by Jeff Noonan
1 BUPERS: The Bureau of Naval Personnel; This is the Navy group that manages all Naval personnel. All Navy transfer orders originate at this activity. BUPERS also maintains the official records of all members of the Navy.
2 Limited Duty Officer (LDO): A Navy officer, usually a former enlisted person, who is restricted to duty assignments involving the general types of equipment and systems in his technical specialty.
3 DLG; Destroyer, Light, Guided Missile: A Guided Missile Frigate. This was a general type of Navy ship that included several classes of ships. The DLGs were all reclassified as either Guided Missile Destroyers or Guided Missile Cruisers (depending on the size of the particular ship) in the early 1970 after an extensive overhaul and modernization program (the DLG Modernization Program) was completed on them.
4 Unrestricted Line Officer: A Navy officer, usually a university graduate, who is eligible for any officer billet, including those involving command-at-sea.
5 EDO; Engineering Duty Officer: A classification of Naval officer reserved primarily for officers with engineering degrees. Most officers assigned to shipyard duty, or to billets involving new ship construction, are EDOs.
6 IFF: Identification, Friend or Foe; Systems carried aboard all US military ships and aircraft that identify themselves to one another. Frequencies are carefully coordinated to ensure that enemies cannot accomplish sneak attacks disguised as friends.
7 ECM: Electronic Counter-Measures. Shipboard, airborne, or shore-based electronic systems used to jam enemy radar and radio transmissions.
8 P&E people: Planning & Estimating people are the shipyard people who do the actual planning and estimating of individual orders for the work to be done during a ship overhaul. Usually called “planners” they almost always have extensive shop overhaul experience that makes them proficient in their technical specialties.
9 POT&I: Pre-Overhaul Test & Inspection. This is a period during which strenuous testing and detailed inspection of shipboard equipments and systems is accomplished. The purpose is to identify repair and overhaul work needed during a planned future ship overhaul.
10 OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer
11 DCAA, Defense Contract Audit Agency. The Government Agency that audits companies holding government contracts to ensure compliance with contract specifications and generally accepted accounting principles.