Warrior Soul: The Memoir of a Navy SEAL (56 page)

Call Sign    
Radio shorthand for a particular unit or individual. When followed by the word “actual” (as in Texas Pete,
actual
) it denotes that one is speaking to the unit’s commanding officer.

CAR-15 (see also M-4; Poodle Shooter)    
A short-barreled version of the M-16. SEALs favor the CAR for its compactness and accuracy.

Caustic Cocktail    
A toxic vapor of barilime and seawater, inhaled after the malfunction of a scuba rebreather rig. Not very tasty, and can be downright lethal.

CCT    
Combat control teams. Air force special operations forces specializing in air-traffic control and communications.

Chemlight    
A chemical light stick used to mark objects. Chemlights are made in various colors as well as infrared.

Chu Hoi    
Vietnamese, meaning “surrender.” A defected Viet Cong who agreed to help U.S. forces.
Chu Hois
were sometimes used by the SEALs to guide search-and-destroy missions. The term is still used to tag a defector agreeing to serve as a scout or guide. Also called “Kit Carson scouts.”

Cleared Hot    
Granted permission to open fire. Cleared for action.

Click    
Kilometer. One click equals one kilometer in range or distance.

Combat-Action Ribbon    
Navy and marine award for participation in combat. The navy’s equivalent of the army’s Combat Infantryman Badge.

Commando Hubert    
French naval commando.

Commodore    
A naval officer, usually a senior captain, who is in charge of a squadron of ships. The title also applies to the captain in administrative control of a NavSpecWarGru, a group of SEAL Teams.

Coronado    
Island suburb of San Diego, home to West Coast SEAL Teams and the naval special warfare training unit.

Corporal Chef    
The senior enlisted rank in the French Foreign Legion, equivalent to sergeant major.

Counterterrorism    
Offensive measures taken to deter, prevent, and respond to terrorism. These active measures include assaulting hostage barricade sites; retaking hijacked vehicles, vessels, or aircraft; and direct action against terrorist personnel, support, and infrastructure. Also called “CT.”

CP    
Combat post. A marine position, usually platoon-sized, located outside the perimeter wire of Beirut International Airport.

CQB    
Close-quarters battle. The precision shooting used by SEALs to clear ship spaces and rooms. CQB is the epitome of surgical shooting. SEALs frequently practice dynamic target shooting in which terrorist targets are mixed with real “hostages.”

CRRC    
Combat rubber raiding craft. Inflatable boats used by the SEALs. Although modern boats are made of bulletproof Kevlar, the “rubber” has stuck from World War II days, when the boats were made of rubberized nylon.

CSAR    
Combat search and rescue. Operations mounted to retrieve downed aircrew from enemy territory.

CTF    
Commander, task force.

Delta    
Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta, aka Delta Force. It is a frequent SEAL joke that the high-profile Delta Force is SEAL Team’s best cover.

Dhow    
A lateen-rigged Arab sailing vessel. Ubiquitous in the Middle East as a coastwise trader and fishing vessel.

Diawi    
Vietnamese. Captain (in the army), lieutenant (navy).

Dien Bien Phu    
Valley “citadel” occupied by the French in North Vietnam. Surrounded by the Viet Minh, Dien Bien Phu was overwhelmed on May 7, 1954, after a 169-day battle. This epic defeat marked the end of French hegemony in Indochina.

Ding    
To hit with a bullet. To kill.

Direct Action    
Combat actions undertaken against enemy targets.

Dirt Poisoning    
The cause of death when your parachute doesn’t open.

Dog-Face    
A member of the United States Army.

Draeger LAR-V    
German-made rebreathing scuba. Rebreathers emit no bubbles and are used for sneak attacks and maritime sabotage operations.

Druze (see also PSP)    
A secretive Islamic sect endemic to the mountains of Lebanon. The political arm of the Druze community is the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP). Founded in 1948, the PSP is nationalist and anti-Western in orientation. The PSP and the Druze militias are led by Walid Jumblat.

