and the nondisappearing barbette carriages.

1896, Fifth Report of the Board of Ordnance and Fortification, page 15:

12-inch gun-lift carriages, altered to nondisappearing.

1902, United States. Army. Corps of Engineers, Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers to the Secretary of War (part 1, page 9)

disappearing carriage
disappearing carriage

(military, historical) Being the kind of gun carriage that is not a disappearing carriage.


spike attack

(military) The detonation of multiple nuclear warheads at the same time, so as to multiply the destructive effect.


burn pit

burn pit exposure in Iraq

(US, military) An open-air pit where waste is burned. Long-term exposure to its smoke is associated with health problems.


MCLOS

manual command to line of sight
w:manual command to line of sight

(military, weaponry) Initialism of manual command to line of sight, a method of missile guidance requiring that the operator manually steer the missile onto the target.


Crazy Ivan

(naval, slang) A hard turn in a submarine to clear the baffles and get into position to attack any followers.


angles and dangles

(naval, slang) A random series of loops, turns, and depth changes in a submarine, intended to eliminate the self-noise which could occur during a baffle-clearing event.


have got someone's six

en-verb

have got someone's six (third-person singular simple present has got someone's six, present participle having got someone's six, simple past and past participle had got someone's six)

has got someone's six (present singular third-person)
having got someone's six (participle present)
had got someone's six (participle past)
had got someone's six (past)
have someone's six (alternative)

Six is slang for "rear; behind", which is itself an ellipsis of six o'clock; see more at the entry for six.

I've got your six!

have someone's back
have someone's back#English

(US, chiefly military and law enforcement slang) Synonym of have someone's back


rassing

(naval slang) The transfer of fuel, munitions, or stores from one vessel to another while under way.

(naval slang) Acquiring something dishonestly; scrounging or filching.


red hat

From the red band on the caps they wore.

(UK, military slang) A senior army officer.


blue suit

Bill Sulzman quoted in 2012, David Keen, Useful Enemies
Inside Schriever and Peterson [air force bases], a lot of the military contractors are working alongside the blue suits.

(military, informal) A member of military personnel at an air base.


prisoner at large

en-noun

prisoner at large (plural prisoners at large)

(military) A member of the military who is being disciplined by being forbidden to leave the barracks or ship on which they are stationed.


paybob

A form book about as helpful as the old Greek oracles is thus produced and guides the odds given by the numerous illegal bookmakers who compete with the tote run by the paybobs on each ship.

1979, W. B. Harvey, Downstairs in the Royal Navy, page 60:

Sod all the Shipwrights and CPO Cooks,
Sod all the Paybobs and their bleeding books
For we're saying goodbye to them all
As back to their hammocks they crawl.

2015, Cyril Tawney, Grey Funnel Lines, page 141:


blow from a gun

en-verb

blow from a gun (third-person singular simple present blows from a gun, present participle blowing from a gun, simple past blew from a gun, past participle blown from a gun)

blows from a gun (present singular third-person)
blowing from a gun (participle present)
blew from a gun (past)
blown from a gun (participle past)

(transitive, military, historical, of a person) To execute by tying against the muzzle of a loaded cannon, which is then fired.

Indian Rebellion of 1857
blowing from a gun


flat scissors

en-noun

flat scissors (countable and uncountable, plural flat scissors)

(uncountable, aviation, military, with the) A form of the scissors defensive maneuver in dogfighting, involving turning one's aircraft towards that of the attacker and slowing in order to force the opponent to overshoot, without moving out of the initial plane of the attack; often continues, with the roles of attacker and defender alternating between the two aircraft, until one is either shot down or manages to escape.

(countable, aviation, military) An instance of the above dogfighting maneuver.


rolling scissors

rolling scissors (countable and uncountable, plural rolling scissors)

Remember: maintain your aircraft's energy, keep his tail on your line of sight, and relentlessly pursue the insufferable oaf that insulted your driving skills. If he gets behind you, break out the rolling scissors and force an overshoot.

2021 March 19, Bosnian Ape Society, 4:36 from the start, in Is Your Car Safe From Supermaneuverable Air-Defense Fighter Aircraft?, archived from the original on 2022-08-07:

(uncountable, aviation, military, with the) A form of the scissors defensive maneuver in dogfighting, involving pulling up, rolling one's aircraft towards that of the attacker, and pulling the nose of one's aircraft towards the attacker to force an overshoot, resulting in the two aircraft barrel-rolling around each other as each attempts to gain the advantage.


defensive spiral

defensive spiral (plural defensive spirals)

(aviation, military) A last-resort defensive maneuver in dogfighting used by an aircraft with critically-low kinetic energy, consisting of a rolling scissors performed straight down, using gravity to supply the kinetic energy needed to continue maneuvering, while attempting to either slow down enough to get behind the attacker or else trick the attacker into crashing into the ground.

basic fighter maneuvers#Defensive spiral


Corporal Forbes

(military, slang, archaic) gastroenteritis


attack helicopter

attack helicopter (plural attack helicopters)

(military) An armed helicopter with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles, and fortifications.


in the rattle

If you were in the rattle too often, you would be labeled a troublemaker. Once that happened, it was virtually impossible to get back into the Navy's good books, and the chances were high that they would find some way to get rid of you.

