This “dictionary” of terms is meant to provide the information necessary to translate fighter pilot slang and jargon; it’s a Rosetta stone to fighter pilot “lingo,” if you will.  There is some language on this page that should not be repeated or may otherwise be inappropriate. They are here only so that you can interpret fighter pilot terminology.  Some relevant non-fighter pilot terms are also included.

Most of these terms are literally slang or unofficial terms.  To read about official brevity communications, reference the Joint Publication on brevity comm (PDF).

Ever wonder why you hear a fighter pilot say “cranium” or “skull” instead of “head?”  For insight as to why fighter pilots sometimes use “abnormal” words in an “normal” way, read here.

A	B	C	D	E
AAA AEF AFSC Afterburner AIB ALO AMRAAM AWACS	Balls to the Wall Bandit Base X B-Course Beans BFM Bingo Bitching Betty Black Box B-LOC Bogey BVR B-word	Callsign CAS Centrifuge CGOC Chaff Checkride Check Six Chick Code 3 Coin Crew Chief CRM/FRM	Dash-1 Dead Bug DNIF Dollar Ride Doofer Book Dos Gringos	ECM Exposure Suit
F	G	H	I	J
FAC Fag-bag FAIP FEB Fence-In/Out Flare Flat-top February Flight Lead FNG FOG Foul Fox Frat	“G” GIB G-LOC Gonk Go Pills Gouge Ground-Pounder	HARM Heavy Holding Hands Holy Joe Hook Hostile	IFF IP	Jeremiah Weed Joker
K	L	M	N	O
KIO	Landing Fee LFE LGB Line of Sight LPA	Mach Magnum MIL MOPP Mort Mustache March Mutual Support	Naming No-Go Pills NVG	O’Club OPR Ops Tempo OTS
P	Q	R	S
PATRIOT PCS Pickle Piddle Pack Pigs in Space Poopie Suit Procedure Pull Chocks Punch Push Push it Up	Queep	RCH Red Flag Redball Red X Remote Rifle RMO ROE ROTC RTB	SAM Sandbag Scud SEAD SERE Shack Shoe Clerk Shoe Flag Short Short Hairs SIB Sideburn September	Sidewinder SIE Sierra Hotel Situational Awareness SNAFU SNAP SOS “So to Speak” Spatial “D” Step
T	U	W	X	Y
TACAN Tango Uniform TCN TDY Technique Tree Triple A Tumbleweed	UAV UCAV UPT USAFA	Washed Out Wingman WOM WSO WTFO		YGBSM
Y	Z
	Zipper-suited Sun God

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