Dust Off    
Evacuation of wounded by helicopter.

E & E    
Escape and evasion. Individual efforts made to retreat and extract from hostile territory. A last-ditch effort to retreat.

F-470    
CRRC made by Zodiac Industries. Used for coastwise operations and insertions and extractions.

Fast Rope    
A spongy, hawserlike rope used to deploy troops rapidly from helicopters. Also called a “zip line,” fast ropes are manufactured in 30-, 60-, and 120-foot lengths.

FAV    
Fast-attack vehicle. An armed dune buggy organic to SEAL Teams.

FLIR    
Forward-looking infrared.

FN    
Fabrique Nationale, a Belgian-made 7.62-millimeter assault rifle.

Forty Mike-Mike    
Forty millimeter grenades fired from an M-203 grenade launcher.

Frap    
A parachute malfunction. Used as both a noun and a verb.

Frog Hog    
A female SEAL groupie.

Fuerzas Especiales    
Colombian special forces.

Full Mission Profile    
A SEAL mission cycle from planning, rehearsal, deployment, insertion, infiltration, actions at the objective, exfiltration, extraction, recovery, and debriefing.

GP    
General Purpose. As in GP tent. Sometimes, General Principles. For example, “I punched him out just for GP.”

Goon Squad    
The slow and the stupid. In BUD/S, the slowest 20 percent of any run or evolution. Instructors single out these class members for extra physical instruction (see “It pays to be a winner”).

GPS    
Global positioning system. Navigational aid utilizing a series of military satellites to exactly pinpoint any location on earth.

Grab-assing    
Horseplay. Goofing off.

Greenroom    
The compartment on an aircraft carrier where personnel are held before being released onto the flight deck.

Gun-deck    
In the navy, to “gun-deck” means to retroactively fill in a logbook or to fake a document. Derives from the practice of quarterdeck watches retreating to the gun deck to make log entries.

HAHO    
High-altitude, high-opening parachute jump.

HALO    
High-altitude, low-opening parachute jump.

HE/DP    
High explosive/dual purpose. A round fired by the M-203 grenade launcher designed as both an antiarmor and an antipersonnel weapon.

Helmet-fire    
To panic. Also, to be absentminded or to make a mistake.

Hezbollah    
“Party of God.” Hezbollah is an umbrella group of Shiite Muslim militants in Lebanon. Formed about 1983, Hezbollah is a social as well as a military force, establishing schools, clinics, and welfare organizations for the Shiite minority. From 1983 to 2000 Hezbollah waged a guerrilla war against Israeli occupying forces and the towns and villages of northern Israel. Subsidized and trained by Iran, Hezbollah operates in the southern slums of Beirut and the Bekaa valley.

Hooterville    
The slum of Hay es Salaam, surrounding marine positions at the north end of the Beirut airport.

Hop and Pop    
A low-altitude, low-opening parachute drop.

HSAC    
High-speed assault craft. High-speed, highly capable open-ocean assault boat. Armed with a variety of 7.62-millimeter and .50-caliber machine guns. HSACs are capable of over-the-horizon operations against land and sea targets.

Hydrographic Recon    
A clandestine beach survey. Also called a “sneak-and-peek.”

IDF, IDFN    
Israeli defense forces, the Israeli army. “N” indicates a naval unit.

Indige    
Indigenous. Of or belonging to a certain locale. A local indigenous personnel or local vessel (indigenous craft).

IR    
Infrared. Invisible light frequencies below red, used passively in night-vision goggles, and actively as an infrared spotlight.

IR Strobe    
A blinking signal light using infrared light.

Jake and Abdul    
Bad guys. From a tour in Beirut where the bad guys were referred to as “Jake and Abdul, the Druze Brothers.”

JP-5    
Jet propulsion (grade) 5. Jet fuel.

