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Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, or DADT: byname for the former official U.S. policy (1993–2011) regarding the service of homosexuals in the military. The term was coined after Pres. Bill Clinton in 1993 signed a law (consisting of statute, regulations, and policy memoranda) directing that military personnel “don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue, and don’t harass.” When it went into effect on October 1, 1993, the policy theoretically lifted a ban on homosexual service that had been instituted during World War II, though in effect it continued a statutory ban. In December 2010 both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted to repeal the policy, and Pres. Barack Obama signed the legislation on December 22. The policy officially ended on September 20, 2011.
JSOC: The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) is a joint component command of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and is charged with studying special operations requirements and techniques to ensure interoperability and equipment standardization, to plan and conduct special operations exercises and training, to develop joint special operations tactics, and to execute special operations missions worldwide.
Navy SEAL: The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy’s primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs’ main functions are conducting small-unit special operation missions in maritime, jungle, urban, arctic, mountainous, and desert environments. SEALs are typically ordered to capture or kill high-level targets, or to gather intelligence behind enemy lines. SEAL team personnel are hand-selected, highly trained, and possess a high degree of proficiency in unconventional warfare (UW), direct action (DA), and special reconnaissance (SR), among other tasks like sabotage, demolition, intelligence gathering, and hydrographic reconnaissance, training, and advising friendly militaries or other forces. All active SEALs are members of the U.S. Navy.
Tier-One Operator: the highest level of military special forces, as in the highest trained and usually the most secretive.
SEAL Team Six: The Naval Special Warfare Development Group (NSWDG), abbreviated as DEVGRU («Development Group») and unofficially known as SEAL Team Six, is the United States Navy component of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The unit is often referred to within JSOC as Task Force Blue. DEVGRU is administratively supported by the Naval Special Warfare Command and operationally commanded by JSOC. Most information concerning DEVGRU is designated as classified, and details of its activities are not usually commented on by either the United States Department of Defense or the White House. Despite the official name changes and increase in size, «SEAL Team Six» remains the unit’s widely recognized moniker.
ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery): a multiple choice test, administered by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command, used to determine qualification for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces.
C-Sort (Computerized-Special Operations Resilience Test): Candidates interested in becoming a Navy SEAL will need to score well on the C-SORT taken at the recruiter’s office. The test assesses maturity and mental resilience through performance strategies, psychological resilience and personality traits to ensure the candidate meets the minimum requirements for the SEAL training program.
PST (Physical Screening Test): designed to test the overall physical readiness of a candidate to participate in the rigorous Naval Special Warfare or special operations training pipelines
Bootcamp/Basic/Basic Training: Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique demands of military employment.
BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL Training): a 24-week training course that develops the SEAL candidates’ mental and physical stamina and leadership skills. Each BUD/S phase includes timed physical condition tests, with the time requirements becoming more demanding each week. BUD/S consists of a three-week orientation followed by three phases, covering physical conditioning (seven weeks), combat diving (seven weeks), and land warfare (seven weeks) respectively. Officer and enlisted personnel go through the same training program. It is designed to develop and test their stamina, leadership, and ability to work as a team.
Parachute Jump School: Upon successful completion of BUD/S, SEAL Candidates go on to receive both static line and free-fall training at Tactical Air Operations in San Diego, CA. The accelerated three-week program is highly regimented, facilitated by world-class Instructors, and designed to develop safe and competent free-fall jumpers in a short period of time.
To complete the course, Candidates must pass through a series of jump progressions, from basic static line to accelerated free fall to combat equipment – ultimately completing night descents with combat equipment from a minimum altitude of 9,500 feet.
SQT (SEAL Qualification Training), aka “Green Team”: a 26-week course that takes the student from the basic elementary level of Naval Special Warfare to a more advanced degree of tactical training. SQT is designed to provide students with the core tactical knowledge they will need to join a SEAL Platoon.
Weapons training, close-quarters combat, small unit tactics, land navigation, demolitions, unarmed combat, cold weather training in Kodiak, Alaska, medical skills and maritime operations. Before graduating, students also attend Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Training (SERE Training).
Graduation from SQT culminates in the awarding of the Navy SEAL Trident and granting of the Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) 5326 Combatant Swimmer (SEAL) or 1130 Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer. New SEALs are immediately assigned to a SEAL Team at Coronado, CA or Little Creek, VA and begin advanced training for their first deployment.
Coronado: Naval Base situated in Coronado, CA
Little Creek: Naval Base situated in Virginia Beach, CA
FOB: A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase, hospital, machine shop, and other logistical facilities. The base may be used for an extended period of time. FOBs are traditionally supported by main operating bases that are required to provide backup support to them. A FOB also improves reaction time to local areas as opposed to having all troops on the main operating base.
Full sweep: Clearing up a building/place
Low risk intel: mission classed low risk because of the intelligence they’ve gotten on it
Recon: In military operations, military reconnaissance is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations.
