Warzone: Nemesis: A Novel of Mars (64 page)

BOOK: Warzone: Nemesis: A Novel of Mars
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Diné
- Navajo people.

Hataalii
- Blessing way singer, Navajo medicine man that uses sand paintings, chants, stories and songs to cure and restore the
patient
to harmony with the world.

Hozho
- Navajo concept of harmony with the world.

Uncle
- Uncle, the Navajo term of respect for an older man but not aged, who would be referred to as grandfather.

Yei Bechei
- holy beings in Navajo metaphysics.

MILITARY AND OTHER TERMS

1-MC
- General loudspeaker which is turned up high enough so that anyone can hear it on the naval base, used to transmit orders, alerts, or general information.

4P
- Mars, fourth planet from the sun.

APO
- Army Post Office.

ARVN
- Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).

Bad bear
- Phrase or expression used to indicate that a certain situation or object is difficult.

Bandits
- Hostile aircraft.

Beans, bullets and bandages
- Expression for things a logistician must provide his or her unit: rations, ammunition, and medical care.

BG
- Brigadier general, first rank above full colonel.

Bullet sponge
- pejorative term for a marine.

Cannon cockers
- Artillerymen.

Chicken Plate
- Bullet proof vest that the gunners wore, but the pilots often sat on.

Chief
- In this story, this applies to Chief Wolverine, rank CW5, or Chief Warrant Officer, grade five.

Class A
- Dress uniform.

Cooking off
- (or thermally induced firing) refers to ammunition exploding prematurely due to barrel overheating due to excessive firing.

CPL
- Corporal.

CAPT
- Captain, U.S. Navy, equivalent to army rank of colonel.

CPT
- Captain (not Navy), equivalent to navy rank of lieutenant.

CSM
- Command Sergeant Major.

Dead-Man zone
- Height versus velocity curve—proper speed that should be attained before climbing or landing to avoid engine quits. Also at takeoff and decent, a helicopter is at their most vulnerable state. Dead-man zone takes on a whole new meaning with Charlie shooting at you.

Deep-sixed
- Throwing something overboard into the water, usually at sea, but this time in the Cua Long River.

Derobements
- in fencing, an avoidance of the opponent’s attempt to take the blade or beat, performed with a straight sword arm.

DEROS
- Date of Estimated Return from OverSeas.

Det
- Detachment, group of troops or ships - in this story, sniper detachment or Seawolf detachment.

Disengage thrusts
- in fencing, A circular movement of the blade that deceives the opponent’s parry, removes the blades from engagement, or changes the line of engagement.

Doc
- Navy corpsman, medic attached to Navy Seal unit.

Dojo
- Martial arts practice hall.

DRV
- Democratic Republic of Vietnam, communist North Vietnam.

Fire bottle
- Fire extinguisher on a helicopter.

Fit Rep
- Fitness Report.

FTL
- Fire Team Leader, the pilot of the lead bird (helicopter) in a two bird detachment.

GEN
- Four Star General.

Ghillie suit
- Type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble heavy foliage. The suit gives the wearer’s outline a three-dimensional breakup, rather than a linear one.

Gi
- Martial arts practice uniform.

Gozinaki
- A traditional Georgian (East European) walnut-honey candy.

Green Faces
- The name Charlie called the Navy SEALs, because of the camo makeup they wore on ops.

Gunnel
- Nautical term, variant of old English gunwale, the upper edge of the side or bulwark of a vessel. The handrail about waist high on the deck.

Gunship/helicopter
- Armed helicopter fitted for combat.

Hard charger
- Term of endearment from a superior to a subordinate marine when he or she completes a difficult task, so named for charging through the assignment, or general toughness.

HE shells
- high-explosive shells.

HOG
- Graduate of Marine Scout/Sniper School: stands for
H
unter
O
f
G
unmen.

Huey
- Bell UH-1B Iroquois attack helicopter, Bravo designating the
B
model.

Intel
- Information, intelligence.

Jayjee
- US Navy Lieutenant, Junior Grade.

Joe
- Coffee, so named because United States Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels eliminated beer and wine from naval ships, declaring nothing stronger than coffee would be allowed.

Kata
- In martial arts, a kata is a detailed choreographed pattern of defense and attack movements is practiced either solo or in pairs, for exercise and practicing concentration. Sometimes it is practiced with hand held weapons, such as a knife, staff, sword, nunchuckas, or sai.

KBA
- Killed by aircraft.

Kuzma’s mother or Kuzka’s mother
- is a part of the Russian idiomatic expression, “To show Kuzka’s mother to someone” means to teach someone a lesson, to punish someone in a brutal way.

LST
- Landing Ship, Tank—naval vessels created to support amphibious operations, by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore.

LZ
- landing zone.

Light Colonel
- LTC, Lieutenant Colonel.

LTG
- Lieutenant General, three star general.

LT
- Lieutenant.

Luna
- Earth’s moon.

Mag Cannon
- Was outlawed by accord between the Soviets and Americans. A devastating weapon when fully charged, firing purple balls of concentrated magnetic energy. Two fully charged MAG cannon blasts will destroy a ship.

MAJ
- Major.

Mike boat
- LCM-8 River boat and mechanized landing craft used in Vietnam.

MITS mines
- Magnetic tethering snare mines.

Near beer
- Beer containing less than 0.5% alcohol by volume.

NCOIC
- Non commissioned officer in charge.

NVA
- North Vietnamese Army regulars.

OIC
- Officer in charge.

ONI
- Office of Naval Intelligence.

Parries
- In fencing, a block of the attack, made with the forte of one’s own blade.

