American Military Slang

The following is a list of slang terms used in the American Military of the Napoleon's Legacy Universe. Many of them are different from those real-world terms Americans would be familiar with - owing not only to the different circumstances, culture and history of the U.S. in the Napoleon's Legacy timeline, but also the different time period (1960s). A large number of entries in this list are inspired by real-life World War II German (i.e. Wehrmacht) military slang. Others are taken from the real U.S. Military during the Vietnam War. The list is in alphabetical order.

Numbers (0-9)

 * 001 / 001er (double-oh one[r]) - a fresh soldier on his first day of deployment, i.e. "001er, just stepped off the plane"


 * 105 ("one-oh-five" or "ten-five") - 105mm Infantry Gun M130


 * 117 ("Eleven-seven") - 155mm Field Howitzer M117, the principle American artillery piece


 * 120 ("One-twenty") - Russian 120mm Infantry Mortar


 * 155 ("One-Fifty-Five") - a 155mm Howitzer, specifically the 155mm Field Howitzer M117 (but also any other artillery piece of the calibre)


 * 201 [File] ("Two-oh-one") - U.S. Army personnel file


 * 4-F ("four-ef") - Administrative classification for those unfit for military service


 * .45 ("forty-five") - Standard service sidearm - the "Pistol, Caliber 11.5mm, Automatic, Colt M1911A1" - referring to the old pre-Metric designation


 * .50-cal ("fifty-cal" or "fiddy-cal") - any version of the M2 Browning HMG, nickname derived from the older pre-Metric designation; usually refers to the modern "Machine Gun, Caliber 12.7mm, Browning AN/M3


 * .57 ("five-seven" or "fiddy-sev'n") - Russian 14.5mm heavy machine gun (PKP for infantry or KPV for other uses), a reference to the calibre in inches
 * 75 ("Seventy-five" or "Seven-five") - 75mm Regimental Gun M121


 * '79 ("seven-nine" or "seventy-nine) - "Launcher, Grenade, 40mm, M79" - a common U.S. hand-held grenade launcher resembling a shotgun


 * 82 ("eight-two" or "eighty-two") - Russian 82mm Battalion-level Infantry Mortars

Nicknames / Terms referring to President Clariston
Since her becoming President in 1959, U.S. Military personnel have coined a number of unique expressions to refer to Charlotte Clariston that play on her gender and/or merital status


 * the Boss - originally the primary nickname to refer to President Roosevelt, now used for Clariston - especially by older soldiers or as a less-disrespectful / vulgar alternative to many of the other nicknames


 * Mamma / Mom / Mother - another common benign nickname, although often used in a tongue-in-cheek or mocking fashion


 * CiC ("See'n'See") - "Cheesecake-in-Chief", usually said outright rather than as an acronym to avoid confusion with "CIC" as in "Combat Information Center" or "C&C" as in "Command & Control". "Cheesecake" is another term for a pin-up girl, or pin-up pictures.
 * [the] Old Lady - Self-explanatory


 * [the] Iron Maiden - a sobriquet originating from the media, usually implies connotations of support or admiration


 * [the] PUP (vocalized as "pup") - short for "Pin-Up President", a reference to Clariston's gender and her perceived resemblence to a pin-up girl (i.e. blonde hair, hourglass figure)


 * TiC ("Tee'n'See") - short for "Tits-in-Chief". Self-explanatory.

A

 * AAA - Anti-Aircraft Artillery / flak guns


 * A&A - slang term for "R&R", Rest & Recuperation (i.e. leave from front-line assignment), meaning "Ass & Alcohol". Also, "I&I" - "Intercourse & Intoxication"
 * Actual - denotes a Unit Commander in radio transmissions when using callsigns; is appended to unit callsigns (e.g. "Hotspot Actual") to designate that the commander is speaking or to refer specifically to the unit commander


 * ACAV ("Ay-Cav") - Aerial (helicopter-equipped) Cavarly


 * ADSID ("add-sid") - Short for "Air-Delivered Seismic Intruder-detection Device", a microphone and transmitter package air-dropped into areas where hostile / enemy activity is suspected but verification by visual reconnaissance fails to confirm


 * AFNWN ("Aff-noon") - short for "Armed Forces NorthWest Network", the radio network run by the Northwest Command (NOWCOM) General Headquarters for soldiers operating in the Northwest (i.e. Alaska and Yukon) Theatre.


