Somerset Bn (The ) ACF Jellalabad HouseS 14 Mount Street Taunton Somerset TA1 3QE

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Terminology & Rank Structure

The Army and the armed forces can be a minefield of abbreviations that can confound even the most experienced person, never mind a new cadet or adult instructor.

To address that this document has been prepared that will hopefully go some way towards explanation. If you train with the regular or reserve armed forces you will come across many of the more obscure acronyms. Naturally this document is in a state of continuous update as new and mysterious acronyms are created.

ACRONYMS/TERMINOLOGY

AAC Army Air Corp accn Accommodation ACFA Association Adjt Adjutant Admin Administration, or as in Personal Admin - “sort your kit out” AFD Armed Forces Day AFV Armoured Fighting Vehicle, tracked fighting vehicle, see MBT AI Adult Instructor (NCO) (initials Ay Eye) Ammo Ammunition AOSB Army Selection Board AR Army Reserve (formerly Territorial Army) Armd Armoured AROSC Army Reserve Operational Shooting Competition (formerly TASSAM) Arty Artillery, as in Arty Sp - artillery support ATC Air Training Att Attached, as in Attached Personnel - regular helping Basha Personal Shelter BATSIM Battlefield Simulation, eg Pyro (see below) Bde Brigade BFA Blank Firing Adaptor/Attachment Blag To acquire something BM Bugle /Band Master

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf Bn Bootneck A Royal Commando BTEC Business & Technology Education Council (see CVQO) Bty Battery, as in artillery regimental sub-group BSM Battery Sergeant Major. WO2 equivalent C3I Command, Control, Communications & Intelligence CA Civilian Assistant CAA Cadet Administrative Assistant cam Camouflage, as in “Cam Up”, to camouflage oneself cart CASSIM Casualty Simulation CADSAAM Cadet Skill At Arms Meeting CAFD Combined Arms Firepower Demonstration cas Casualty CASEVAC Casualty Evacuation CCF Cdo Commando CDS Chief of the Defence Staff CFAV Cadet Force Adult Volunteer (NCO & Officer) CFCB Cadet Forces Commissioning Board CFIT Cadet Forces Instructional Training CGS Chief of the General Staff CISSAM Cadet Inter-Service Skill at Arms Meeting civ Civilian CO Commanding Officer, usually a Bn or Regt . (see OC below) Comd Commander, as in Pl Comd; Commander Comdt Comms Communications coord Coordinate Coy Cpl CQMS Company Quartermaster Serjeant CS95 Combat (19)95 - Previous DPM issue clothing and personal equipment. Replaced Sep 2012 with PCSCU MTP (see below) CSM . WO2 equivalent C Sups Combat Supplies, as in food, water and ammunition CTC Cadet Training Centre CTR Cadet Target CVQO Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation (see BTEC) DCCT Dismounted Close Combat Trainer Det or Detonator DofE Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Doss bag Sleeping bag DPM Disruptive Pattern Material - camouflage pattern DTE Defence Training Estate DTG Date Time Group EASP Exercise Action Safety Plan Eating Irons Knife, fork & spoon, see KFS ECO Exercise Control Officer en Enemy EndEx End of Exercise

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf Engr Engineer; as in engineer support Eqpt Equipment ETA Estimated Time of Arrival ex Exercise FA First Aid FC Fieldcraft Fd Field FEBA Forward Edge of Battle Area FFR Fitted For FIBUA Fighting In Built-Up Areas FIWAF Fighting In Woods And Forests FOO Forward Observation Officer FST Fire Support Team FUP Forming Up Point gat Colloquial: a gun, usually a rifle gleaming Bright and shiny/great, as in “That kit’s really gleaming!” GPMG General Purpose Machine Gun GPO Gun Position Officer () GPS Global Positioning System Gucci Brilliant/High Tech, as in. “I’ve got some dead Gucci kit here!” H4H Help for Heroes HMWP High Mobility Weapon Platform, i.e. Jackal 2 IA Immediate Action IC In Charge, eg 2IC - second in charge IFV Fighting Vehicle, eg Warrior Illum Illuminating Round Inf Infantry IO Intelligence Officer ISCRM Inter-Service Meeting Jack To give up or rubbish, i.e. “I’m going to jack now.” or “It’s really jack!” JCTC Joint Cadet Training Centre KFS Knife, fork & spoon KGVI King George 6th Course at CTC Frimley for CFAVs L110A2 Light Machine Gun L110A2 Minimi 5.56mm, see LMG L144A1 Cadet Target Rifle L144A1 .22inch (replacing No 8 Rifle) L81A2 Cadet Target Rifle L81A2 7.62mm L85A2 Individual Weapon SA80 L85A2 5.56mm L86A2 Light Support Weapon LSW L86A2 5.56mm L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun L7A2 7.62mm L98A2 Cadet GP Rifle A2 5.56mm (Cadet version of L85A2) LCpl LMG Light Machine Gun, see L110A2 Log Sp Logistic Support LUP Lying Up Position M&C Map and Compass Mag MBT Main Battle Tank, i.e. Challenger 2 MEL Main Events List MK Knowledge MO Medical Officer MOD Ministry of Defence