Particle Beam Cannon
- A particle beam weapon uses an ultra-high energy beam of atoms or electrons (i.e., a particle beam) to damage a material target by hitting it, and thus disrupting its atomic and molecular structure, (Wikipedia reference) which is the standard energy weapon from alien technology used in Soviet and American tanks alike.

Phantom VIR
- Visual Image Refractor, or phantom, makes ship invisible to satellite cameras and to the human eye, but doesn’t remove the radar signature. Uses fuel while in use.

Pit
- On a shooting range, the bull pit or pit is the place downrange where the targets are.

PVT
- Private.

Rats
- military rations, food.

Redfield Generators
- Radar Echo Dampening Field, visible to satellite camera and the human eye but removes the radar signature. Uses fuel while in use.

Roger wilco
- short for Roger/Understood wilco/will comply.

Ruff Puff
- In Vietnam, the local militia, Regional and Popular forces, were called Ruff Puffs which occupied Ruff Puff outposts at the canal crossways, which doubled as fuel and ammo resupply points.

SEALORD
- Minimally armed helicopter transport, also known as a SLC.

Seawolves
- HA(L)-3, Navy Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 3, conceived, deployed and decommissioned entirely during in the Vietnam conflict.

SGT
- Sergeant.

Shogun
- A hereditary military dictator of Japan, the shoguns ruled Japan until the revolution of 1867–68.

Slicks
- See reference SEALORD.

Soke
- One who is the leader of any school or the master of a style, but it is most commonly used as a highest level Japanese title, referring to the singular leader of a school or style of martial art. In this scenario, it refers to Master Karl W. Marx, found of Keichu-Ryu Karate Do Jitsu.

Song Cua Long
- Cua Lan River.

Stoner
- .223/5.62mm (used linked ammo) Stoner designed AR15-M16, (light machine gun) by Eugene Stoner of Fairchild Armalite Corporation.

Stop hit
- in fencing, a counterattack that hits: also a counterattack whose touch is valid by virtue of its timing.

Squid
- Pejorative for sailor, usually used by marines, comparing sailors to a marine animal with no backbone.

Sub-colonel
- literal Russian translation for lieutenant colonel.

Tactical Operation Center
- also know as tac ops, or TOC, the command post for all security, military intelligence and planning on the post.

Tet
- Vietnamese New Year.

There is no sex in the Soviet Union
- The Leningrad-Boston “telemost” (TV Bridge or Space Bridge) was one of the first joint Soviet-American programs filmed live. When an American woman brought up a topic about sex, a Russian lady exclaimed to the whole world about the absence of this phenomenon in the Soviet Union by saying “There is no sex in the Soviet Union.” However, the viewers only caught the first part of her response as she was interrupted by a burst of laughter. In response to the question of whether or not the Soviet media had the same amount of sexual content and violence as did the media in the US, Lyudmila Ivanova responded by saying, “There is no sex in the Soviet Union… but there is love!” This statement was mostly a commentary comparing the Soviet’s view of sexuality to America’s sexual revolution at the time. However, in a broader sense, it also showed the Soviet government’s policy of keeping their people’s public expressions in check, and in control.

Thrusts
- In fencing, an attack made by moving the sword parallel to its length and landing with the point.

Trail AHAC
- Attack Helicopter Aircraft Commander, pilot of the trail helicopter in a two helo detachment.

VC
- Viet Cong, NVA guerillas, designated by first two letters and dubbed
Victor Charlie
, shortened to simply
Charlie.

War of northern aggression
- This is what the South Vietnamese called the VN War.

XO
- Executive officer or first officer, second-in-command.

Zoom bag
- Naval avaiator’s flight suit.

BOXING TERMS

Bob and weave
- Bobbing moves the head laterally and beneath an incoming punch. As the opponent’s punch arrives, the fighter bends the legs quickly and simultaneously shifts the body either slightly right or left.

Body Punches
- It is a type of repetitive yet powerful punches commonly used to wear down the opponent. It is often delivered directly to the floating rib area of the opponent with the use of a left hook.

Bout
- A boxing contest, boxing fight, or boxing match.

Boxer’s Handshake
- This is a part of the boxing guidelines wherein both the boxers greet each other by touching knuckles, regardless of whether they are wearing their gloves or not.

Clinch
- to hold an opponent’s body with one or both arms to prevent or hinder punches.

Combination
- There are different punching types can be combined to form “combos,” like a jab and cross combo.

Corner Man
- a person who is responsible for assisting the boxer by giving him water, advises and pares down swelling or bleeding during the end of every round.

Count
- A count is tolling of the seconds by the referee after a boxer is knocked down. If a boxer is still down at the end of the count of ten then the fight is over by knockout.

Counterpunch
- A counterattack begun immediately after an opponent throws a punch, exploiting the opening in the opponent’s position.

Cross
- In boxing, a cross (also commonly called a “straight”) is a power-punch like the uppercut and hook. It is a punch usually thrown with the dominant hand the instant an opponent leads with his opposite hand. The blow crosses over the leading arm, hence its name.

Cut Man-
- A cut man is the one who deals with cuts sustained by a boxer during a bout. His job is to stop any bleeding from the face or nose and also to reduce swelling around the eyes by applying cold pressure.

Down for the Count
- Knocked out for the referee’s count of ten.

Fall through the Ropes
- To slip or be punched through the ropes of a boxing ring. If a boxer is knocked out of the ring, he gets a count of 20 to get back in and on his feet. He cannot be assisted, or he will be considered knocked out.

Hook
- A short power punch in which the boxer swings from the shoulder with his elbow bent, bringing his fist from the side toward the center. One of the most technically difficult punches to throw because it requires perfect precision, timing and coordination.

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