Dictionary of the Modern United States Military

Book excerpt: "Warspeak," the language of the military, can be for many civilians and for members of differing services an unintelligible hodgepodge of acronyms, slang terms and field operation expressions. Few laypersons may know that the Five F's is a derogatory expression, though Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, Coast Guard and others know or can infer that "chairborn commandos" are administrative and support personnel. The more than 15,000 entries in this comprehensive dictionary provide an inside look at the United States military. Weapons systems, governmental agencies, electronic warfare, medical terms, military infrastructure, communications, satellites and intelligence systems are among the topics covered in-depth. Also detailed are the acronyms and slang terms used by the soldiers in the field. The work provides numerous cross references for ease of use, along with a bibliography of over 2,200 sources.