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf MOI Method Of Instruction MOIT Method Of Instruction Training MTP Multi-Terrain Pattern - current camouflage pattern NAAFI Navy, Army & Air Force Institute NCO Non-Commissioned Officer, i.e. LCpl, Cpl or Sjt NNAS National Navigation Awards Scheme No 8 Rifle, No 8 Target .22inch (being replaced by L144A1 in 2017) Norgie Norwegian Army Shirt or Norwegian Insulated Container NRA National Rifle Association NSP Normal Safety Precautions OC Officer Commanding; as in OC G Coy (see CO above) O Gp or O Group Orders Group, i.e. briefing OIC Officer in Charge OP Observation Post Oppo Your best mate, as in, “He’s my oppo!” OR Other Ranks ORBAT Order of Battle OPFOR Opposing Force, i.e. enemy ORP Operational Ration Pack OTA Otterburn Training Area Pax People/Personnel/Body/Passenger, as in Quantity, i.e. 10 Pax PCSCU Personal Clothing System Combat Uniform - New (2011-13) implementation of MTP to replace CS95 PInfo Public Information, i.e. Public Relations pit Bed PI Probationary Instructor (Initials Pee Eye) Pl Platoon (Initials Pee Ell (PL)) PoC Point of Contact POL Petrol, Oil and Lubricants, as in to “POL up” - to refuel PR Public (or Press) Relations Prep Prepare or Preparation proff Colloquial: to ‘re-appropriate’, i.e to ‘liberate’ or steal Pyro Pyrotechnics, eg, smoke, grenade simulators (see BATSIM) QM Quartermaster Qty Quantity R&R Rest and Recuperation or Rest & Relaxation RA Royal Artillery RAC Royal Armoured Corps RAF RAFWARMA RAF Walking And Road Marching Association, i.e. Cosford organisers RASP Range Action Safety Plan RCO Range Control Officer Rds Rounds (ammunition) RE Royal Engineers rebro Rebroadcast, as in radio signals Recce Reconnaissance Regt REME Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers RFCA Reserve Forces’ & Cadets’ Association RHQ Regimental Headquarters RLC Royal Logistic Corps

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf ROE Rules of Engagement RQMS Regimental RSA Royal School of Artillery (Larkhill Camp) RSM Regimental Sergeant Major RSS (Blandford Camp) RTU Return To Unit RV Rendezvous, i.e. meeting place SAA Skill At Arms or Small Arms Ammunition SASC Small Arms School Corps SCC Sea Cadet Corps Scoff Food, as in, “It’s time for scoff” - Army speak Scran Food, as in, “It’s time for scran” - / speak Sect SENTA Sennybridge Training Area SF Sustained Fire (Role), i.e. GPMG or Special Forces Sgt Sergeant SH Support Helicopter SI Sergeant/Serjeant Instructor Sig Signals SITREP Situation Report Sjt Serjeant (in ) SMI Serjeant Major Instructor Smk Smoke, eg smoke (signalling) grenade SNCO Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, i.e. Serjeant SOP Standard Operating Procedure Sp Support SPTA Salisbury Plain Training Area Sqn Squadron (Army or RAF) SSI Staff/Colour Sergeant Instructor STANTA Stanford Training Area SUSAT Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux - LSW Weapon Sight TA Training Area (and formerly Territorial Army - see Army Reserve) Tab Tactical Advance to Battle, i.e. walking rapidly with full kit Tac Tactical TASAAM Territorial Army Skill At Arms Meeting, see AROSC TCV Troop Carrying Vehicle tgt Target TIBUA Training In Built Up Areas TIWAF Training In Woods And Forests tk Tank TOT Time on Target Trg Training Tp Troop Tpt Transport TT Ten Tors Challenge TUM Truck, Utility, Medium, i.e. Land-Rover u/s Unserviceable Veh Vehicle VP Voice Procedure w/e Weekend WHT Weapon Handling Test

