by Jack Carr
FBI:
Federal Bureau of Investigation; a federal law enforcement agency that is not known for its sense of humor.
FDA:
Food and Drug Administration
FLIR:
Forward-Looking InfraRed; an observation device that uses thermographic radiation, that is, heat, to develop an image.
Floppies:
Derogatory term used to describe communist insurgents during the Rhodesian Bush War.
FOB:
Forward Operating Base. A secured forward military position used to support tactical operations. Can vary from small and remote outposts to sprawling complexes.
Fobbit:
A service member serving in a noncombat role who rarely, if ever, leaves the safety of the Forward Operating Base.
FSB:
Russia’s federal security service responsible for internal state security and headquartered in the same building in Lubyanka Square that once housed the KGB. Its convenient in-house prison is not a place one wants to spend an extended period.
FSO:
Federal Protective Service; Russia’s version of the Secret Service.
FTX:
Field Training Exercise.
G550:
A business jet manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace. Prices for a new example start above $40 million but, as they say, it’s better to rent.
Game Scout:
A wildlife enforcement officer in Africa. These individuals are often paired with hunting outfitters to ensure that regulations are adhered to.
Glock:
An Austrian-designed, polymer-framed handgun popular with police forces, militaries, and civilians throughout the world. Glocks are made in various sizes and chambered in several different cartridges.
GPNVG-18:
Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggles; $43,000 NODs used by the most highly funded special operations units due to their superior image quality and peripheral vision. See Rich Kid Shit.
GPS:
Global Positioning System. Satellite-based navigation systems that provide a precise location anywhere on earth.
Great Patriotic War:
The Soviets’ name for World War II; communists love propaganda.
Green-badger:
Central Intelligence Agency contractor
Ground Branch:
Land-focused element of the CIA’s Special Activities Division, according to Wikipedia.
GRS:
Global Response Staff. Protective agents employed by the Central Intelligence Agency to provide security to overseas personnel. See 13 Hours. GRS was originally redacted by government censors for the hardcover edition of True Believer. After a five-month appeal process, that decision was withdrawn.
GRU:
Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate. The foreign military intelligence agency of the Russian armed forces. The guys who do all the real work while the KGB gets all the credit, or so I’m told. Established by Joseph Stalin in 1942, the GRU was tasked with running human intelligence operations outside the Soviet Union. Think of them as the DIA with balls.
GS:
General Schedule; federal jobs that provide good benefits and lots of free time.
Gukurahundi Massacres:
A series of killings carried out against Ndebele tribe members in Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, by the Mugabe government during the 1980s. As many as twenty thousand civilians were killed by the North Korean–trained Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwean army.
GWOT:
Global War on Terror; the seemingly endless pursuit of bad guys, kicked off by the 9/11 attacks.
Gym Jones:
Utah-based fitness company founded by alpine climbing legend Mark Twight. Famous for turning soft Hollywood actors into hard bodies, Gym Jones once enjoyed a close relationship with a certain SEAL Team.
Hell Week:
The crucible of BUD/S training. Five days of constant physical and mental stress with little or no sleep.
Hilux:
Pickup truck manufactured by Toyota that is a staple in third-world nations due to its reliability.
HK416:
M4 clone engineered by the German firm of Heckler & Koch to operate using a short-stroke gas pistol system instead of the M4’s direct-impingement gas system. Used by select special operations units in the U.S. and abroad. May or may not have been the weapon used to kill [Redacted].
HK417:
Select-fire 7.62x51mm rifle built by Heckler & Koch as a big brother to the HK416. Often used as Designated Marksman Rifle with a magnified optic.
HUMINT:
Human intelligence. Information gleaned through traditional human-to-human methods.
HVI/HVT:
High-Value Individual/High-Value Target. An individual who is important to the enemy’s capabilities and is therefore specifically sought out by a military force.
IDC:
Independent Duty Corpsman. Essentially a doctor.
IED:
Improvised Explosive Device. Homemade bombs, whether crude or complex, often used by insurgent forces overseas.
IR:
Infrared. The part of the electromagnetic spectrum with a longer wavelength than light but a shorter wavelength than radio waves. Invisible to the naked eye but visible with night observation devices. Example: an IR laser aiming device.
Iron Curtain:
The physical and ideological border that separated the opposing sides of the Cold War.
ISIS:
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Radical Sunni terrorist group based in parts of Iraq and Afghanistan. Also referred to as ISIL. The bad guys.
ISR:
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance
ITAR:
International Traffic in Arms Regulations; export control regulations designed to restrict the export of certain items, including weapons and optics. These regulations offer ample opportunity to inadvertently violate federal law.
JAG:
Judge Advocate General. Decent television series and the military’s legal department.
JMAU:
Joint Medical Augmentation Unit. High-speed medicine.
JSOC:
Joint Special Operations Command. A component command of SOCOM, [Redacted X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X].
