by Alex Duncan
KAF: Kandahar Airfield.
KIA: Killed in Action.
Klick: Military slang for kilometres.
LAW: Light Anti-Tank Weapon. A portable one-shot, disposable 66mm unguided anti-tank rocket launcher; pre-loaded w/HEAT rocket.
LCJ: Load Carrying Jacket.
Lockheed AC-130 Spectre: A heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft based on the Hercules C-130 airframe.
M60D: 7.62mm automatic, gas-operated machine-gun mounted on the Chinook’s rear ramp. Rate of fire of up to 550 rounds per minute.
M134 Minigun: 7.62 mm, multi-barrel machine-gun with a high rate of fire (up to 4,000 rounds per minute), employing Gatling-style rotating barrels, either battery- or externally-powered. Fitted to forward side doors of RAF CH47 Chinooks.
Max Chat: A euphemism for full power or top speed, the term originates from World War II when most aircraft were piston engined. It stands for Maximum Cylinder Head Air Temperature.
MERT: Medical Emergency Response Team or Combat Air Ambulance based at Camp Bastion.
Military Cross: Third-level decoration awarded in recognition of gallantry during active operations.
NVG: Night-Vision Goggles. Optical instrument that magnifies available light by 50,000 times.
OC: Officer Commanding – Wing Commander in charge of a Squadron.
Operation Herrick: British codename for all military operations in Afghanistan.
Operation Telic: British codename for all military operations in Iraq.
PHF: Passenger Handling Facility at Bastion.
Paradigm: Prime contractor for the Skynet 5 contract with the MoD. It enables military personnel deployed on two to six-month tours to make thirty minutes of Government-funded phone calls to any location in the world each week.
Pinzgauer: High Mobility All-Terrain 4x4 and 6x6 military utility vehicles with open backs, covered by a canvas roof. Used alongside or in place of the Land Rover Defender as a patrol vehicle.
QRF: Quick Reaction Force. Members of RAF Regiment or Army used to provide force protection on IRT missions.
R&R: Rest and Recuperation; a fourteen-day break from deployment given to everyone in theatre on a six-month tour.
RadAlt: Radar Altimeter, cockpit instrument that measures altitude above the terrain beneath an aircraft.
RAF Regiment: The RAF’s own military corps responsible for force protection, airfield defence, forward air control and parachute capability.
RIP: Relief in Place – one aircraft replacing another over the battlefield.
RoC: Rehearsal of Concept.
Rock Ape: Colloquial term used within the RAF for members of the RAF Regiment.
RoE: Rules of Engagement. Laws set by a country’s Government laying down rules for the use and proportionality of arms and military force.
RPG: Rocket-Propelled Grenade. Soviet-designed, shoulder-launched rocket with a powerful grenade warhead.
SAFIRE: Small arms fire.
Tracer: Bullets coated with phosphorous paint that burns with a red, orange or green glow. Usually loaded every fourth round to check trajectory and accuracy of fire.
USL: Underslung load.
Wingman: The other aircraft in a pair.
Yaw: Side-to-side movement of the nose of an aircraft. Defines the aircraft’s heading.