Oscar Mike to the glossary. Copy that.
The lifeblood of any operation—whether military, civilian, or startup—consisting of the stuff people actually need to function. Disrupt the supply chain and watch empires crumble; maintain it and watch leaders become legends.
To attack a target using explosive ordnance with the goal of destroying it—or in modern slang, to fail spectacularly at something (like your comedy set). The military version is significantly more destructive and less metaphorical than the social media version.
A deliberate campaign of destruction, obstruction, and subversion designed to cripple an enemy's war machine or (more commonly in corporate settings) your colleague's PowerPoint presentation. Whether destroying infrastructure or derailing a competitor, sabotage is the art of breaking things when negotiation feels inefficient.
The military's paradoxical approach to time management: rush to do something, then stand around doing nothing while supervisors figure out what's next.
To ensure that friendly forces don't accidentally shoot at each other, which is apparently complicated enough to require a special verb.
A military operation to directly strike an objective, as opposed to indirect methods like prayers or strongly-worded letters.
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance—the military's obsessive need to know everything about everyone before doing anything.
Close Quarters Battle—combat at intimate distances where things get loud, personal, and very permanent, usually lasting seconds.
To remove personnel from a location, usually under fire and always in a dramatic hurry—the opposite of deploy.
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear threats—basically every way science has discovered to ruin someone's day from far away.
The act of killing your own officer, historically done by soldiers who didn't appreciate the officer's leadership style—mutiny with grenades.
A graduated approach to resolving conflicts, starting with hand signals and ending with missile strikes if necessary—or as generals call it, 'escalating commitment to bad decisions.'
In military parlance, someone who exists on paper but not in reality—usually referring to phantom soldiers kept on payroll for fraud purposes. This practice, also known as 'ghosting the roster,' has been enriching corrupt officers since ancient Rome discovered you could draw wages for imaginary legionaries. Modern militaries frown upon this creative accounting, which is why it's moved to government contracting instead.
The fuel level at which an aircraft must return to base or proceed to alternate landing site, lest it become an expensive lawn dart. Crossing bingo means you're playing a very dangerous game of fuel chicken.
Organized groups of military personnel equipped with weapons and bad attitudes, or more generally, any substantial power capable of producing significant change. Can be wielded, deployed, or unfortunately, unleashed with catastrophic consequences.
A euphemism for 'violent' or 'involving active combat,' because apparently saying 'we're shooting at people' sounds unprofessional in briefings.
An unmanned aircraft operated remotely by someone sitting comfortably in a chair thousands of miles away, the future of warfare and also of pizza delivery.
The rear end of a vessel where the captain pretends to look important while actually checking their phone. Used by sailors to distinguish between 'the pointy end' and 'the business end' of a ship.
Military strategy of removing enemy forces from an area and then staying put to prevent them from returning—theoretically simple, practically exhausting.
An order to cease operations and stand by, often issued right after everyone has positioned themselves for the thing they were told to do.
Either a tall support structure for sails (the nautical kind) or military-speak for non-judicial punishment where a commanding officer decides your fate without a courtroom. Both are equally terrifying.
Information that has been stripped of identifying details so classified sources can't be traced, also applies to military reports that need to look good for Congress.
The invisible line where a ship's destiny is decided—load it below this mark and you're sinking, above it and you're wasting cargo space. Also used metaphorically in design to indicate structural limits.
The alpha mast of a multi-masted sailing vessel; the tallest, most important pole that makes the ship actually sail instead of drift. It's basically the 'main character energy' of nautical architecture.