Katyn Massacre:
Soviet purge of Polish citizens that took place in 1940 subsequent to the Soviet invasion. Twenty-two thousand Poles were killed by members of the NKVD during this event; many of the bodies were discovered in mass graves in the Katyn Forest. Russia denied responsibility for the massacre until 1990.
KGB:
The Soviet “Committee for State Security.” Excelled at “suppressing internal dissent” during the Cold War. Most often referred to by kids of the eighties as “the bad guys.”
KIA:
Killed In Action.
Kudu:
A spiral-horned antelope, roughly the size and build of an elk, that inhabits much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Langley:
The Northern Virginia location where the Central Intelligence Agency is headquartered. Often used as shorthand for CIA.
LaRue OBR:
Optimized Battle Rifle; precision variant of the AR-15/AR-10 designed for use as a Designated Marksman or Sniper Rifle. Available in both 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm.
Law of Armed Conflict:
A segment of public international law that regulates the conduct of armed hostilities.
LAW Rocket:
M-72 Light Anti-armor Weapon. A disposable, tube-launched 66mm unguided rocket in use with U.S. forces since before the Vietnam War.
Leica M4:
Classic 35mm rangefinder camera produced from 1966 to 1975.
Long-Range Desert Group:
A specialized British military unit that operated in the North African and Mediterranean theaters during World War II. The unit was made up of soldiers from Great Britain, New Zealand, and Southern Rhodesia.
&nb
sp; M1911/1911A1:
.45-caliber pistol used by U.S. forces since before World War I.
M3:
World War II submachine gun chambered in .45 ACP. This simple but reliable weapon became a favorite of the frogmen of that time.
M4:
The standard assault rifle of the majority of U.S. military forces, including the U.S. Navy SEALs. The M4 is a shortened carbine variant of the M16 rifle that fires a 5.56x45mm cartridge. The M4 is a modular design that can be adapted to numerous configurations, including different barrel lengths.
MACV-SOG:
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam—Studies and Observations Group. Deceiving name for a group of brave warriors who conducted highly classified special operations missions during the Vietnam War. These operations were often conducted behind enemy lines in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam.
Mahdi Militia:
An insurgent Shia militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that opposed U.S. forces in Iraq during the height of that conflict.
MANPADS:
Man-Portable Air-Defense System; small antiaircraft surface-to-air guided rockets such as the U.S. Stinger and the Russian SA-7.
Marine Raiders:
U.S. Marine Corps special operations unit; formerly known as MARSOC.
Maritime Branch:
It’s best to just google it.
Mazrah Tora:
A prison in Cairo, Egypt. You do not want to wake up here.
MBITR:
AN/PRC-148 Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio. A handheld multiband, tactical software–defined radio, commonly used by special operations forces to communicate during operations.
McMillan TAC-50:
Bolt-action sniper rifle chambered in .50 BMG used for long-range sniping operations used by U.S. special operations forces as well as the Canadian army.
MDMA:
A psychoactive drug whose clinical name is too long to place here. Known on the street as “ecstasy.” Glow sticks not included.
MH-47:
Special operations variant of the Army’s Chinook helicopter, usually flown by members of the 160th SOAR. This twin-rotor aircraft is used frequently in Afghanistan due to its high service ceiling and large troop- and cargo-carrying capacity. Rumor has it that, if you’re careful, you can squeeze a Land Rover Defender 90 inside one.
MH-60:
Special operations variant of the Army’s Black Hawk helicopter, usually flown by members of the 160th SOAR.
MI5:
Military Intelligence, Section 5; Britain’s domestic counterintelligence and security agency. Like the FBI but with nicer suits and better accents.
MIL DOT:
A reticle-based system used for range estimation and long-range shooting, based on the milliradian unit of measurement.
MIL(s):
One-thousandth of a radian; an angular measurement used in rifle scopes. 0.1 MIL equals 1 centimeter at 100 meters or 0.36" at 100 yards. If you find that confusing, don’t become a sniper.
MIT:
Turkey’s national intelligence organization and a school in Boston for smart kids.
Mk 46 MOD 1:
Belt-fed 5.56x45mm light machine gun built by FN Herstal. Often used by special operations forces due to its light weight, the Mk 46 is a scaled-down version of the Mk 48 MOD 1.
Mk 48 MOD 1:
Belt-fed 7.62x51mm light machine gun designed for use by special operations forces. Weighing eighteen pounds unloaded, the Mk48 can fire 730 rounds per minute to an effective range of 800 meters and beyond.
MP7:
Compact select-fire personal defense weapon built by Heckler & Koch and used by various special operations forces. Its 4.6x30mm cartridge is available in a subsonic load, making the weapon extremely quiet when suppressed. What the MP7 lacks in lethality it makes up for in coolness.
MQ-4C:
An advanced unmanned surveillance drone developed by Northrop Grumman for use by the United States Navy.
MultiCam:
A proprietary camouflage pattern developed by Crye Precision. Formerly reserved for special operators and airsofters, MultiCam is now standard issue to much of the U.S. and allied militaries.
