The War After Armageddon (49 page)

EMP:
Electromagnetic Pulse. Destructive wave generated by a nuclear detonation or simluation thereof. Burns out electronic circuits to a catastrophic, irreparable degree.

EMP MINE:
A landmine designed to simulate an EMP wave on a local level.

EXPLORER ATGM:
A French-designed, Russian-enhanced antitank missile system with an effective range of eight kilometers maximum, but which detects a target as early as eight and a half to nine kilometers away. Can be programmed to launch itself, taking the human being out of the decisionmaking process. After lock-on, it ignores all additional commands. Built under license or pirated by various countries, including China, Pakistan, and South Africa.

F

FAO:
Foreign Area Officer. A U.S. Army officer trained in foreign languages and culture. A good FAO will go alone into enemy territory to support his commander.

FIFTY CAL.:
M-2 .50 caliber machine gun, nicknamed “Ma Deuce.” Introduced into U.S. Army service early in the 20th century, it remains the world’s most effective and most reliable heavy machine gun.

FRAGO:
Fragmentary Order. A brief, swiftly issued outline of a forthcoming order. Intended to give subordinate commanders and staffs additional time to prepare for a mission. Sometimes preceded by a Warning Order. Followed by a full OPORD, or Operations Order, once the controlling headquarters staff has completed it.

G

G-2:
Primary staff officer for intelligence at the division and corps levels. Also known as “the Two,” or “the Deuce.”

G-3:
Primary staff officer for operations—combat activities—at the division and corps levels. Also known as “the Three,” or “that sonofabitch.”

G-4:
Primary staff officer for logistics. Has to supply the elaborate schemes concocted by the G-3. Also known as “the Four.”

GAB:
“Get-Ashore Boats.” Hastily designed and built landing craft deployed in five variants, from a small Number One GAB that carries a reinforced platoon to a Number Five GAB that can land multiple armored vehicles or large quantities of supplies. Number Four
and Number Five GABs can extend their own tactical docking facilities to cover a to-the-beach distance of up to thirty-five meters. A U.S. Marine Corps initiative, but crewed by U.S. Navy personnel.

GHOST NETTING:
Breakthrough-technology camouflage netting that, once connected to its portable power supply, automatically reads and blends in with the local environment.

GPS:
Global Positioning System. Before this war, it has been effectively jammed, with numerous key satellites physically destroyed. Weapons systems reliant upon GPS for guidance or locational data no longer work.

GUARDIANS:
Personal bodyguards and support personnel devoted to the MOBIC commander they serve.

H

HE ROUND:
High-explosive round for a tank, artillery piece, or mortar.

HHC:
Headquarters Company in a battalion, to which all the unit’s noncombat resources are assigned. Affectionately known to combat troops as “Hindquarters Company.”

HOLCOM:
Holy Land Command. Nicknamed “Hokum” by the troops.

HUMINT:
Human Intelligence. Information gathered by or from human sources. Of uneven reliability and dependent upon the quality of the source or observer, but often more helpful than data collected through technical means.

HUNTER ATGM:
Antitank guided missile system, usually deployed along with the longer-range Explorer ATGM. Maximum effective range of six kilometers, with target identification and lock-on at six and half kilometers. After launch, ignores all additional commands. Can operate robotically, without human control. Built internationally from pirated designs.

HYPERJAMMERS:
Late-generation jammers that can wipe out all communications in a sector and, in some cases, physically destroy electronic circuits.

I

IDF:
Israeli Defense Force, the military forces of the former state of Israel.

IEF:
Israeli Exile Force, the successor to the IDF after the Iranian-launched nuclear holocaust and subsequent Arab conquest of Israel.

K

KILLER DRONE:
Also known as a “kamikaze drone” by the troops. A small UAV programmed to seek out targets with specific profiles and crash into them, detonating either a penetrating or high-explosive warhead. Can loiter for hours over the battlefield until a target is detected.