 * A-gunner - "Assistant Gunner"


 * APO - short for "Army Post Office", the main Military postal facility in Seattle through which all out-of-country mail to the Northwestern Theatre is routed.


 * Amtrack - slang for a series of armored amphibious landing / transport vehicles called LTVs (acronym for "Landing Vehicle, Tracked) - "Amtrack" is a pun on "Amtrac", the United States' state-owned national railway corporation


 * Ammo-dump (or just "Dump") - location where live or expended ammunition is stored. Contrary to popular belief, these are not actively used supply points - they are for storage, like warehouses, and are located well away from the fighting or anything valuable. In the event of a fire or combustion, they are left to burn and the flames are simply controlled from a distance.


 * Angeltrack - armored personnel carrier in the role of a field ambulance or aid station


 * Asperagus - Submarine Parascope


 * ARCOM - Army Commendations Medal


 * Article 15 (or "Art-15") - section of the United States Uniform Military Code of Justice dealing with summary extra-judicial punishment of personnel by their commanding officers (i.e. fines, confinement in a stockade). Usually used as a passive verb, i.e. "Jimmy got Article 15'd".


 * Arty - short-hand for Artillery


 * Assfiddle - English rendering of the German insult Arschgeige, borrowed from the German volunteer "Condor Legion" forces fighting alongside U.S. troops in Alaska. Has developed into American slang for an inept or rookie soldier (but is not limited to new personnel), with connotations of them being a liability. I.e. "That Private Wilcox is a fuckin' assfiddle. He can't do anything right."


 * Ash-and-Trash or Ass-and-Trash (or "Ash/Ass-n-Trash") - helicopter pilots' terminology for non-combat operations (which doesn't mean operations without the possibility of coming under fire), specifically transport missions. This would include things such as extracting troops from the field to a rear base camp, hauling ammunition / supplies / food out to troops in the field, etc. The difference between the two terms is in loads carried. "Ash-and-Trash" refers to supply / cargo transport missions, while "Ass-and-Trash" is for moving personnel.


 * Asskicker - slang / nickname for ground-attack aircraft (close-support light bombers that function as "flying artillery"), which are much beloved by ground troops.


 * A-team - a standard squad / fireteam of Special Operations troops, such as Green Berets


 * Auntie Annie - nickname for the Curtiss-Wright C-134 "Alligator" tri-engine medium transport / cargo aircraft

B

 * Bandolier - ammunition belt, usually for a machine gun


 * Base Camp - Semi-permanent field headquarters for a given unit, usually within that unit's tactical area of responsibility. Contains most or all of said unit's support elements.


 * Basic - Basic Training. Often called "Boot Camp" in civilian circles, but rarely among Military personnel


 * Basketball - a night-time illumination mission for aircraft


 * Battle-sight-zeroing - the process of adjusting a firearm's sights and windage by an individual soldier to suit him personally so that rounds will hit the object of aim when fired


 * BCD ("Bee-see-dee") - Bad Conduct Discharge


 * BDA ("Bee-dee-Aye") - Bomb Damage Assessment


 * Beans & dicks - standard-issue C-ration kit with hot-dogs and beans


 * Beans & Motherfuckers - standard-issue C-ration kit with ham and beans


 * Beaten Zone - area in front of an emplaced machine gun where the majority of bullets will hit, usually within the context of a defensive perimeter where the position and fields of fire are plotted beforehand. Is a measure of range and trajectory - i.e. enemy combatants within the beaten zone of an MG will be hit somewhere between their head and their foot, and the beaten zone ends at the range when rounds would fall short


 * Beehive (Round) - special canister artillery round to deliver a spread of flachettes from the muzzle of the gun - used for direct fire anti-personnel defense
 * BF - short for "Buttfuck", slang for carpet bombing, i.e. "that Russian town got BF'd last night"
 * Bible - the small logbooks carried by the senior NCOs of combat units in which they record note-worthy actions of the soldiers in their command (i.e. misconduct / infractions or conspicuous actions potentially worthy of praise or awards)


 * Big Boys - Armor (i.e. tanks)


 * Big Red One (or "BRO", pronounced "bro'") - the official nickname of the 1st Infantry Division, a particularly famous U.S. Army unit. Informal versions include "Bloody Red One" and "Big Dead One".