Kalashnikov    
Any of a variety of Russian-made assault rifles designed by Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov. Kalashnikov weapons include the AK-47, the AK-74, RPK and RPD machine guns, as well as the Dragunov sniper’s rifle.

Katyusha    
122-millimeter Russian-made artillery rockets.

K-Bar    
SEAL Team fighting knife.

Kufiyah    
An Arab headdress.

LAAW Rocket (Light Antiarmor Weapon)    
M-72 light armor antitank rocket. Replaced by the larger, more capable AT-4.

LAF    
The Lebanese armed forces (pronounced “laugh”). The army of President Amin Gemayel.

LALO    
Low-altitude, low-opening parachute drop.

LCU    
Landing craft, utility. The LCU is a tank-carrying landing craft, 134 feet in length. Also called a “U-boat.”

Lead Wings    
Army “silver” jump wings. Issued to BUD/S graduates after parachute training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Naval special warfare operators on probation are forced to wear these army wings before they make ten navy jumps and earn the navy’s “wings of gold.”

Leg    
An army term (usually “nasty leg”) designating any soldier who is not airborne-qualified. A nonparatrooper, i.e., a member of a nasty-leg infantry unit.

Limpet Mine    
A magnetic mine used by SEALs in underwater attacks against enemy shipping, and in maritime sabotage operations. If you don’t like it, limpet.

Little Creek    
Naval amphibious base located in Norfolk, Virginia. Home of the East Coast SEAL Teams.

Lock Out    
Procedures used to leave and enter a submerged submarine.

Low Intensity, High Per Diem    
A boondoggle, or a cakewalk operation.

LT    
Lieutenant. Navy officer’s rank (0-3), comparable to a captain in the marines, army, and air force.

LTJG    
Lieutenant, junior grade, navy officer’s rank (0-2), comparable to a first lieutenant in the marines, army, and air force.

M-203    
Rifle-mounted 40-millimeter grenade launcher.

M-4 (see also CAR-15)    
Carbine version of the M-16.

M-60    
Standard-issue infantry machine gun. The M-60 fires the 7.62-millimeter NATO round.

MARG    
Mediterranean amphibious ready group.

Maronite    
Maronites are the largest Christian sect in Lebanon. Maronite areas include East Beirut and the mountains of northern Lebanon. Traditionally a class of merchants, traders, and businessmen, Maronites tend to dominate the Lebanese economy. By custom, the president of the Lebanese republic is a Maronite.

MAU    
Marine amphibious unit.

MH-53 (see also Pave Low)    
Long-range heavy-lift special operations helicopter. The navy and marine version, the CH-53, is called the “Sea Stallion.”

MH-60 (SeaHawk)    
Black Hawk helicopter. Workhorse of special operations forces.

Mk V    
Patrol boat replacing the Seafox.

MK-13    
Day-night smoke and illumination flare carried by SEALs.

MK-15    
Computerized semiclosed diving rig known for its unreliability. Also called the “black death.”

MP-5    
German-made machine pistol used by SEALs for ship takedowns, room clearance, and close-quarters battle.

MRE    
Meal, ready to eat. Standard military battle rations. Not long on taste, also known as “meal, rarely enjoyed.”

MSC    
Miltary Sealift Command. Service and support ships manned by civilian crews.

Muezzin    
The official attached to a mosque who chants the
azan,
a call to the faithful to come to prayer. The
azan
is performed five times a day, at dawn, noon, midafternoon, dusk, and evening.

MULE    
Multiutility laser equipment. A laser target designator.

Mustang    
A commissioned officer with prior enlisted service.

Naval Special Warfare    
Navy SEAL Teams, SEAL delivery teams, and special boat units.

NCDU    
Naval combat demolition units, World War II forerunners of the navy’s famed underwater demolition teams.

NOD    
Night observation device.

No Joy    
Radio-speak for “I do not see the target.”

Nonqual    
A nonoperator. A person outside of the SEAL community.

NRO    
National Reconnaissance Office.