RPG: rocket-propelled grenade; First produced as an anti-armor weapon in the early 1960s, the Soviet-designed RPG-7 (rocket-propelled grenade) is a shoulder-fired, reusable tube that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled grenade.
Tangos: In the NATO phonetic alphabet, established by the 1930s, the letter T is tango and became slang for target, or “enemy.” To down a target is “to shoot” them, especially when grounding an aircraft, but also “to neutralize” or “kill” them. Tango down thus means the enemy has been defeated
Inside the wire: Back on base.
Green Team: The elite training pipeline for SEAL Team 6 (also called DEVGRU). Graduation from Green Team is required to join Bravo.
Trident Ceremony: The formal event where SEAL candidates are awarded their SEAL Trident, symbolizing their official designation as Navy SEALs.
Bravo 1/Bravo 2/Bravo 6: Position call signs within Bravo Team. Dean is Bravo 2 (second-in-command), Benny is Bravo 1 (team leader), and Ian is Bravo 6 (typically reserved for a junior member or rear security).
OP / Op: Abbreviation for “operation”, a tactical mission or engagement, usually combat-related.
Comms: Military communication devices or the act of communicating on operations.
C17-: The C-17 Globemaster III is a longrange, heavy-lift strategic transport aircraft that can operate close to a potential area of operations for combat, peacekeeping or humanitarian missions worldwide.
Mags: A magazine, often simply called a mag, is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, either integral within the gun (internal/fixed magazine) or externally attached (detachable magazine). The magazine functions by holding several cartridges within itself and sequentially pushing each one into a position where it may be readily loaded into the barrel chamber by the firearm’s moving action. The detachable magazine is sometimes colloquially referred to as a clip.
Mag pouches: designed to securely hold and carry ammunition magazines, providing easy access when needed.
IFAK: IFAK stands for Individual First Aid Kit, a compact emergency medical kit designed for treating trauma, such as gunshot wounds or severe bleeding, in high-risk situations. An IFAK pouch should be easily accessible on your plate carrier, war belt, or backpack using Molle or Velcro attachments.
Plate Carrier: A vest designed to hold ballistic plates, offering body armor protection. Faulty plate carriers are a critical plot point in Ian’s death.
Chambered round: a live cartridge is loaded into a firearm’s chamber, making it ready to fire. This step is crucial for semi-automatic pistols, rifles, and shotguns before they can be discharged. Chambering a round prepares the firearm for firing, an essential action in training and self-defense.
Sentries: soldiers who guard a camp or a building.
Breaching: begins when a unit or individual decides to ‘affect entry’ into a given structure or environment.
A spotter: member of a sniper team who assists in observation of targets and handles ancillary tasks.
Helo: Slang for helicopter, frequently used for transport or extraction.
Medevac: Medical evacuation, urgent transport of injured personnel, often via helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft.
CONUS: Continental United States, refers to assignments or postings within the lower 48 states.
Rammstein: Rammstein Air Base in Germany, a U.S. military medical and transport hub, featured in Dean’s post-injury transfer.
Admin role: Non-combat, desk-based duties often offered to injured personnel who are no longer fit for deployment.
Support roles: Non-combat military positions that assist in operations logistically or administratively.
Call sign: A nickname or identifier used in military communications to refer to specific personnel or positions (e.g., Bravo 2).
NVG: Night Vision Glasses
HVT: High Target Value
2IC: Second In Command (after Bravo 1)
Checking his six: watching your back before moving
Operational Deployment: begins when the majority of a unit or detachment, or an individual not attached to a unit or detachment, departs homeport/station/base or departs from an en route training location to meet a Secretary of Defense-approved operational requirement.
SIGINT: Signals Intelligence; SIGINT involves collecting foreign intelligence from communications and information systems and providing it to customers across the U.S. government, such as senior civilian and military officials.
IED: An improvised explosive device (IED) is a type of unconventional explosive weapon that can take any form and be activated in a variety of ways. They target soldiers and civilians alike.
FPO: FPO stands for Fleet Post Office and is associated with Navy installations and ships.
Two klicks: Klick is a term used by the military to denote one kilometer or 1,000 meters, 0.6214 miles or 3,280.84 feet. The use of the word “klick” in the U.S. military, and in military jargon more broadly, is due to brevity and ease of understanding. Using the word “klick” instead of saying “kilometer” is concise, saves time and reduces the chance of misunderstandings during critical moments.
Rally point: A rally point in the military is a designated location where soldiers can regroup, reorganize, and receive further instructions during combat or other operations.
MRE: The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained individual United States military ration used by the United States Armed Forces and Department of Defense. It is intended for use by American service members in combat or field conditions where other food is not available. MREs have also been distributed to civilians as humanitarian daily rations during natural disasters and wars.
Exfil: In military tactics, extraction is the process of removing personnel or units from an area; when conducted with stealth in an area controlled by the enemy it is referred to as exfiltration.