Siege Line
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GAU-19—A .50 caliber, electrically powered Gatling gun.
GROM—Grupa Reagowania Operacyjno-Manewrowego. Poland’s elite counterterrorism unit.
HAWK—Armed aviation asset such as a helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft.
HAZMAT—Hazardous materials.
HVAC—Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
“IN THE WIND”—Whereabouts unknown.
JSOC—Joint Special Operations Command.
JTF—Joint Task Force.
K-9—Canine. A unit that employs working dogs for law enforcement or military operations. The term is also used to refer to the dogs themselves.
KC—Kill-Capture. A direct-action mission wherein the team’s first goal is to capture a human target. If the team is unable to capture the target without risking harm to their own number, they will kill him/her. A successful KC must conclude with the target either captured or dead.
“KEEP IT DARK”—Keep it secret.
KLICK—Slang for a kilometer.
LNO—Liaison Officer.
LWIR—Longwave infrared.
MAM—Military-aged male.
MANPAD—Man-portable air-defense system. A shoulder-mounted missile launcher.
MASINT—Measurement and Signature Intelligence. Intelligence gathered from scientific instruments such as undersea acoustic sensors to detect submarines, or radiation sensors for nuclear detonations.
MCE—Mapping and Charting Establishment. Comparable to the National Reconnaissance Office and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in the United States, the MCE provides mapping and imagery intelligence support to Canadian intelligence services and the armed forces.
MCPO—Master Chief Petty Officer.
MEDEVAC—Medical evacuation. An emergency retrieval and removal of a casualty from a crisis zone. The patient is stabilized and transferred as quickly as possible to a medical facility where adequate care can be provided.
MGRS—Military Grid Reference System.
“MIKES”—Minutes.
MOA—Minute of angle. A measurement of the accuracy of a shot taking the distance it was fired from into consideration.
MWR—Morale, Welfare, and Recreation center.
NCS—National Clandestine Service (formerly the Directorate of Operations or DO). The branch of the CIA responsible for intelligence collection.
NGA—National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. The US intelligence agency primarily responsible for geospatial intelligence, also known as GEOINT. Formerly known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency or NIMA.
NOC—Non-official Cover. The government denies all association with NOC persons and organizations, even in the event of a compromise.
NODS—Night optical devices. Mechanical devices that permit the user to see in the dark.
“OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD”—Slang used to indicate a visit to a mental-health professional.
OP—Operation. Refers to any military undertaking with a discrete beginning and end.
OPEN-SOURCE—Intelligence derived from publicly available sources.
OPERATOR—Members of special forces elements who engage in special operations. Term connotes members of direct-action elements whose primary tasking is breaching hardened targets and neutralizing a dug-in enemy.
OPLAN—Operational plan.
PA—Public address system.
PAX—Passenger or passengers.
PIPE HITTER—A fighter. A person whose principal occupation is the use of force.
PJ—Pararescue jumpers, also known as pararescuemen. A special operations element within the United States Air Force.
PLATOON—A military organizational unit consisting of twenty-eight to sixty-four members.
PMO—Paramilitary officer. CIA special-skills officers specializing in military operations. Usually drawn from the military special operations community.
PTSD—Post-traumatic stress disorder.
“PUSH A BUTTON”—Assassinate.
“PUSH A BUTTON ON SOMEONE”—Assassinate someone.
“PUT A SIREN ON IT”—Exhortation to perform a given task very quickly.
QRF—Quick Reaction Force. A standby troop of warfighters positioned to respond rapidly to an emergency.
R AND R—Rest and relaxation.
RCMP—Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“READ ON/READ IN”—The act of authorizing an individual for access to a compartment of classified information. Such an individual is said to be read onto or read into the program.
ROE—Rules of engagement.
SAD—Special Activities Division. A division within the CIA in charge of covert activities.
SEABEES—CBs, the construction battalions of the United States Navy.
SEAL—“Sea, Air, and Land.” A special operations force of the United States Navy.
SITREP—Situation report.
SO2—Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class.
SOAR—Special Operations Aviation Regiment. A special operations force of the United States Army that provides both general and specialized aviation support.
SOC—Supernatural Operations Corps.
SOCOM—Special Operations Command.
SOF—Special Operations Forces. Also referred to as “SF,” as an acronym for “Special Forces.”
SOG—Special Operations Group. A division within SAD responsible for tactical paramilitary operations.
SPECTRE—A flying gunship.
SQT—SEAL Qualification Training.
SQUIRTERS—A colloquial term for those enemy who flee a targeted location.
SSCI—Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The senatorial committee charged with overseeing federal intelligence operations.
SSG—Special Services Group. Pakistan’s Special Operations forces.
SSO—Special Security Officer. An individual charged with the oversight of the security clearances of personnel and the proper storage, handling, and disposal of classified information. SSO is also the acronym for “Special Skills Officer,” a federal government title usually used for various functions within the CIA.
SST—Special Security Team. An elite counterterrorism unit in the Japanese Coast Guard.
STICK—A group of operators. Named for the long, narrow formation when they stack on entryways.
TATP—Triacetone triperoxide. A homemade explosive popular in improvised explosive devices. Easily made from household chemicals, it is highly unstable and extremely susceptible to heat, shock, or friction. It is extremely risky to employ TATP as ordnance, as it is just as likely to harm the user as it is the target.
TCCC—Tactical combat casualty care. First-responder medical training given to operators. It is designed to allow nonmedical personnel to engage in triage under fire and to stabilize casualties for medevac.
TIC—Troops in contact. Indicates that the speaker is engaged and fighting with the enemy.
“TIN YOUR WAY OUT”—Referring to the silver color of a police officer’s badge, tinning your way out refers to using any kind of government credential to evade consequences. Likewise, a government agent can also “tin their way in” to restricted access facilities.
TL;DR—“Too long; didn’t read.”
VAX—Virtual Address Extension. An antiquated computer operating system.
VTC—Video teleconference.
WIA—Wounded in action.
YN1—Yeoman First Class. A senior enlisted member of the US Navy or Coast Guard specializing in administration.
As a security contractor, government civilian, and military officer, MYKE COLE’s career has run the gamut from counterterrorism to cyber warfare to federal law enforcement. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He recently joined the cast of the TV show Hunted on CBS as part of an elite tea
m of fugitive hunters. All that conflict can wear a guy out. Thank goodness for fantasy novels, comic books, late-night games of Dungeons & Dragons, and lots of angst-fueled writing. Myke is the author of Javelin Rain and Gemini Cell, prequels to his Shadow Ops series, which includes Breach Zone, Fortress Frontier, and Control Point.
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