2005, Charles Gidley Wheeler, Jannaway's Mutiny:

(UK, naval, slang) Kept in confinement as a disciplinary measure.


à rouet

The earliest pistols were made with wheels (à rouet), and the barrel did not measure more than a foot in length.

1875, P. L. Jacob ·, The Arts in the Middle Ages, and at the Period of the Renaissance, page 104:

Soon the petronel was replaced by the arquebuse à rouet, and a little later on by the wheel-lock pistol, which was first used by the German cavalry at the battle of St. Quentin, in 1557.

1937, Franklin Henry Hooper, The Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 5, page 69:

In 1639–42, the average value of an arquebus à rouet was 80 livres; flintlock muskets were valued at 6 livres.

2008, David Hackett Fischer, Champlain's Dream, page 617:

(firearms, historical) Having a small wheel fixed to the pan of firelocks for discharging them.


hammer and anvil

(military) A tactic involving the use of two primary forces, one to pin down an enemy and the other to encircle him.


HVP

(military) Initialism of hypervelocity projectile.


antistealth

antistealth radar

(military) Designed to operate against stealth technologies.


anti-air

antiair (alternative)
anti air (alternative)

(military, aviation) Synonym of anti-aircraft


greataxe

greataxes (plural)
greatax (alternative)
great-ax (alternative)
great-axe (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-greataxe.wav

From great + axe. Probably modeled on greatsword, greathelm, etc.

The Saint-Commander rested his famous greataxe against his chair. Gil recalled its name, Red Pilgrim.

1979, Brian Daley, The Starfollowers of Coramonde, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 48:

Dragon King Greataxe can be buffed by spells and consumables, while the Dragon Greatsword cannot.

2020 July 23, Corvo Attano, EdgeOfDreams, “Dragon king greataxe or Dragon greatsword?”, in reddit.com:

Last few days I played outpost rush or wars, the team with the most hammers + greataxes just wins.

2021 November 16, Leandermann, “PvP is only the highest number of greataxe + hammer wins”, in reddit.com:

(rare, video games, fantasy, weaponry) A giant axe; a broadaxe.


knockout merchant

knockout merchant (plural knockout merchants)

My second fight against the big dosser Deontay Wilder, the biggest knockout merchant in boxing history.

2020, Tyson Fury, The Furious Method: The Sunday Times bestselling guide to a healthier body & mind:

(boxing) A boxer who specializes in inflicting knockouts.


SOF

(military) Initialism of special operations force.


FYSA

(military) Initialism of for your situational awareness.


Lufbery circle

Named after fighter ace Raoul Lufbery (1885–1918), though he was not the inventor.

(military, aviation) A defensive combat tactic in which multiple aircraft form a horizontal circle in the air when attacked, so that the armament of each aircraft offers a measure of protection to the others.


tarbucket

(US, military, slang) The shako traditionally worn by cadets of West Point as part of full dress.


passive defense

passive defense (countable and uncountable, plural passive defenses)

Coordinate term: active defense

The construction of concrete revetments and hardened facilities, and the provision of chemical warfare defense equipment and clothing, all contribute to our passive defense capabilities.

1986, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services, Department of Defense authorization for appropriations for fiscal year 1987, page 317:

In this view, Soviet defensive measures—including civil defense and similar passive defenses—would effectively protect their leadership and its communication system, as well as reduce civilian casualties and protect important war-related industrial capacity.

1985, Ballistic Missile Defense Technologies, page 112:

(military) Forms of defense that offer protection without counterattacking.


future endeavor

en-verb

future endeavor (third-person singular simple present future endeavors, present participle future endeavoring, simple past and past participle future endeavored)

future endeavors (present singular third-person)
future endeavoring (participle present)
future endeavored (participle past)
future endeavored (past)

From the fact that wrestling promotion WWE, when announcing a wrestler’s release, will “wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”

Creative couldn’t find anything for him to do, so they ended up future endeavoring him.

professional wrestling
professional wrestling

(professional wrestling, slang) To release a wrestler from their contract.


11 Bulletstopper

en-noun

11 Bulletstopper (plural 11 Bulletstoppers)

Army recruits assigned to the 11-B MOS, or “11-Bravo”—sometimes called “11-Bang-Bang” or even “11-Bulletstopper”— became infantrymen, highly likely to go to Vietnam.

