A rule of writing is that an author must “spell out” a term before using its abbreviation or acronym.  It appears that military public affairs writers have taken this rule to heart, almost to a fault.

A recent article from Balad, Iraq, talks about the men and women who maintain the flight equipment that pilots wear on missions.  These servicemembers may sometimes be overlooked, but if pilots are forced to depend on their equipment (for example, following an ejection), strong bonds often develop between the Airman who packed a survival kit and the pilot whose life is saved by it.

In the article, the public affairs Airman says 

Technicians scrutinize anti-gravity suits, oxygen equipment, helmets, parachutes, survival kits and other critical components — equipment that, when it’s needed, has to function properly.

The author is talking about g-suits, of course.  G-suits are the chap-like pants that fighter pilots wear over their flight suits.  They squeeze the fighter pilot’s legs when they experience “Gs,” helping to prevent blood from pooling in the legs and being drained from the brain, a condition that could lead to G-LOC.

She is technically accurate in the term “anti-g suit,” but to say that pilots wear “anti-gravity suits” sounds a little more like Star Trek than Air Force.