Terms for members of the military

Soldiers: Members of the Army

Sailors: Members of the Navy

Airmen: Members of the Air Force

Coast Guardsmen: Members of the Coast Guard

Marines: Members of the Marine Corps

Guardsmen: Members of the National Guard

Reservists: Members of the Reserve

Common Military Acronyms

AFW2 - Air Force Wounded Warrior Program

AW2 - Army Wounded Warrior Program

AWOL - Absent Without Leave

CAO - Casualty Assistance Officer

CAR - Casualty Assistance Representative

CDCs - Child Development Centers

CDR - Commander

CO - Commanding Officer

COB - Close Of Business: the end of the day or duty shift

CoS - Chief of Staff

CONUS - Continental United States

CNO - Casualty Notification Officer

DADT - Don't Ask, Don't Tell

DCO – Direct Commissioned Officer

DEERS - Defense Enrollment and Eligibility Reporting System

DoD - Department of Defense

EAS - End of Active Service

ESGR - Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve

FAP - Family Advocacy Program

FCC - Family Child Care

FMLA - Family and Medical Leave Act

FOB - Forward Operating Base

GWOT - Global War on Terror

IAW - In accordance with

ICO - In case of, in care of

IED - Improvised Explosive Device

IRT - In reference to

JAVA - Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

KIA - Killed in Action

MEDEVAC or MEDIVAC - Medical evacuation

MFLC - Military and Family Life Counselor

MIA - Missing in Actions

MOS - Military Occupational Specialty: job or career specialty (e.g., infantryman, intelligence analyst, operating room specialist, etc.)

MWR - Morale, Welfare and Recreation

NCO - Non-Commissioned Officer: an enlisted person with command responsibility over soldiers of lesser rank

NCOIC - Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge

OCONUS - Outside the Continental United States

OCS – Officer Candidate School (aka Officer Training School)

OEF - Operation Enduring Freedom

OIF - Operation Iraqi Freedom

OND - Operation New Dawn; new name for the War in Iraq starting in September 2010 to reflect reduced role of US troops

OTS - Officer Training School (aka Officer Candidate School)

PCS - Permanent Change of Station

PLC – Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course

PFA - Psychological First Aid

POC - Point of Contact: the person to liaise with on a given matter

POW - Prisoners of War

PTSD – Post-traumatic stress disorder

ROTC - Reserve Officer Training Corps (often pronounced “ROT-SEE”)

R/S - Respectfully Submitted: used as an end greeting in written communication or email

SOP - Standard Operating Procedure: the routine manner of handling a set situtation

SVA - Student Veterans of America

SWAN - Service Women's Action Network

TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury

TDY or TAD - Temporary Duty Yonder

UCMJ - Uniform Code of Military Justice

VA - Department of Veterans Affairs

VBA - Veterans Benefits Administration

VETS - Veterans Employment and Training Services

VFW - Veterans of Foreign Wars

VHA - Veterans Health Administration

V/R - Very Respectfully: used as an end greeting in written communication or email

WWR - Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment

Glossary of Common Military Terms

Adult dependents: Family members who are a parent, grandparent, former spouse, sibling, disabled older child, or any other individual who is claimed by the service member as a dependent.

Allowance: A set dollar amount that is paid to service members in addition to their basic monthly pay that is designed to at least partially compensate for the costs of items considered necessary for the service member.

Ambiguous loss: Loss characterized by lack of closure or clear understanding of the extent of the loss (e.g., there is no verification of a loved one's death or no certainty that he or she will return or be same as he or she used to be); boundary ambiguity may be experienced as an ambiguous loss.

Armed Forces of the United States: All of the components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard when it augments the Navy.

Base: The Air Force and Navy term for a military installation.

Beneficiary: Someone eligible to use or access a military-related benefit, such as shopping at stores on a military installation or accessing TRICARE health-care coverage.