[2009, Carol Reardon, “Vietnam Military Personnel”, in Mitchell K. Hall, editor, Vietnam War Era, ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 45:

(US, military slang, derogatory) Synonym of 11 Bang-Bang


JDAM

/ˈd͡ʒeɪˌdæm/

“The crater and surrounding damage is also not consistent with a JDAM aerial bomb. The hole on the ground occurred from kinetic energy.”

2023 October 18, Manisha Ganguly, Emma Graham-Harrison, Jason Burke, Elena Morresi, Ashley Kirk, quoting Marc Garlasco, “Al-Ahli Arab hospital: piecing together what happened as Israel insists militant rocket to blame”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Joint Direct Attack Munition
w:Joint Direct Attack Munition

(military) Acronym of Joint Direct Attack Munition.


flaming onion

(military, slang, historical) A 37 mm Hotchkiss revolving-barrel anti-aircraft gun used by the German army at the beginning of World War I.

Allied pilots feared and loathed these, because a hit from a flaming onion instantly turned an aeroplane into an inferno.

1985, Robert Harrison, Aviation Lore in Faulkner, page 116:

(military, slang, historical) The flare or tracer ammunition fired by this weapon.


NMD

w:United States national missile defense

(US, military) Initialism of National Missile Defense.


bounding mine

(military) A land mine which, when activated, uses a small propellant charge to toss the main body of the mine up to approximately waist height before exploding, in order to more efficiently injure its target.


HMB

It has taken 22 years for experts to prove His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour, renamed Lord Sandwich, was one of 13 ships sunk in Newport Harbour in 1778.

2022, Charis Chang, “How did the HMB Endeavour end up near the coast of Rhode Island in the United States?”, in news.com.a (Usenet):

(initialism, nautical, military, UK, historical) His/Her Majesty's Bark


MLRS

During Operation Desert Storm, government records show that the U.S. Army fired more than 17,200 unguided MLRS rockets and 32 of the larger ATACMS guided missiles at Iraqi forces.

2022 June 2, John Ismay, “What Are ‘Artillery Rockets,’ and Why Is the U.S. Sending Them to Ukraine?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Multiple Launch Rocket System
w:M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System

(military) Initialism of Multiple Launch Rocket System.


AVGP

(military, aviation) Abbreviation of aviation group.

armoured vehicle
armoured vehicle#English

(military, automotive) Abbreviation of armoured vehicle, general purpose.


BTG

In the summer of 2014, at least thirteen BTGs and elements of five SPETSNAZ units were poised on the Ukrainian border.³⁶

2014, “Little Green Men”: A Primer on Modern Russian Unconventional Warfare, Ukraine 2013–2014, Fort Bragg, North Carolina: The United States Army Special Operations Command, page 42:

(military) Initialism of battalion tactical group.


superwarhead

superwarheads (plural)
super warhead (alternative)

And he said the Russians would need a "superwarhead" on their own minuteman-type weapon in order to be successful.

1961, Associated Press Clippings File Europe Disorders 1961-09-01, Press Association Inc., page 2:

A thousand times more powerful than the A-bomb that destroyed Nagasaki, this superwarhead would be capable of imposing great blast or overpressure on a very large area.

1970, Ralph E. Lapp, Arms Beyond Doubt: The Tyranny of Weapons Technology, Cowles Book Company, →ISBN, page 59:

Approval for its development may have been facilitated by Khrushchev’s interest in large-yield "terror weapons," for whose delivery the SS-9 was ideally suited. (Khrushchev boasted publicly about the Soviet possession of such weapons and the atmospheric thermonuclear test series conducted in August-September 1961 included the explosion of a superwarhead with a yield of approximately 50 megatons.)

1977, The Military in Contemporary Soviet Politics: An Institutional Analysis, Praeger, →ISBN, page 190:

However, every smaller terrorist state has its own superwarheads, happily sold to them by the big powers' armament industries. The problem of the deterrent has merely been displaced to the irresponsible and the fanatical.

1990, Christine Brooke-Rose, Verbivore, Carcanet, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 47:

(rare, military) An extremely destructive and powerful warhead.


line of contact

line of contact (plural lines of contact)

Both sides face off along a fixed 250-mile “border”, or line of contact, which snakes across Ukraine’s Donbas region.

2021 December 10, Luke Harding, “‘Nobody wants to be Putin’s slave’: on the Ukraine frontline as tensions rise”, in The Guardian:

(military) The demarcation between two or more given armies, whether they are allied or belligerent.


German 88

(colloquial, World War II, military, historical) A WWII German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery multi-purpose field gun.


EUCOM

(US, military) Acronym of European Command.


USEUCOM

United States European Command
w:United States European Command

(US, military) Acronym of United States European Command.


NORTHCOM

(US, military) Acronym of Northern Command.


USNORTHCOM

United States Northern Command
w:United States Northern Command

(US, military) Acronym of United States Northern Command.


LANTFLT

(US, military) Acronym of Atlantic Fleet.


USLANTFLT

(US, military) Acronym of United States Atlantic Fleet.


USAFE

(US, military) Acronym of United States Armed Forces Entertainment.


pals battalion

pals battalions (plural)
Pals Battalion (alternative)
Pals battalion (alternative)

From pals + battalion, from the sense that one's pals would fight along with them.

(UK, military, historical) A group of men who were friends before being enlisted, all of whom were placed into a single battalion in order to incentivize enlistment in the British Army during World War I.


thermobaric weapon

thermobaric weapon (plural thermobaric weapons)

From being a weapon which produces heat (“thermo-”) and pressure (“baric”).

(weaponry) A weapon of a class of bombs, which causes a large explosion, with effects similar to a nuclear blast, by having an explosion, flash of heat, shockwave, producing a vacuum, and vacuum collapse pressure wave. Typically produced by aerosolizing a fuel throughout the air, and setting it alight, producing a detonation, that consumes all the oxygen in the region.


IFAK

(military) Initialism of individual first aid kit.


MFR

According to the MFR, DEA [Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration] reported at the November 19 meeting that Jorge Morales was awaiting trial in Miami, along with 13 other defendants, on federal charges of engaging in a Continuous Criminal Enterprise.

1998 October 8, Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General, Report of Investigation: Allegations of Connections Between CIA and the Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Volume II: The Contra Story, 96-0143-IG, Southern Front Contras:

Hell, I don't even know, because no one is telling me anything. Without those MFRs my case is a bust.

2021, M. B. Traven, Rory Jaines, Sohrab Noshirvani, 1:28:35 from the start, in Kevin Macdonald, director, The Mauritanian (motion picture), spoken by Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch), STXfilms:

memorandum for the record
memorandum for the record#English

memorandum for record
memorandum for record#English

memo for the record
memo for the record#English

(US military) Acronym of memorandum for the record, memorandum for record, memo for the record, and memo for record.


Belgian Gate

Coordinate term: Czech hedgehog

Omaha Beach was shielded by about 3,700 obstacles, including 450 ramps, 2,000 stakes, 1,050 Czech hedgehogs, and 200 Belgian Gates. These followed a standard pattern.

2013, Steven Zaloga, The Devil's Garden: Rommel's Desperate Defense of Omaha Beach on D-Day, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 123:

(military, historical) A heavy steel fence, typically mounted on concrete rollers, used as a mobile antitank obstacle during World War II.


Doobon coat

From Hebrew דובון (literally “little bear”).

(military) An Israeli military winter coat, designed to be able to stay in cold temperatures for long periods of time.


UNCLAS

(military) Abbreviation of unclassified.


strategic warning

strategic warning (plural strategic warnings)

Coordinate term: tactical warning

(military) A warning, relatively far in advance, of a potential attack.


SANDF

On 24 February the Executive Mayor of the Overstrand, Annelie Rabie, visited SANDF members deployed in the area of Hermanus and used the opportunity to officially welcome the SA National Defence Force.

2022 March 10, “SANDF deploys to Western Cape to fight poaching”, in defenceWeb:

South African National Defence Force
w:South African National Defence Force

(South Africa, military) Initialism of South African National Defence Force.


AShM

AShM (countable and uncountable, plural AShMs)

anti-ship missile
anti-ship missile#English

(military) Initialism of anti-ship missile.


anti-ship missile

anti-ship missile (plural anti-ship missiles)

anti-ship missiles (plural)
antiship missile (alternative)
ASM (alternative)
AShM (alternative)

(military) A guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats.


counterdrone

(military) Opposing or countering drones.


(military) Initialism of command, control, and communications countermeasures.


surface combatant

surface combatant (plural surface combatants)

(nautical, military) A warship that floats on the surface of the ocean, as opposed to a submarine. Aircraft carriers are also generally excluded.


greatbow

greatbows (plural)
great bow (alternative)
great-bow (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-greatbow.wav

He hooked the tip of his own greatbow under the door’s hasp, muttered som thing under his breath and pulled, hard. Nothing happened. Again, and again nothing.

1981, Peter Morwood, The Warlord's Domain, DAW, →ISBN, page 84:

You can turtle with a crossbow but you're wide open after every shot. Greatbows have knockdown but you're superslow.

2021 April 12, the_3rdist, “What is your all time favourite themed runs?”, in reddit.com:

Maybe samurai would give you a head start for a greatbow build.

2022 February 14, ytinifniozob, Zamoku, “Greatbows”, in reddit.com:

(rare, science fiction, video games, weaponry, fantasy) A giant bow; a longbow.


strike team

(military) A group of fighters to be sent on missions.


chinstrapped

Somewhere between Portland and a town called Eugene at the end of August, I am ashamed to say that I cursed at my beloved colonel, which could have resulted in a court martial for me. In my defence, I was absolutely chin-strapped after setting off at 4 a.m. that morning and cycling for ten hours straight in 25 degrees heat.