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf wksp Workshop WO WOs’ & Sjts’ Mess Warrant Officers’ & Serjeants’ Mess Wpn Weapon WRFCA Wessex Reserve Forces’ & Cadets’ Association Yomp Walking cross-country with full kit, Royal Marines speak

NATO PHONETIC ALPHABET

The NATO phonetic alphabet is used by the armed forces to provide an easy to understand language in the heat of battle. It reduces mis-interpretation caused by background noise, weak radio signals, distorted audio and radio operator accent. It originated in the 1950s.

A - Alpha B - Bravo C - Charlie D - Delta E - Echo F - Foxtrot G - Golf H - Hotel I - India J - Juliet K - Kilo L - Lima M - Mike N - November O - Oscar P - Papa Q - Quebec R - Romeo S - Sierra T - Tango U - Uniform V - Victor W - Whisky X - X-ray Y - Yankee Z - Zulu

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf RANKS

Army Cadets

Cadets: Rct Recruit Cdt Cadet Cdt LCpl Cadet Lance Corporal Cdt Cpl Cadet Corporal Cdt Sjt Cadet Sergeant Cdt CSjt Cadet Colour Sergeant Cdt SM Cadet Sergeant Major Cdt CSM Cadet Company Sergeant Major Cdt RSM Cadet Regimental Sergeant Major

(BM) Bugle Major (in parentheses, after rank)

CFAVs: SI Sergeant Instructor (Sjt) - Serjeant SSI Staff Sergeant Instructor (SSgt) - Colour Serjeant (CSjt) SMI Sergeant Major Instructor (Sgt Maj) SMI (CSM) Sergeant Major Instructor (CSM) - Company Serjeant Major * SMI (BSM) Sergeant Major Instructor (BSM) - Band Serjeant Major ** SMI (RSM) Sergeant Major Instructor (RSM) - Regimental Serjeant Major ** AUO Adult Under-Officer***

(BM) Bugle Major (in parentheses, after rank), or (BM) (in parentheses, after rank) (QM) Quartermaster (in parentheses, after rank)

* Equivalent to WO2 ** Equivalent to WO1 *** Pending completion of CFCB within 2 years of appointment

NOTE: Queen’s Warrants are not awarded to ACF CFAV SNCOs unless they have left the forces with that rank/appointment, in which case they will be able to retain their previous title and warrant.

NOTE: Only in The Rifles is Sergeant spelt ‘Serjeant’. Staff Sergeant (SSgt) is common to all corps and except for the infantry, where they are Colour Sergeants/Serjeants (CSgt/CSjt).

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf ARMY CADETS APPOINTMENTS

Adj Adjutant AO Administrative Officer BFATO Bn First Aid Training Officer BM Bugle Major/Band Master BTM Battalion Training Major BTO Battalion Training Officer CAA Cadet Administrative Assistant CEO Cadet Executive Officer Comdt Commandant CSA Cadet Stores Assistant Dep Comdt Deputy Commandant DPRO Deputy Public Relations Officer MO Medical Officer MTO Motor Transport Officer PRO Public Relations Officer TSA Training Safety Advisor

ARMY RANKS

Rfn Rifleman (Lowest soldier rank in The Rifles & Brigade of Gurkhas) Pte (Lowest soldier rank in the Army - see exceptions) LCpl Lance Corporal Cpl Corporal Sgt (Sjt) Sergeant (Serjeant in all Rifles units) SSgt (CSjt) Staff Sergeant (Colour Sergeant in infantry units bar The Rifles) WO2 Warrant Officer Class 2; CSM, SSM, BSM - Company, Squadron or Battery WO1 Warrant Officer Class 1; RSM 2Lt 2nd Lt Lieutenant Capt Captain Maj Major Lt Col Lieutenant Col Colonel Brig Brigadier

NOTE: Only in The Rifles is Sergeant spelt ‘Serjeant’

EXCEPTIONS:

Private, Signaller, Trooper, Air Trooper, Kingsman, Rifleman, Guardsman, Craftsman, Marine, Gunner, Sapper, Driver are all Corps or regimental equivalents of Private.

20170304U - armycadets.com/somersetacf