A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1MC - public address system wired to be heard all over the ship.
1st LT - see First Lieutenant.
03 level - the floor three levels over the hangar deck, one level below the flightdeck.
39-Man - a coop that sleeps 39 men.
81-Man - see 39-Man.
abeam - beside the ship.
Admin Board - Administrative review, often for discharge.
airedale - full time member of the aviation community.
AO (Aviation Ordnanceman) - explosives expert specializing in jet related items.
arresting wires - cables crossing the flightdeck used to catch jets by the tailhook and stop them.
AT - Avionics Technician.
ATA (Airwing Tactical Assessment) - exercise to grade ability of the airwing.
AWOL (Absent Without Leave) - not at work, without permission.
BAQ (Bachelor Allowance for Quarters) - money given to sailors living away from a military installation.
BCD (Boyancy Compensating Device) - inflatable diving vest.
beachcombers - knee-length pants worn on the beach in summer.
beach det - men detached to work ashore while ship is at sea.
Beast (the) - a beer, Milwaukee's Best.
berth - live, sleep.
Berthing - see coop.
Big Chicken Dinner - Bad Conduct Discharge.
bird - jet.
blackshoe - full-time member of ship's company.
Blue Shirt - colored shirt indicating job type; person wearing such a shirt. Blue Shirts move aircraft around. See blue shirt.
blue shirt - food service attendants fresh out of bootcamp.
boatswain's mate - the guy who's always talking on the 1MC.
bootcamp - initial military training.
BOQ (Bachelor Officer Quarters) - military officer housing.
bow - front of the ship.
brow - scaffold like, portable footbridge from ship to pier.
bug bar - juice bar.
bug juice - kool aid type of noncarbonated beverage; also used to clean deck drains.
bulldog - Charter Arms five-shot .44 caliber revolver.
bum rush - unfair fight.
bust - arrest.
cammies - camouflage pants.
CAP (Combat Air Patrol) - fighter mission.
cat - catapult. Mechanism for flinging jets off a ship.
cat shot - launch.
chain of command - military system of authority.
cherry - mint condition.
chevron - see crow.
Chock and Chain - items used to keep jets in place when parked. Chocks are metal bars that encircle the tires, and chains fasten to hooks on the jets and holes (pad eyes) in the flightdeck or hangar deck.
cholo - Mexican-American street gangster.
chow - meal time.
Clifton (Admiral Joseph E. Clifton) - annual award to best Navy fighter squadron.
clusterfuck - chaos.
CMC (Command Master Chief) - highest rank enlisted man, actually higher ranking than junior officers; smooths things over between officers and enlisted men, usually tells men they have to obey.
CO (Commanding Officer) - in charge of a squadron or ship. All squadron CO's on a ship are considered department heads reporting to the Airwing Commander, a Captain equal in rank to the ship's Captain.
COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) - "kod", a fat turbo-prop plane.
coffee issue - organized time for handing out coffee, tea, etc.
COMRATS (Commuted Rations) - pay instead of food.
Conflag One - observational alcove overlooking the hangar bay.
conflagration - disaster characterized by fire.
Coop - personal living and sleeping area on a ship.
cover - hat.
coyote - smuggler of people.
crankster - amphetamine user.
crib - home, bed.
crow - rank marking on a uniform. Also, chevron.
crypto-tech - worker who deals with top secret coding.
CSPAN - TV channel specializing in US government proceedings.
DAPA (Drug Alcohol Prevention Advisor) - officer responsible for keeping sailors clean and sober.
day check - daytime working shift; day crew.
deck - floor.
Dependent's Day Cruise - day cruise with relatives onboard.
disbursing - the bank on a ship.
discharge - separation from the Navy.
dive - club.
dog out - make someone work hard.
dogged out - overworked.
dragon - dishwasher.
dungaree - bell-bottom blue jeans.
duty driver - vehicle driver during non-work hours.
DWI (driving while intoxicated) - ticket sometimes given by cops.
EAOS (End of Active Obligated Service) - contract terminal date.
Eight o'clocks (8 o'clocks) - 8pm report by top level officers.
El 4 (elevator four) - used to lift/lower aircraft between flightdeck and hangar deck.
eval - evaluation.
extended cruise - long period at sea; i.e., six months.
fall in - line up.
fantail - rear end of the ship.
fantail watch - person to watch the fantail area for safety.
fire party - fire fighting team.
First Lieutenant - janitorial department in a squadron.
flash hood - fire retardant cloth worn over the head to protect from flying sparks or burning ashes.
Flip - derogatory for Philippine Islander.
float coat - CO2 inflatable life vest.
fly the ball - flying by visual signals from the landing area.
Flying Squad - onboard emergency response damage control team.
FOD (Foreign Object Debris) - anything a jet engine can suck.
forecastle - ship's forward area where the anchor is stowed.
Forward Galley - cooking and dining area in the forward part of the ship.
frag - push from behind with intent to kill or seriously injure.
front (the) - main tourist area of Mission Beach, CA, corner of Ventura Place and Ocean Front Walk.
frying - taking LSD.
FSA (Food Service Attendant) - see Mess Crank.
gouge - information.
GQ - General Quarters (battle stations).
Grape - fuel handler.
greens - green fatigues.
gunner - worker dealing with weapons.
hatch - round door which is watertight when closed.
head - bathroom.
high caps - valves sending foam to the flightdeck.
hit - dose of LSD.
hook up - favor.
HS-14 - Helicopter Squadron #14.
IAD (Internal Affairs Dept.) - police internal investigations.
Ice Cream Social - relaxed gathering of off-duty personnel having ice cream at sea.
INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) - US border patrol.
integrity watch - safety and security patrol on the ship.
jarhead - derogatory for United States Marine.
JO - junior officer. Bottom of the officer barrel.
Jonesing - craving.
JP5 - jet fuel.
junk - heroin.
Knee-knocker - oval shaped, raised doorway built into the ship's frame to allow passage unless closed to prevent flooding.
knots - something like miles per hour.
lagging - insulating material wrapped around a pipe.
liberty - free time.
liberty card - issued to men ranked E3 and below allowing certain authorized times away from a military installation, i.e., ship.
lifer - career sailor.
Line Shack - squadron department responsible for grunge work of washing jets.
listing - leaning.
LPO (Leading Petty Officer) - person with highest authority in a department during a particular shift.
LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) - a drug. Also, a type of ship.
LSO (Landing Signal Officer) - interfaces with approaching pilot.
LT (Lieutenant) - military officer rank.
magazine - room full of bombs.
main deck - hangar deck.
mainmounts - larger tires on a jet.
marching party - demanding exercise, demanded by superiors.
Mast - official meeting with CO, usually unpleasant.
medi-vac - evacuated to a medical facility.
mess crank - food server, waiter, dishwasher, etc.
mess decks - dining areas.
Meth (Methedrine) - an amphetamine derivative.
midrats (midnight rations) - lunch for the night shift.
MOB (Man Overboard) - condition of, or command ordering response to, person thrown or fallen into the sea.
mooring pool - a game betting when the ship will drop anchor.
MOR (Minor Offense Report) - traffic ticket on the mess decks.
MS (Mess Specialist) - food service specialist, i.e., chef.
muster - gather together officially as a group or department.
Navy E - annually awarded to best west coast fighter squadron.
night qual - aircraft operation including launch, flight and recovery performed at night.
NIS (Naval Investigative Service) - department tasked with routing out gay sex fiends.
no load - empty catapult. Also, a lazy person.
NONPO - Non Petty Officer, bottom three enlisted paygrades.
non-skid - hard grated tar on the flightdeck, on some ladders.
offload - unloading squadron equipment from the ship.
ollie - skateboarding term, to jump and slide over something with the bottom of the board, between the wheels.
on leave - on vacation.
OOD (Officer Of the Deck) - in charge when Captain is off the bridge.
Ops - operations. Also, Operations Department.
Oscar - a dummy.
pad - apartment.
pad eye - indentation in deck with hook for tie-down chain. See chock and chain.
party bucket - large booze bucket many people can share.
passdown - relay of information.
PD (Public Defender) - lawyer provided by the court.
Pers - personnel department.
pickle - signal used to order a pilot to abort a landing attempt.
PN3 (Personnelman Third Class), military job title indicating rate, or type of job (Personnel), paygrade and rank (degree of authority). PN3 is a third class Navy petty officer.
