Ed Macy: Hellfire

Collective lever:The flying control to the left-hand side of the pilot’s seat; held in the left hand; when raised the Apache climbs and when lowered it descends

ComAO:Combined Air Operation

Co-op:Co-operative rocket shoot – both of the Apache’s crew working together to fire the rockets at the target

Cow:Taliban slang for the Chinook helicopter

Crabs:Slang term for the RAF

CRV7:Canadian Rocket Vehicle 7 – the Apache’s rockets

CTAF Net:Common Tactical Air Frequency Net

CTR:Conversion To Role

CTT:Conversion To Type

Cyclic stick:The flying control between the pilot’s legs, held by the right hand and used to speed up, slow down, dive and turn the Apache

Danger close:The proximity to a weapon’s effect that is considered the last safe point when wearing body armour and combat helmet

Dasht-e-Margo:Desert of Death

DC:District Centre – the commercial/political/military centre of a particular area. Usually a building that once held power

Deliberate Operations:Preplanned operations like escort missions and deliberate strikes

Delta Hotel:Phonetic alphabet for DH – air speak for Direct Hit – call made when a weapon system hits its intended target accurately

Dfac:American Dining Facility

Dishdash: Loose kaftan-style outfit worn by many Afghan men

DoS:Days of Supply

DTV:Day television – black and white TV image generated from the day camera in the TADS

DVO:Direct View Optics

ECM:Electronic Counter Measures

ETA:Estimated Time of Arrival

ETD:Estimated Time of Departure

EWI:Electronic Warfare Instructor

Excon:Exercise Control

FAC:Forward Air Control/Controller

FARMC:Fuel, Ammunition, Rockets, Missiles, Countermeasures (farm-c)

Fast air:Offensive military jet aircraft

FCR:Fire Control Radar – the Apache’s Longbow radar

Fenestron:A tail rotor that is housed in a Venturi

FIBUA:Fighting In a Built-Up Area

Flares:Hot flares fired to attract heat-seeking missiles, luring them away from the Apache

Flechette:Five-inch tungsten darts fired from a rocket travelling above Mach 3.3

Flick:Military slang. When something has been signed over to you and you are held accountable for it

FLIR:Forward Looking Infrared – Sights that generate a thermal picture – an image produced by an object’s heat source above absolute zero

FOB:Forward Operating Base

Frag:Fragments of hot metal that break away from a shell when it explodes

FRV:Final Rendezvous point

GAFA:Great Afghan Fuck All – Dasht-e-Margo – the Desert of Death

Gazelle:British Army helicopter – generally employed for training, liaison and reconnaissance

GMPG:British Forces General Purpose Machine Gun – 7.62 mm bipod machine gun

GPS:Global Positioning System – satellite navigation equipment

Greenie tech:Nickname for an aviation technician. Aviation technicians are responsible for all electrical equipment on an aircraft

Green Zone:Lush habitation of irrigated fields, hedgerows, trees and small woods on either side of the Helmand River, bordered by arid deserts

Ground crew:People who work with aircraft when they are on the ground, but not technicians

Groundie:Military slang for ground crew

Ground school:Academic lessons on flying and all to do with flying: meteorology, law, engines, etc.

Gunship:An aircraft that has the capability of firing its cannon/s from the side instead of having to strafe head-on

Gun tape:The video tape put into an Apache that records what the selected sight sees

HALS:Hardened Aircraft Landing Strip: small runway

Harrier:British designed military jet aircraft capable of Vertical Short Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) – often called the ‘Jump Jet’

HEDP:High Explosive Dual Purpose (Hedpee) – 30 mm cannon rounds

Height:The height above the ground expressed in feet

HEISAP:High Explosive Incendiary Semi-Armour Piercing (high-sap) – kinetic rocket fired by the Apache

Hellfire:AGM-114K SAL (Semi-Active Laser) Hellfire is a laser-guided Hellfire missile fitted to the Apache

Hesco Bastion:Square metal meshed cubes lined with hessian and filled with rubble and/or sand. Used as defensive ramparts to protect bases and platoon houses from fire

H Hour:The moment offensive action begins – first bullet, bomb or the moment troops walk towards their intended target to attack

HIDAS:Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System – protection from SAMs

HIG:Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin – major group of the old Mujahideen with ties to Osama bin Laden

HLS:Helicopter Landing Site

HMD:Helmet Mounted Display

Hot:Air speak for clearance or acknowledgement that live bombs can be dropped

HQ:Headquarters – the nerve centre for planning and execution of operations

HRF:Helmand Reaction Force – two Apaches and a Chinook full of soldiers on standby at Bastion used to bolster any troops on the ground quickly

IAT:Image Auto-Track

IAT:International Air Tattoo. Now RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo)

Icom:A make of radio scanner used by coalition and the Taliban to monitor each other’s transmissions

ID:Identification

IDM:Improved Data Modem

IED:Improvised Explosive Device – home-made bombs or multiple mines strapped together

IEFAB:Improved Extended Forward Avionics Bay (eefab) The slabs that stick out either side of Longbow Apaches below the cockpits

IntO:Intelligence Officer

IOC:Initial Operating Capability

IPT:Integrated Project Team

IRA:Irish Republican Army – Northern Irish paramilitary group

IRT:Incident Response Team – Apaches, Chinooks, doctors, medics and Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) responsible for the immediate recovery of personnel in danger or injured

ISAF:International Security Assistance Force – multinational military force in Afghanistan

ISTAR:Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance

JDAM:Joint Direct Attack Munition – inertial navigation and GPS guidance system bolted onto a 500 to 2000-lb bomb to make it an accurate all-weather weapon

JHC:Joint Helicopter Command – the UK-based command headquarters and operating authority for all British military helicopters in the UK and abroad

JHF:Joint Helicopter Force

JHF(A):Joint Helicopter Force Afghanistan – ‘Main’ at Kandahar and ‘Forward’ at Camp Bastion – the Afghanistan helicopter headquarters operating under authority of the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC)