Lingo

The Army has a language all it’s own. This is a list of some of the acronyms, slang and abbreviations that I have been known to use in every day conversation. Oh, and in true Army style, I’ve got a few of my own to make it easier to be vague about locations, etc.

MINE–

OFDS: Our First Duty Station

OCL: Our Current Location

ARMY–

ACU: Army Combat Uniform: their everyday uniform, the digitized camo

BAH: Basic Allowance for Housing: the portion of Patrick’s pay that is meant to cover housing if we live off post. It changes based on geographical location.

BCT: Basic Combat Training: what the Marines call “boot camp”

BN: Battalion

BOLC II: Basic Officer Leadership Course: 6-week course for new officers to brush up/increase combat skills. BOLC III is also known as OBC.

Ch: Chaplain

FRG: Family Readiness Group: support group for family and friends of deployed soldiers, usually run by a spouse.

High speed: Taking things up a notch. The harder, or more daring route. “I had to get rid of the Pinto. My new Land Rover is more high speed.”

Jacked up: Not at all right, a mess, screwed up. “The boys’ sleep schedule got totally jacked up this week.”

NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer: An enlisted person with command responsibility.

OBC: Officer Basic Course: Specialized officer training that is branch specific, such as Armor, Infantry or Quatermaster. Also known as BOLC III.

OCONUS: Outside CONtinental United States, includes Alaska and Hawaii

OCS: Officer Candidate School

OPSEC: Operational Security: The reason you won’t see me writing about when a unit is deploying or where a unit is deployed to. Please alert me if you think I may have violated OPSEC! I’m new at all this.

POV: privately-Owned Vehicle: A soldier’s personal automobile.

PT: physical training

PX: Post Exchange: a store similar to a Wal-Mart, but without sales tax. Often it’s really a little mall, with some fast food and a barber shop, etc.

Squared away: done right, according to regulation. “I know this couldn’t be Fong’s fault. She’s always squared away!”

TRADOC: US Army TRAining and DOCtrine Command: The regulations/command for Army training environments. BCT, OCS, BOLC, and OBC are TRADOC environments.

XO: executive officer: officer second-in-command to the CO (commanding officer).