PO1 - Petty Officer First Class. Highest ranking petty officer below Chief Petty Officer.
POD (Plan Of the Day) - required daily reading containing rules or news of interest to a particular squadron or ship.
port side - left side of the ship when looking forward.
pre-deployment exercise - short trip to sea before deployment.
PRT (Physical Readiness Test) - physical health evaluation.
PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines) - popular carrier of local air traffic between San Francisco and L.A. or San Diego.
PT gear - gym clothes.
Purple Shirt - see Grape.
Quarters - gathering of all hands for announcements/awards.
queerbait - person who attracts another seemingly for homosexual activity but actually to lure them to an ambush.
Rack - bed.
Rate - type of job.
Rank - degree of authority.
R Division - department responsible for bringing fire-fighting foam to the flightdeck.
Ready Room - where pilots hear briefs and prepare to fly.
Red Devil Blower - portable smoke ventilator.
Red Shirt - in food service, a manager. Otherwise see Ordie.
rehab - rehabilitation work.
Reveille - morning wake-up call, performed by trumpet or voiced as a command on a public address system, normally 6:00a.m.
RM (Radioman) - communications worker.
RM Lounge - lounge next to 39-Man.
RTC (Recruit Training Command) - see bootcamp.
rumor control - see Scuttlebutt.
S-5 - Supply department section handling the mess decks.
SAR - Surface Air Rescue. Rescue of a person on the surface of the water, performed from air, usually from a helicopter.
scope - stare.
scullery - dish washer.
Scuttlebutt - rumor. From "ashtray" where people gathered smoking and talking.
SDO (Squadron Duty Officer) - in charge during non-work hours.
ship's company - full time member of the ship's personnel.
shooting junk - injecting heroin.
Shop - workplace, i.e., VF-1 Personnel Department.
Sidewinder - during the Gulf War, a $9,000 missile.
skating - avoiding hard work.
SMAA (Ship-Master-At-Arms) - onboard police dept. or policeman.
snaked - stolen.
SOCAL Ops - Southern California Operating area, for military exercises, about 200 miles off the coast between San Diego and Mexico.
Sparrow - during the Gulf War, a $500,000 missile.
split - leave, left.
squadron puke - derogatory for airedale.
squid - derogatory for sailor.
starboard - right side of the ship when looking forward.
stow - pack, store.
strike - attack.
striker - undesignated trainee attempting to earn designation.
stowaway - person hiding to illegally sail with the ship.
swab - mop.
TAD (Temporary Additional Duty) - temporary job assigned in addition to, or instead of regular job, i.e., TAD to S-5.
Tagolog - native language of the Philippine Islands.
TAPS - nightly order to turn out the lights and go to sleep.
tender - supply ship.
That Guy - author's roommate in Mission Beach, Ca.
tie-down chain - see chock and chain.
trap - landing of aircraft on the flightdeck.
turning in - going to bed.
Tiger Cruise - Week long cruise usually from Hawaii to San Diego upon ship's return from 6-month deployment. Male friends and/or relatives pay their way to Hawaii, join the ship there, and sail back to San Diego sleeping onboard and taking tours of the ship.
turning you out - showing you how much you like homosexuality.
UA (Unauthorized Absent) - gone without permission. See AWOL.
unrep (underway replenishment) - resupplying a ship at sea.
V-3 - ship department dealing with hangar control.
VF-1 - Navy acronym for Fighter Squadron One, i.e., (Item) Vehicle, (Type) Fighter, (Unit or Type Number) One. The Navy's best fighter squadron during the Gulf War.
VHA (Variable Housing Allowance) - money given to sailors living away from the military installation because of inadequate space.
vice - instead of.
water brake - chamber of water at the end of a track below the catapult, which causes it to stop.
wave-off - abort landing.
Westpac - deployment to the western Pacific ocean.
Wolfpack - nickname for Fighter Squadron One or VF-1.
work-up - warmup exercise.
XO (Executive Officer) - second in command of a squadron or ship.
XOI (Executive Officer Inquiry) - meeting with XO to see if you need a meeting with CO, usually unpleasant.
yarn - story.
YNCS (Yeoman Senior Chief) - administrative office supervisor.
Zebra - condition where all watertight fittings are secured