Camp: The Marine Corps term for a military installation

Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act: A federal law that provides assistance to caregivers of veterans injured in the line of duty or training on or after September 11, 2001.

Casualties: Individuals who have died or have been wounded while serving.

Casualty Assistance Calls Officer: A Navy or Marine Corps representative who notifies a service member's designated next of kin when there is a death of a sailor or marine, provides information, and assists the family with funeral or memorial services, filing paperwork for benefits and entitlements, and relocation.

Casualty Assistance Officer: An Army representative who provides information and assists the family with funeral or memorial services, filing paperwork for benefits and entitlements, and relocation when there is a death of a soldier.

Casualty Assistance Representative: An Air Force Corps representative who notifies a service member's designated next of kin when there is a death of an airman, provides information, and assists the family with funeral or memorial services, filing paperwork for benefits and entitlements, and relocation.

Casualty Notification Officer: An Army representative, often accompanied by a military chaplain and/or organization commander, who notifies a service member's designated next of kin when there is a death of a soldier.

Chain of command: The highly structured line of authority and responsibility, which designates who is in charge of what and whom and along which orders are passed.

Chief of Staff: The most senior ranking officer of a branch of the military service, who is responsible for the readiness of personnel, among numerous other responsibilities.

Child development centers: Facilities found on most military installations that provide daytime, business day child-care for infants to 5-year-olds.

Combat and operation stress: The physical, mental, and emotional symptoms (e.g., anxiety, hyperarousal, fatigue, depression, concentration problems) that extend beyond 4 days after a traumatic event.

Combat Operational Stress Control: An overarching principle that guides military leaders as they develop regulations and policies on how to address the physical, cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioral stress symptoms that service members experience as a result of combat or other military operations and to keep stress within an acceptable range; policies and programs emphasize enhancing resilience and performance through prevention and early interventions with individuals and families who experience psychological injury.

Combat operational stress reactions: The physical, cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioral stress symptoms as a result of combat or as result of other operations; these reactions may be experienced for just a few hours or days or may persist for weeks, months, or longer.

Combat stress reactions: The expected reactions of service members who have experienced stressful events while in combat, including emotional, intellectual, physical, and/or behavioral reactions.

Combat-injured families: The spouses, children and stepchildren, parents, ex-spouses, siblings, and other extended relations of an injured service member.

Commissary: Tax-free grocery stores located on military installations and reserved for use by military beneficiaries.

Composite Life Cycle Model: A conceptual model used by the U.S. Army to illustrate how events and transitions in three areas of a soldier's life (i.e., unit, personal work, and family) relate to each other across time, family development, and career milestones.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness: A strength-based program rooted in positive psychology and designed to enhance soldier, family, and civilian worker resilience and performance through a confidential personal assessment, online training, and unit training.

Cumulative stressor: A stressful event or situation that contributes to the current situation, creating a pileup of stressors.

Defense Enrollment and Eligibility Reporting System: A programs that verifies those are eligible for military-based services and benefits; each eligible person is enrolled this system so that he or she can be identified as a family member or legal dependent interacting with the military community.

Defense of Marriage Act: A federal act passed in 1996 that explicitly states that marriage at the federal level is only recognized if it occurs between one man and one woman and reaffirm that individual states are not compelled to recognize same-sex marriages that occurred i: a different state.

Department of Defense: The federal department tasked with national security and supervising the U.S. Armed Forces.

Department of Veterans Affairs: A U.S. presidential cabinet-level position comprised of the Veterans Benefits Administration, the Veterans Health Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration, which provide medical care and other federal benefits to eligible veterans and their family members.

Deployment: The movement of military forces, equipment, and logistical support to an area of military operations.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell: DoD Directive 1304.26, a federal law prohibiting gays and lesbians from serving in the U. S. Armed Forces; under this directive, the military could not ask recruits about their sexual orientation and military members were not obligated to disclose if they were gay or lesbian because that knowledge would be grounds for their discharge from the military.

