Military Time, Acronyms, Lingo and Jargon

Understanding Military Lingo For A Civilian

Being in the military we sometimes take for granted that everyone can understand what the heck we're saying. The truth is, though, that very few people do-especially when we're in the midst of a true military conversation.

In most cases this won't be a problem as military members talk mainly amongst themselves in regards to any peculiar military vernacular, acronyms or odd speech me might have. Heck, even our military spouses get used to it and pick up most of our language.

I would suggest that military recruiters have it the worst, though. They are faced with two choices. They either talk in circles around the very people they are trying to connect with and end up explaining every third or fourth word out of their mouths, or they re-train themselves to speak in a more civilian manner so that the prospective military applicants will pick up on what they're saying but still be enthralled by the strange talking guy or gal in uniform that they want to emulate.

Military Time

Military time tends to be the most confusing part of most everyday conversations, but it simple is just a 24-hour clock of which many European nations still use. The counter starts at 1 minute past midnight and is depicted as 0001hrs and counts on from there. 1 o'clock in the morning is 0100hrs, just like 2:39 a.m. is 0239 hours. Once we get to noon (1200hrs) we just keep counting. 1 o'clock in the afternoon is 1300hrs and 2:39 p.m. is 1439 hours. This goes all the way to 2300hrs (11:00 p.m) and so forth…

Military Acronyms

This article could never be big enough to explain all of the acronyms the military uses. Some are standard across all branches and some are unique to each. If something can be condensed in to a three letter acronym or longer but much easier stated "word" than it will be. For instance, "ECP" is entry control point, whereas a "HEMTT" is a heavy equipped mobile tactical truck. My favorite of all time is "RAWLS", though, and it simple means those orange blinking lights on top of traffic bins and trucks. The military likes to call these "rotating amber warning lights". Aaah, the simple military acronym of KISS-"keep it simple stupid".

Military Jargon

Military Jargon is as diverse as are its acronyms and range widely from service to service. While the Army has a "Hooah" (thing Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman ), the Marines have gone with a "hoorah" but pronounced more gutturally and sounding more like "ooorah". The Navy says "stand easy" while the Army and Air Force say "stand at ease" when putting subordinates in a resting position other then attention.

So, explaining military lingo for civilians is a little difficult. There are some great books and online references that can a person a vast amount of knowledge on how to speak military, Military Spouses Central has some great information on military life and spousal benefits!