L

LOC:
Line of communication. Military parlance for a road, rail link, or sea route, or a complex of such routes.

LONG-DISTANCE KINETIC-ENERGY ROUND:
“Lima-Delta,” a tank round designed to destroy other armored vehicles or similar targets.

LOOPHOLE AT (ANTITANK) TECHNOLOGY:
Sophisticated programs that allow late-generation antitank missiles to immediately identify gaps in the electronic defenses of an enemy. In wide use in this war.

M

MA DEUCE:
An M-2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun.

MOBIC:
The Military Order of the Brothers in Christ. A crusading American military or ga ni za tion originally founded on the structure of the National Guard in the wake of the nuclear destruction by terrorists of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Its leaders are determined that the MOBIC will become the sole military service of the United States.

MORPHING PARASITE:
A program that can enter an electronic network and simulate any aspect of its control mechanisms to achieve an attacker’s desired ends. Cutting-edge versions can be broadcast at an enemy but can penetrate only systems with a gap or weakness in their shielding.

MR. NO-SHOULDERS:
A snake.

MUSSIE-BABBLE:
Arabic.

N

NEXGEN ARMORED VEHICLES:
Later offshoots of the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems program. Heavily reliant upon electronic defenses, they prove a disappointment in the field, far more vulnerable than older combat vehicles, such as the M-1 tank, with heavier armor.

O

0-5:
A lieutenant col o nel.

0-6:
A full “bird” colonel.

OPCON:
Operational Control. A unit that is OPCON to a headquarters is under the headquarters’ control only for a specific mission, purpose, or time frame; essentially, it’s on loan.

P

PHASE LINE:
A military control measure; a line drawn on a map, usually associated with readily identifiable terrain features, that helps a commander regulate a combat action. Similar in purpose to the yard lines on a football field.

POL:
Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants. Military-speak for fuel.

POW:
Prisoner of war.

PROVIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES:
Camps constructed for Muslim-Americans after the nuclear terror attacks on Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

R

RUMINT:
“Rumor intelligence.” Slang for military gossip about a current or anticipated situation.

S

S-2:
The primary staff intelligence officer at the battalion, regimental, or brigade level.

S-3:
The primary staff operations officer at the battalion, regimental, or brigade level.

S-4:
The primary staff logistics officer at the battalion, regimental, or brigade level.

SAMS:
School of Advanced Military Studies; a one-year “postgraduate” course for select Army officers following their completion of Command and Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth.

SCHWERPUNKT:
The main effort in an attack.

SEABEES:
Navy construction engineers who deploy on land. Lineage dates to WWII.

SF:
U.S. Army Special Forces, known to the public as “Green Berets.” Operating in small groups, they accomplish large missions.

SIGNAL LEECHES:
Revolutionary technology that allows broadcast signals to intercept and “ride” other signals to nearby destinations to attack, penetrate, or degrade a communications and control system.

STRIKEWARN:
A brief, rigidly formatted message to alert military units to an impending nuclear attack.

T

TC:
Tank Commander. Now used for the on-board commander of any combat vehicle.

U

UAV:
Unmanned aerial vehicle, a pilotless aircraft that, in different configurations, can perform any air mission. Known colloquially, though inaccurately, as a “drone.”

USG:
United States Government.

V

VAMPIRE ATGM:
Generic term for an antitank guided missile that, once launched, can identify and strike its own targets. An evolution of older, primitive fire-and-forget systems.

W

WSO:
Weapons systems officer. The “back-seater” in a fighter aircraft with a two-man crew.

X

XO:
1.) The executive officer, usually of a battalion; 2.) pretty good cognac.

Z

Z DIAGRAM:
An old-fashioned, formal calculation for a bombing run, projecting the most advantageous altitudes for the attack profile, point of release for bombs, and the post-detonation fragmentation pattern (which the pilot needs to avoid).

NUMBERS:

155:
155mm artillery piece, self-propelled or towed. The backbone of the Field Artillery.