Military Jargon
Below is a compilation of military terms (listed in alphabetical order) soldiers, military personnel and, of course, spouses and girlfriends commonly use. It's especially helpful to familiarize yourself with military language, as your significant other will use it often!
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-MILITARY JARGON-
Battle buddy - Term used to describe one's fellow soldiers in a unit
Chow - Food served on a military base at the chow hall or mess hall
CO - Commissioned Officer; in the U.S. Army, this includes those ranked 2nd. Lieutenant on up to General of the Army
DoD - Can either refer to the U.S. Department of Defense, or can be used as Day of Departure (for deployments or new stations)
ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
FRG - Family Readiness Group; consists of family members and volunteers; enhances communication between family members and deployed soldiers, provides different kinds of support and activities for families dealing with pending or current deployments, and organizes and runs various classes and workshops on base for military families
MOS - Military Occupational Specialty; a code used in the United States military (Army and Marines primarily) to identify one's job in the armed forces. The Air Force uses Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC) and the Navy uses naval ratings and designators along with the Navy Enlisted Classification system
NCO - Non-commissioned Officer; in the U.S. Army, this includes those ranked Sergeant on up to Sergeant Major of the Army
OPSEC - Operational Security. See more about OPSEC here
PCS - Permanent Change of Station; pretty self-explanatory; one changes their station after receiving orders and gains many benefits the military provides prior to the move, including a 10 day TDY which can help with the moving or house-hunting process and help packing up! One such valuable source for PCS, regardless of military branch, can be found here.
PERSEC - Personal Security; using common sense to keep personal information out of public forums and out of the hands of those that could harm you, your family or others whose sensitive information you know; important regardless if one is in a military relationship and a spouse is away or if one's relationship is a civilian one
PT - Physical Training; usually takes place in the wee hours of the morning and involves jogging, push ups, sit ups and other types of working out, which can also include ruck marches
Ruck March - Typically done while soldiers, particularly in the infantry division, are in the field or as part of PT; can involve carrying a ruck pack for a hike of many miles
TDY -Temporary Duty Assignment; travel to a location that is other than one's permanent duty station. This also comes with per diem pay and is an assignment that lasts less than a year. More information on per diem pay can be found here.
TAD - variaton on TDY
(Site last updated: Sept. 28, 2009)
Think something important is missing or isn't explained well? Leave a message on our Contact page!
-MILITARY JARGON-
Battle buddy - Term used to describe one's fellow soldiers in a unit
Chow - Food served on a military base at the chow hall or mess hall
CO - Commissioned Officer; in the U.S. Army, this includes those ranked 2nd. Lieutenant on up to General of the Army
DoD - Can either refer to the U.S. Department of Defense, or can be used as Day of Departure (for deployments or new stations)
ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
FRG - Family Readiness Group; consists of family members and volunteers; enhances communication between family members and deployed soldiers, provides different kinds of support and activities for families dealing with pending or current deployments, and organizes and runs various classes and workshops on base for military families
MOS - Military Occupational Specialty; a code used in the United States military (Army and Marines primarily) to identify one's job in the armed forces. The Air Force uses Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSC) and the Navy uses naval ratings and designators along with the Navy Enlisted Classification system
NCO - Non-commissioned Officer; in the U.S. Army, this includes those ranked Sergeant on up to Sergeant Major of the Army
OPSEC - Operational Security. See more about OPSEC here
PCS - Permanent Change of Station; pretty self-explanatory; one changes their station after receiving orders and gains many benefits the military provides prior to the move, including a 10 day TDY which can help with the moving or house-hunting process and help packing up! One such valuable source for PCS, regardless of military branch, can be found here.
PERSEC - Personal Security; using common sense to keep personal information out of public forums and out of the hands of those that could harm you, your family or others whose sensitive information you know; important regardless if one is in a military relationship and a spouse is away or if one's relationship is a civilian one
PT - Physical Training; usually takes place in the wee hours of the morning and involves jogging, push ups, sit ups and other types of working out, which can also include ruck marches
Ruck March - Typically done while soldiers, particularly in the infantry division, are in the field or as part of PT; can involve carrying a ruck pack for a hike of many miles
TDY -Temporary Duty Assignment; travel to a location that is other than one's permanent duty station. This also comes with per diem pay and is an assignment that lasts less than a year. More information on per diem pay can be found here.
TAD - variaton on TDY
(Site last updated: Sept. 28, 2009)