2016, Chris Graham, Five Minutes of Amazing: My Journey Through Dementia, London: Sphere, →ISBN, page 147:


whisker biscuit

whisker biscuit (plural whisker biscuits)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whisker biscuit.wav

The bad news was his whisker biscuit—the part that guided the arrow—as well as his sight and stabilizer had been snapped, shattered, and otherwise removed.

This is most easily seen on your arrow rest if you're using a recurve, but you can also see erosion on a containment rest and/or a whisker biscuit.

2019, Dawson Albert, Archery: The #1 Beginner's Guide for Everything an Archer Needs to Know About Recurve and Compound Bows, unnumbered page:

The whisker biscuit is the most typical rest, but it can slightly reduce the arrow's speed.

2021, Miguel Rocha, HowExpert Guide to Archery, page 6:

(archery) Alternative letter-case form of Whisker Biscuit.


Whisker Biscuit

Whisker Biscuit (plural Whisker Biscuits)

It might seem that a Whisker Biscuit's nylon bristles, which surround the shaft, would affect arrow flight.

2004 August, Scott Bestul, “The No-Nonsense Bow”, in Field & Stream, unnumbered page:

I pulled my quiver off my bow, ran an arrow through my Whisker Biscuit, and leaned back on my leg.

2006, Jimmy Sites, Jason Cruise, Into the High Country, unnumbered page:

I draw, sure that he can hear the sound of the arrow as it touches each fiber of my Whisker Biscuit rest.

2008, Bill Heavey, If You Didn't Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat?: Misadventures in Hunting, Fishing, and the Wilds of Suburbia, page 139:

(archery) A branded arrow rest with synthetic bristles with a hole in the middle to stabilize the arrow shaft while allowing the fletching to pass smoothly.


PBV

PBV (countable and uncountable, plural PBVs)

(military) Abbreviation of post-boost vehicle.


chespaling

chespaling (usually uncountable, plural chespalings)

(military) A flexible, rollable material made from chestnut wood, used for fencing or to provide traction for the tracks of tanks.


contraktnik

contraktnik (plural contraktniks or contraktniki)

contraktniks (plural)
contraktniki (plural)

From Russian контра́ктник (kontráktnik) Literally, “contractor, contractee”. From контракт (kontrakt, “contract”)+-ник (-nik, “profession, performer”). Analyzable as contract + -nik.

bor

контра́ктник

The contraktniki are implicated in the worst brutalities. […] On the night of April 7th the contraktniki went into the village. By the next morning over 200 people were dead.

1995, “Chechnya: Still bleeding”, in The Economist, volume 335, number 7918, page 45:

One witness who had been held in a pit last month said: 'It was freezing. At night they would chuck in smoke canisters and let off CS gas. They threw stones down on us. It was the contraktniki – mercenaries – who did it.'

2000 October 15, John Sweeney, “Cries from Putin's torture pit: One year on, John Sweeney returns to Chechnya to speak to survivors of horrific abuse inflicted in a Russian prison camp”, in The Observer, London, page 24:

Underpinning that power was a reign of terror the like of which Chechens had not seen since the days of Stalin. Even the Russian contraktniki, or freelance fighters, were not as feared as Mr Kadyrov's private army of kidnappers, torturers and executioners were.

2004 May 11, “Prisoners of the Caucasus”, in The Guardian:

The 331st was also a showcase for Russia's policy of replacing national service soldiers with contraktniki - professionals under contract. It is understandable why the generals should have given it an important role in the invasion.

2022 April 2, Mark Urban, The heavy losses of an elite Russian regiment in Ukraine (Newsnight), via BBC:

(military) A voluntary professional soldier of Russia under contract (not a conscript soldier)


quingenary

/ˈkwɪnd͡ʒəˌnɛɹi/

From Latin quīngēnārius (“containing 500”), from Latin quīngēnī (“500 each”) + -ārius (“-ary”), from quīngentī (“five hundreds”). Cognate with quingenarious and quinquagenary.

(military, chiefly historical) Of or related to units of 500 men.


LVW

(automotive, military, nautical) Abbreviation of landing vehicle, wheeled. (amphibious truck)


fa jin

(martial arts) The explosive discharge of power, in Chinese martial arts.


land cruiser

From being a vehicle akin to a cruiser (“an armored warship”) on land.

armoured combat vehicle
armoured combat vehicle#English

(archaic, military, 19th century to pre-WWI) An armoured combat vehicle, a tank.

(archaic, military) A superheavy tank, supertank.


land ironclad

From being a vehicle akin to an ironclad (“an armored warship”) on land.


ORD

(Singapore, military) Abbreviation of operationally ready date, the date when a national serviceman finishes his service.