Dual-military marriages: Marriages in which a military member in one branch of service is married to a military member in the same or different branch of service.

Emotional cycle of deployment model: An evolving six-stage model highlighting structural and emotional issues that families may encounter before, during, and after deployment.

Exchange: A shopping facility on a military installation that provides durable goods, merchandise, and services for military beneficiaries, including restaurants and businesses such as hair salons; large exchanges are similar to civilian department stores.

Explicit norm: An overtly stated expectation; in the military, an explicit norm is wearing a uniform on duty, while in a family an explicit norm may be a set bedtime for children.

Family Care Plan: A firm arrangement for the care of children during deployment, including a determination of who will care for the member's child or children during deployment and other absences; arrangements to provide financial, medical, and logistical support for the children's well-being; name and consent to the plan of any noncustodial parent who will not be the caregiver during the service member's absence; and designation of a temporary caregiver in case of incapacity or death of the service member while permanent custody is established.

Family child care providers or child development providers (Navy): Individuals certified to provide child care to children from infancy to 12 years of age in their homes on military installations; family child care homes may offer daytime, evening, nighttime, and weekend hours.

Gulf War I: The term used for U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf from 1990-1991, also known as Operation Desert Storm or the Persian Gulf War.

Implicit norm: An implied expectation; in the military an implicit norm is showing respect for all military service members and veterans, while in a family an implicit norm is how affection is shown.

Inactive National Guard: National Guard personnel who are required to muster only once a with their unit.

Individual augmentee: A service member who is temporarily assigned to another comm deploys with the new command, and returns to his or her parent command upon completion of the deployment.

Individual Ready Reserve: Personnel who have served as active duty or in the selected reserve and still have time remaining on their military service obligation.

Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunities for Military Children: An agreement among states on how to handle educational issues that often vary across states, such as enrollment, placement, eligibility, and graduation requirements.

Joint Chiefs of Staff: The senior officers of their respective services who are military advisors to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council.

Judicial due process: Due process of law; the principle that the government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person, including witnesses, a jury, a pretrial hearing, formal notification of the charges, free legal representation, and a speedy trial.

Mental Health Advisory Team: A research team established by the Office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General to examine behavioral health of service members and behavioral health care in OIF and OEF.

Military brat, Air Force brat, Army brat, Navy brat, or Marine Corps brat: A positive and affectionate term claimed by military children to refer to themselves and others growing up in the military.

Military departments: The Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps), and the Department of the Air Force; each is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping its personnel.

Military installations: Facilities owned or leased and operated by the military. Military operational specialty: An assigned military job or occupation.

Military sexual trauma: Sexual trauma experienced while in active service.

National Defense Authorization Act: A federal law that is passed by Congress every year to grant the Department of Defense funds to operate and specific guidance on how to spend those funds.

Operation Enduring Freedom: U.S. military actions in Afghanistan that began in October 2001.

Operation Iraqi Freedom: U.S. military actions in Iraq that began in March 2003 and ended in August 2010, when the name for continuing operations was changed to Operation New Dawn.

Operation New Dawn: U.S. military action in Iraq that began in September 2010.

Permanent Change of Station: A relocation of a service member's work affiliation from one unit or duty station to another; service members may request their duty preference but the assignment is determined by the needs of the branch of service.

Personally Procured Transportation Move: A "do it yourself" move (versus a government arranged move).

Post: The Army term for a military installation.

Public stigma: Prejudice and discrimination against those with psychological disorders.

Purple: A term indicating that an activity or a program includes all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Rank: An achieved military status, representing a level of responsibility and attainment of know). Edge, expertise, and leadership skills.

Ready Reserve: One of the three components of the Reserve Component that includes the selected reserve, the Individual Ready Reserve, and the Inactive National Guard.

Rear detachment: Military personnel who remain at the home installation when there is a deployment of the unit to combat or to another military operation.

Reserve Component: The portion of the U.S. military forces comprised of the Ready Reserve, Standby Reserve, and Retired Reserve.