 * Big Shotgun - M42 recoilless rifle firing anti-personnel ammunition. Such rounds are referred to as "Buckshot".


 * Big Stick - common nickname of the United States Navy in the Military and among civilians, but rarely actually used within the Navy itself
 * Big Ugly - heavy strategic bombers, i.e. the B-50 Superfortress and B-36 Peacemaker. Sometimes used as a descriptor for attacks by such aircraft in the same way as BF
 * Bomb-run Day - a day spent on the front (i.e. not on leave or at rest behind the lines) in which the Army personnel see no combat. In other words, all is quiet because the USAAF is conducting bombing operations against the enemy and keeping them occupied (at least that's the implication - applies whether that's actually true or not).


 * boo-coo - bastardized French, "Beaucoup", i.e. many or much


 * Boom-boom - sexual intercourse, normally implying that the other person was not the soldier's spouse or romantic partner. Generally refers to either casual sex with a woman while on shore leave or liaison with a prostitute while on tour.


 * Boomer - a girl who has an attraction to soldiers or men in uniform and/or is perceived by soldiers as a likely candidate for casual sex when on shore leave. I.e., "last time Johnny went to Seattle he found himself a real boomer."


 * Boomtube - recoilless rifle / gun / launcher weapons (i.e. Stovepipes or RPGs). Also applies more broadly to grenade launchers and mortars.


 * Boondoggle - an operation that is not thoroughly thought-out, is useless or absurd. A clusterfuck.


 * Boonies - the field; i.e. out in the wilderness away from civilization


 * Boot (or "bung") - a solider just out of Basic, inexperienced and untested. Similar to "001".


 * Bouncing Betty (or just "Betty") - two-stage American anti-personnel mines that are propelled upwards to about waist-level and then detonated


 * Bowl - pipe used for smoking cannabis or other drugs; also a measurement equal to the amount of the substance necessary to fill the pipe being used to smoke it, i.e. one "load"


 * BS - Bullshit


 * Buckle - to fight, i.e. "to buckle for your dust" means to fight furiously


 * BuShips ("BewShips", Bureau of Ships) - Organization for supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the U.S. Military as a component of the War Department; managing shipyards, repair facilities, laboratories, and shore stations; developing specifications for fuels and lubricants; and conducting salvage operations.


 * Butterbar - a 2nd Lieutenant, refers to the single brass bar of their rank insignia. Has a negative connotation.


 * Bust Caps - to open fire in significant amounts, to "unload"

C

 * C-4 (Composition Four) - a particular form of plastic explosive


 * CA (Combat Assault) - insertion by helicopter into a hostile landing zone


 * Cache - hidden supplies


 * CAP (Civil Action Program) - cooperative support / infrastructure-building / public relations initiative between the military and Alaskan & Canadian locals within the Northwest Theatre of Operations


 * C&C (Command & Control, also C2) - exercise of authority by a properly-designated officer over assigned resources, personnel or forces toward the accomplishment of a goal


 * CIC (Combat Information Center, also "Operations Room") - tactical center of a warship or multi-crew aircraft providing processed information for the exercise of Command & Control


 * Ceasefire - cigarette break


 * Cigarette tin - the cylindrical gas-mask canister that is a part of a U.S. infantryman's equipment, almost always used for other things (i.e. stowing smokes)


 * Chophouse - field hospital


 * [War] Contribution - to conceive a child during leave, with the connotation that the mother is not the soldier's partner / spouse