IMA

Indian Military Academy
w:Indian Military Academy

(India, military) Initialism of Indian Military Academy.


superfiring

(military, nautical, of a gun turret on a warship) Mounted higher than one or more other turrets within its firing arc, allowing it to fire over the top of the lower-mounted turret(s).


military parade

en-noun

military parade (plural military parades)

Clarifying the specific sense of parade intended, once public processions became the more common sense of the word.

(military) A show of troops, an assembly of troops as a show of force, to receive orders, or especially for inspection at set times.

զորահանդես

A show of troops, especially for regular inspection — see also parade


rocket artillery

rocket artillery (usually uncountable, plural rocket artilleries)

(military) Artillery that uses rockets as projectiles, instead of shells or shot; artillery composed of rocket launchers instead of guns.

реактивная артиллерия (reaktivnaya artilleriya, literally “Rocket artillery”) (Literally)


windtalker

windtalkers (plural)
Windtalker (alternative)

There are alternative forms of code, like using obscure languages: World War II's Navajo “windtalkers” are a well-known case.

2004, “Codes and Decoding”, in James C. Bradford, editor, International Encyclopedia of Military History, Routledge, →ISBN, page 303:

Even when they forced a captured Navajo soldier, who was not a Windtalker, to translate intercepted messages, he could not make head or tail of the stream of words because of the code within a code.

2022, Morten H. Christiansen, Nick Chater, The Language Game […] , →ISBN:

(historical, military) A Navajo codetalker during World War II.


LAW

(military) Acronym of light anti-tank weapon.


LAWS

LAWS (plural)
LAWSs (plural)
LAWSes (plural)

lethal autonomous weapons system#English

(military) Abbreviation of lethal autonomous weapons system.


padwork

Coordinate term: bagwork

Following this is another four to five rounds of padwork with the Thai trainers before one practises his punches and kicks on the bags.

2016, Lionel Loh Han Loong, The Body and Senses in Martial Culture, page 37:

(martial arts) Training with pads on the hands to reduce the risk of injury.


bagwork

Coordinate term: padwork

Once the men are done with the sparring or technical component, there is clinch training followed by a few rounds of bagwork.

(martial arts) Training with a punching bag.


loitering munition

loitering munition (plural loitering munitions)

loitering munitions (plural)
loiter munition (alternative)

Coordinate term: homing munition

Loitering munitions can circle overhead for extended periods of time, searching for potential targets over a wide area and, once they find one, destroy it. Unlike homing munitions, loitering munitions do not require precise intelligence on enemy targets before launch.

2018, Paul Scharre, chapter 3, in Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War, W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN:

She noted that the report stated the Kargu-2 and “other loitering munitions” attacked convoys and retreating fighters. Loitering munitions, which are simpler autonomous weapons that are designed to hover on their own in an area before crashing into a target, have been used in several other conflicts, Ms. Franke said.

2021 June 3, Maria Cramer, quoting Ulrike Franke, “A.I. Drone May Have Acted on Its Own in Attacking Fighters, U.N. Says”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(military, weaponry) A munition, often a UAV, that waits passively around the target area and attacks only once a target is located.


lance sergeant

(military) Formerly, a corporal acting as a sergeant. Now used in the Foot Guards and Honourable Artillery Company of the British Army as a rank equivalent to corporal


lance bombardier

lance bombardier (plural lance bombardiers)

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(military) A non-commissioned officer in an artillery regiment of some Commonwealth armies, equivalent to a lance corporal in the infantry.


November class

(military, historical) The Soviet Union's first class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, in service from 1958 through 1990.


sick parade

He would report for sick parade every morning and more often than not convince the doctor he was ill. In consequence, he was on light duties for the entire twenty-eight days I was there.

2020, Chris Cocks, Fire Force: A Trooper's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, page 148:

(military, medicine) A lineup of ill or injured soldiers who report to a medic, and are assessed by a triage system.


cannon cocker

A 'Cannon Cocker' is the lowest form of existence that there is in the Army. It is hot, dirty, dangerous, loud and continuous.

2009, Billy Hall, Bulletproof: In Vietnam, page 103:

“I guess we need to take these guys in,” a cannon cocker said. I met Smith's eyes, and he shook his head. Neither of us was much interested in taking the prisoners back to base.

2011, Kris Alexander, Servants of the Light:

I subsequently taught enough artillerymen at Quantico, and the Naval War College to make that statement, and today, even in the war on terror, I would ensure that my chief of staff was a cannon cocker!

2012, Dr. George A. Baker III, The Making of a Marine-Scholar, page 561:

(US, military, slang, sometimes derogatory) A member of the military who fires guns; a soldier involved in gunnery.