Retired Reserve: One of the three components of the Reserve Component that includes those reserve officers and enlisted who receive retired pay or are eligible for retired pay but are not 60 years old or over, not members of the Ready or Standby Reserves, and have not chosen to be discharged.

School-age care programs: Before and after-school programs located on many military installations that provide activities and supervision of school-age children of military families.

Secretary of Defense: A presidential cabinet member who oversees national security agencies and the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Force, and the Department of the Navy (which includes the Marine Corps).

Selected preventive intervention: Resilience programming targeted toward those who may be at higher risk for developing distress or loss of functioning.

Selected reserve: Reservists in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, and members of each state's Air and Army National Guard.

Separation from the military: Being released from active duty, discharged from military obligations, and transferred to the reserves or retired list.

Unaccompanied tour: An assignment to an overseas location where the family is not authorized to travel with and remain with the service member because the assignment area is deemed to be politically unstable, dangerous, or lacking in support services for families.

Unified Command Plan: An annual review with possible modification of the mission or jurisdiction of the unified commands.

Unified Commands: Two or more military departments working under a single commander to conduct operations in support of a continuing defense or combat mission in a region or an ongoing functional mission; there are currently six unified combatant commands with specific missions in regions throughout the world.

Uniform Code of Military Justice: Part of the U. S. Code of law that regulates the conduct of personnel in the uniformed services.

Uniformed Services: The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Commissioned Officer Corps; the first five are Armed Services, and the last two are Noncombatant Uniformed Services.

Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act: A federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of an employee's consideration of joining the military or an employee's current or past military service.

Vet centers: Counseling facilities open to all veterans who served in a combat theatre or anywhere during times of armed hostilities and to their family members; they offer individual and group counseling, family therapy related to military issues, sexual trauma employment and substance abuse assessment and referral, screening and referral for medical issues, and outreach and education.

Veterans Benefits Administration: A branch of the VA responsible for managing education benefits, disability compensation, pensions, burial allowances, vocational rehabilitation, home loans, life insurance, and survivors' benefits for eligible veterans and their families

Veterans’ Health Administration: An integrated health-care system that provides medical care to eligible veterans and includes hospitals, community-based outpatient clinics, community living centers, long-term care facilities, and readjustment counseling centers.

Warrant Officer: A military member who is designated an officer through a warrant (a specific authorization) as opposed to an officer who is designated through a commission; usually Warrant Officers are technical experts or specialists with a specific set of skills.

Glossary of Common Phrases & Slang

Phrases

Battle assembly – new term used for Army Reserve weekend drills, unit training assemblies, or multiple unit training assemblies

Boots on the ground – to physically be in a location (some may use this to say that they want "boots on the ground" for a particular project, which means they want everyone physically in the office, rather than having people call in.)

Drill – preparation of military personnel for performance of their duties through the practice and rehearsal of prescribed movements; members of the National Guard and Reserve are required to attend one weekend drill a month (sometimes starting Friday night until Monday morning)

Extended drill – extended time for drill in preparation for a deployment

Liberty – authorized free time ashore or off station, not counted as leave, also known as a "pass"

Ma'am – proper method of addressing female officers in particular and women in general

Sir – proper method of addressing male officers in particular and men in general

Tour of duty – time period during which a particular job or assignment is done (e.g., my tour of duty is 8am-5pm)

Slang

Above my/your pay grade – expression denying responsibility or authority (indicating that the issue should be brought to higher-ranking officials)

Civvies – civilian clothing

Down Range – physically in a combat zone

In-Country – physically in a war zone

Quarters – (a) military family housing, or (b) doctor's direction to stay home from work (e.g., I'm confined to quarters.)

Say again (your last) – request to repeat a statement, question, or order, especially over a radio

Stay in your lane – stay within your boundaries; do your job as commanded and trust that you will know what you need to know when you need to know it

Wilco – Will comply