NATO:
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an alliance created in 1949 to counter the Soviet threat to the Western Hemisphere. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the alliance is commanded by a four-star U.S. military officer known as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU):
A command that appears on the biographies of numerous admirals on the Navy’s website. Vice President Joe Biden publicly referred to it by a different name.
NCIS:
Naval Criminal Investigative Service. A federal law enforcement agency whose jurisdiction includes the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Also a popular television program with at least two spin-offs.
Niassa Game Reserve:
Sixteen thousand square miles of relatively untouched wilderness in northern Mozambique. The reserve is home to a wide variety of wildlife as well as a fair number of poachers looking to commoditize them.
NODs:
Night observation devices. Commonly referred to as “night-vision goggles,” these devices amplify ambient light, allowing the user to see in low-light environments. Special operations forces often operate at night to take full advantage of such technology.
NSA:
National Security Agency; U.S. intelligence agency tasked with gathering and analyzing signals intercepts and other communications data. Also known as No Such Agency. These are the government employees who listen to our phone calls and read our emails and texts for reasons of “national security.” See Permament Record by Edward Snowden.
NSC:
National Security Council; this body advises and assists the president of the United States on matters of national security.
NSW:
Naval Special Warfare. The Navy’s special operations force; includes SEAL Teams.
Officer Candidate School (OCS):
Twelve-week course where civilians and enlisted sailors are taught to properly fold underwear. Upon completion, they are miraculously qualified to command men and women in combat.
OmniSTAR:
Satellite-based augmentation system service provider. A really fancy GPS service that provides very precise location information.
Ops-Core ballistic helmet:
Lightweight high-cut helmet used by special operations forces worldwide.
P226:
9mm handgun made by SIG Sauer, the standard-issue sidearm for SEALs.
P229:
A compact handgun made by SIG Sauer, often used by federal law enforcement officers, chambered in 9mm as well as other cartridges.
P320:
Striker-fired modular 9mm handgun that has recently been adopted by the U.S. armed forces as the M17/M18.
P365:
Subcompact handgun made by SIG Sauer, designed for concealed carry. Despite its size, the P365 holds up to thirteen rounds of 9mm.
Pakhan:
The highest-ranked Blatnoy in prison. Now more synonymous with “senior criminal.”
Pakistani Taliban:
An Islamic terrorist group composed of various Sunni Islamist militant groups based in the northwestern Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan.
Pamwe Chete:
“All Together”; the motto of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts.
Panga:
A machete-like utility blade common in Africa.
Peshmerga:
Military forces of Kurdistan. Meaning “the one who faces death,” they are regarded by Allied troops as some of the best fighters in the region.
PETN:
Pentaerythritol TetraNitrate. An explosive compound used in blasting caps to initiate larger explosive charges.
PG-32V:
High-explosive antitank rocket that can be fired from the Russian-designed RPG-32 rocket-propelle
d grenade launcher. Its tandem charge is effective against various types of armor, including reactive armor.
PID:
Protective Intelligence and Threat Assessment Division; the division of the Secret Service that monitors potential threats to its protectees.
PKM:
Soviet-designed, Russian-made light machine gun chambered in 7.62x54R that can be found in conflicts throughout the globe. This weapon feeds from a non-disintegrating belt and has a rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute. You don’t want one shooting at you.
PLF:
Parachute Landing Fall. A technique taught to military parachutists to prevent injury when making contact with the earth. Round canopy parachutes used by airborne forces fall at faster velocities than other parachutes, and require a specific landing sequence. More often than not ends up as feet-ass-head.
PMC:
Private Military Company. Though the profession is as old as war itself, the modern term PMC was made infamous in the post-9/11 era by Blackwater, aka Xe Services, and now known as Academi.
POTUS:
President of the United States; leader of the free world.
PPD:
Presidential Protection Detail; the element of the Secret Service tasked with protecting POTUS.
President’s Hundred:
A badge awarded by the Civilian Marksmanship Program to the one hundred top-scoring military and civilian shooters in the President’s Pistol and President’s Rifle matches. Enlisted members of the U.S. military are authorized to wear the tab on their uniform.
Professional Hunter:
A licensed hunting guide in Africa, often referred to as a “PH.” Zimbabwe-licensed PHs are widely considered the most qualified and highly trained in Africa and make up the majority of the PH community operating in Mozambique.
Protocols of the Elders of Zion:
An anti-Semitic conspiracy manifesto first published in the late 1800s by Russian sources. Though quickly established as a fraudulent text, Protocols has been widely circulated in numerous languages.
PSO-1:
A Russian-made 4x24mm illuminated rifle optic developed for use on the SVD rifle.
PTSD:
Post-traumatic stress disorder. A mental condition that develops in association with shocking or traumatic events. Commonly associated with combat veterans.
PVS-15:
Binocular-style NODs used by U.S. and allied special operations forces.