Shitty Kitty

(US, naval slang, historical, vulgar) USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)


Hot Carl

(US navy, slang) USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)


dropmaster

(military) A person in charge of dropping items (equipment, weapons, or parachutists) out of an aircraft


cross someone's T

en-verb

cross someone's T (third-person singular simple present crosses someone's T, present participle crossing someone's T, simple past and past participle crossed someone's T)

crosses someone's T (present singular third-person)
crossing someone's T (participle present)
crossed someone's T (participle past)
crossed someone's T (past)

From the shape formed by the opposing battle lines, which resembles a capital letter T.

No sooner has the fleet settled onto this course than a small group of Japanese cruisers and actual, real, live, all-singing, all-dancing, all-features-included, protected-by-the-Emperor torpedo boats begin to move to cross the T of the Russian fleet. Worried about a torpedo attack on his lead battleships and determined to sweep this small formation aside, Rozhestvensky orders his main ships into a line abreast, a far-more-potent display of force that allows every forward-pointing gun on his capital ships to bear at the same time.

2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 12:24 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse..., archived from the original on 2022-12-04:

(military, nautical) To sail one's battle line across the front of the enemy battle line, allowing one to bring one's full firepower to bear on the enemy battle line while limiting the firepower that the enemy can use in return.


munitioneer

(military) A manufacturer of munitions; someone who manufactures munitions; a munitioner


ring knocker

An allusion to the graduation rings they may wear.

(US, military, slang) An officer who graduated from a military academy.


HMNB

(UK, nautical, military) Initialism of Her (or His) Majesty's Naval Base; prefix used in the names of naval bases of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.


toe popper

(military, slang) A small antipersonnel land mine, the M14 mine.


sofar bomb

sofar bombs (plural)
SOFAR bomb (alternative)

(nautical, military) A device (usually an imploding metal sphere or an explosive charge fuzed to explode at depth) which sinks in the ocean and creates a loud, low-frequency sound when it enters the sofar channel; used to determine the location of sunken vessels.


ATACMS

During Operation Desert Storm, government records show that the U.S. Army fired more than 17,200 unguided MLRS rockets and 32 of the larger ATACMS guided missiles at Iraqi forces.

2022 June 2, John Ismay, “What Are ‘Artillery Rockets,’ and Why Is the U.S. Sending Them to Ukraine?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The Biden administration, which has sent billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, has been deliberating about whether to provide some of their limited inventory of Army Tactical Missile Systems — known as ATACMS. Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine needs more missile capability.

[2023 September 22, Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, “Zelensky’s Visit Reveals Strategy Divide Between Ukraine and U.S.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Army Tactical Missile System
w:Army Tactical Missile System

surface-to-surface missile
surface-to-surface missile

(US military) Acronym of Army Tactical Missile System, a type of surface-to-surface missile.


GMLRS

But the range of the GMLRS is more than twice that of the 155-mm shells fired by howitzers.

Multiple Launch Rocket System
MLRS#English

(US military) Acronym of Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System.


HIMARS

Using the HIMARS and GMLRS together can offer an amount of firepower that is similar to an airstrike — all from a mobile platform.

High Mobility Artillery Rocket System
w:High Mobility Artillery Rocket System

multiple rocket launcher
multiple rocket launcher

(military) Acronym of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a light multiple rocket launcher.


Nordenfelt gun

Named after the Swedish steel producer and banker Thorsten Nordenfelt, who funded its development.

(firearms, historical) A kind of organ gun having a row of up to twelve barrels, and fired by pulling a lever back and forth, with ammunition fed by gravity through a chute for each barrel.


Bluie

(US military, historical) Code name for Greenland during World War II.


fourth-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 50–60 guns across two gun decks, a complement of 320–420, and weighing approximately 1,000 tons burthen.


fourth-rate

fourth-rates (plural)
fourth rate (alternative)

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A fourth-rate ship of the line.


fifth-rate

[A] great and ſtout Fleet before the Texel (and not as much as one of our Fourth or Fifth Rate-Frigats could follow them)[.]

1677, Andrew Yarranton, England's improvement by sea and land, London: R. Everingham, page 96:

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 32–44 guns across one or two gun decks, a complement of 200–300, and weighing 700–1,450 tons burthen.


fifth-rate

fifth-rates (plural)
fifth rate (alternative)

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A fifth-rate warship.


sixth-rate

The Navy classified warships by their number of cannons, and with twenty-eight, she was a sixth-rate–the lowest rank.

2023, David Grann, chapter 1, in The Wager, Doubleday:

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 20–28 guns on one gun deck, a complement of 140–200, and weighing 340–550 tons burthen.


sixth-rate

sixth-rates (plural)
sixth rate (alternative)

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A sixth-rate warship.


gunhouse

(naval) The rotating part of a gun turret seen above deck.


black shoe

Coordinate term: brown shoe

Hayward served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36) as a “black shoe” engineer until he entered flight training at Pensacola, Florida, […]

2016, James E. Wise, Jr., Scott Baron, At the Helm of USS America, page 57:

Towers attributed the whole catastrophe to the decision to put the carriers under the command of a black shoe like Kinkaid. As a result of that, he said, the United States was now without a single fully operational aircraft carrier in the whole of the Pacific Ocean.

2022, Craig L. Symonds, Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay, page 189:

(US, naval) A person who works on an aircraft carrier but is not involved in flights.


brown shoe

Coordinate term: black shoe

Halsey was also a “brown shoe,” a naval aviator, who was outgoing, bold, and sometimes maybe even a little too daring.

2004, W. Brad Johnson, Gregory P. Harper, Becoming a Leader the Annapolis Way, page 21:


come in hot

come in hot (third-person singular simple present comes in hot, present participle coming in hot, simple past came in hot, past participle come in hot)

comes in hot (present singular third-person)
coming in hot (participle present)
came in hot (past)
come in hot (participle past)

The chopper came in hot, with guns blazing.

(military, idiomatic) To enter the scene of conflict quickly and aggressively.


decap

decap (third-person singular simple present decaps, present participle decapping, simple past and past participle decapped)

decaps (present singular third-person)
decapping (participle present)
decapped (participle past)
decapped (past)

(military, chiefly nautical) To cause an armor-piercing shell to lose its hardened cap, degrading its ability to penetrate armor.


make one's number

make one's number (third-person singular simple present makes one's number, present participle making one's number, simple past and past participle made one's number)

makes one's number (present singular third-person)
making one's number (participle present)
made one's number (participle past)
made one's number (past)

Dave Shaw had given me good advice. 'Make your number with the purser,' he had said. 'He's a kind of super marine hotel manager who can wave a magic wand and get you almost anything you ask for.'

1972, Stephen Seamus Kerry, Ship's Doctor, page 49:

(naval) To report one's arrival and begin one's duties.


stand fast

(archery) A warning not to pass between the arrow and the target.


dial-a-yield

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-dial-a-yield.wav

(military) Of a nuclear weapon, having a yield that is variable (i.e. selectable without reconstruction).


SEAD

(military, aviation) Acronym of suppression of enemy air defense(s).


rosette seeker

(military) An infrared homing system that extends a conical scanner with ad additional mirror or prism to create a more complex, rosette-like pattern with more angular coverage.


angle stealer

(military) A transponder designed to take into account the enemy radar's operational frequency and scan timing, and to add an additional signal to that naturally reflected off the target, confusing the radar as to the target's location.


angle stealing

(military) The antiradar technique on which the angle stealer is based.


Arse-end Charlie

en-noun

Arse-end Charlie (plural Arse-end Charlies)

Tail End Charlie
Tail End Charlie#English

(UK, military, slang) Synonym of Tail End Charlie


catch a packet

en-verb

catch a packet (third-person singular simple present catches a packet, present participle catching a packet, simple past and past participle caught a packet)

catches a packet (present singular third-person)
catching a packet (participle present)
caught a packet (participle past)
caught a packet (past)

While here last night we caught a packet, and some shrapnel came into our house here. However, no casualties in cars or men.

1956, George Rock, The History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955, page 436:

From then onwards about every minute we caught a packet from somewhere: 'Crash! Rattle! Bump! Thump!' Eventually there was an even worse one than usual which knocked us all off our perches; […]

2016, Peter Hart, Voices from the Front: An Oral History of the Great War:

(military, slang, idiomatic) To be fired upon.


splendid first strike

en-noun

splendid first strike (plural splendid first strikes)

(military) An initial attack with nuclear weapons that disables the enemy's nuclear capability and thus prevents retaliation.


EKV

(military, astronautics) Initialism of exoatmospheric kill vehicle. A missile warhead reentry vehicle intercept antimisssile, whose intercept zone lies beyond the atmosphere.


en bloc clip

(military) A clip holding several rounds of ammunition for a firearm, which is inserted into the firearm's internal magazine to load the weapon, remains in the weapon while firing, and is removed or ejected when its supply of ammunition is exhausted.


(aviation, military, US, historical) The original designation of the Lockheed XF-90, redesignated in 1948.


(aviation, military, historical, US) The original designation of the Curtiss P-60.


XQ

Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie
w:Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie

(aviation, military, US, historical) The original designation of the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie.


sand battery

(military, historical) A sand fort equipped with an artillery battery, frequently found in coastal defense, usually having organic infantry attached.


green-water navy

green-water navy (plural green-water navies)

(military, nautical) A naval force capable of military operations in coastal waters and in the open seas near its home country, but not capable of independent operations far from its home country.

(military, nautical) The portion of a naval force that is optimized for operations in coastal waters.


combat stress reaction

combat stress reaction (plural combat stress reactions)

(military, psychiatry) Acute behavioral disorganization as a direct result of the trauma of war.