James Rawles - Expatriates

C-A-T: Combat Application Tourniquet.

CB: Citizens’ Band radio, a VHF broadcasting band. No license is required for operation in the United States. Some desirable CB transceivers are capable of SSB operation. Originally twenty-three channels, the Citizens’ Band was later expanded to forty channels during the golden age of CB, in the 1970s.

CD-ROM: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory.

CETME: Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales . Best known as the maker of the Spanish army’s predecessor of the HK G3 series rifles. Thousands of CETME rifle parts sets were imported into the United States in the late 1990s and rebuilt into semiauto-only sporter rifles.

CHGR: Short for Charger.

CIA: Central Intelligence Agency.

Claymore mine: The M18A1 is a command-detonated antipersonnel mine in the military inventories of many NATO and ASEAN countries.

CN: Phenacyl chloride. A military tear gas. Can cause vomiting in high concentrations. See also CS.

CO: Commanding Officer.

CO2: Carbon dioxide.

COD: Collect on Delivery.

COMINT: Communications Intelligence.

COMSEC: Communications Security.

CONUS: Continental United States.

Cordtex: See Det Cord.

CP: Command Post.

CPY: Ham radio shorthand for Copy.

CR1M: Combat Ration One Man (spoken “Crim”). The Australian equivalent of the U.S. MRE field ration. See also MRE and PR1M.

CR5M: Combat Ration Five Man.

CRKT: Columbia River Knife & Tool.

CROWS: Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station.

CS: 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (also called o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile). A military and civilian tear gas.

CSSB: Combat Service Support Battalion.

CUBs: Cashed-Up Bogans. See also Bogan.

CUCV: Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle. The 1980s-vintage U.S. Army versions of diesel Chevy Blazers and pickups, sold off as surplus in the early 2000s.

DC: Direct Current.

Demob: Short for demobilization.

Det Cord: Slang for detonating/detonation cord.

Detonating/Detonation Cord: A small-diameter plastic tubing filled with PETN explosive and a plasticizer, often used to tie together separate explosive charges to cause them to detonate almost simultaneously. Sold under trade names like Primacord and Cordtex.

DF: Direction Finding.

DMV: Department of Motor Vehicles.

DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material. A British military camouflage pattern, with colors similar to the U.S. Army’s defunct Woodland BDU pattern.

DPMS: Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services. An American maker of AR-10 and AR-15 family rifles.

DVD: Digital Video Disc.

E&E: Escape and Evasion.

ELINT: Electronic Intelligence.

Enfield: See SMLE.

EPA: Environment Protection Authority (Australia) or Environmental Protection Agency (USA).

E-tool: Entrenching tool. A small folding shovel.

F88 Austeyr: See Steyr AUG.

FAA: Federal Aviation Administration (U.S.).

Fair Dinkum: Australian slang for the spirit of fair play in personal or business dealings.

FAL: Fusil Automatique Léger (Light Automatic Rifle). See FN FAL.

FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency (a U.S. federal government agency). The acronym is also jokingly defined as “Foolishly Expecting Meaningful Aid.”

FFL: Federal Firearms License.

FLB: Forward Logistics Base.

FM: Field Manual.

FMA: Filipino Martial Arts. See also Pekiti-Tirsia Kali.

FMS: Foreign Military Sales. Program of U.S. Defense Department.

FN: Fabrique Nationale, a Belgian gun maker.

FNC: A 5.56 mm NATO battle rifle originally made by the Belgian company Fabrique Nationale (FN). See also Pindad SS2.

FN FAL: A 7.62 mm NATO battle rifle originally made by the Belgian company Fabrique Nationale (FN), issued to more than fifty countries in the 1960s and 1970s. Now made as semiauto-only “clones” by a variety of makers. See also L1A1.

FOB: Forward Operating Base.

FORSCOM: U.S. Army Forces Command.

FPI: Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders Front). See also PKS.

Frag: Slang for fragmentation.

FSB: Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti . Russia’s main successor to the Soviet KGB.

FTV: Fast Troop Vessel(s).

FUBAR: Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition.

FV: Fishing Vessel.

G3: A 7.62 mm NATO assault rifle designed by Heckler & Koch, developed in the 1950s, based on the CETME rifle design.

G36: A 5.56 mm NATO assault rifle designed by Heckler & Koch. It replaced the G3 in the late 1990s.

Galah: A Rose-breasted Cockatoo, native to Australia. The term Galah is derogatory Australian slang meaning “fool” or “idiot.”

Galil: The Israeli battle rifle, based on Kalashnikov action. Most were made in 5.56 mm NATO, but a variant was also made in 7.62 mm NATO, in smaller numbers.

Garand: See M1 Garand.

GB: Gigabyte.

GCA: The Gun Control Act of 1968. The law that first created FFLs and banned interstate transfers of post-1898 firearms, except “to or through” FFL holders.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product.

Geoprime dBX: A pentolite high-explosive tailored for seismic surveys, made by Dyno Nobel, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Incitec Pivot Limited.

GIS: Geographic Information System.

Glock: The popular polymer-framed pistol design by Gaston Glock of Austria.

GMT: Greenwich Mean Time.

GoldenRod: A brand of compact electric dehumidifier designed to protect the contents of tool cabinets and gun vaults from rust.

G.O.O.D.: Get Out of Dodge.

GPS: Global Positioning System.

Ham: Slang for amateur radio operator.

HDPE: High Density Polyethylene.

H-E or HE: High Explosive.

HF: High Frequency. A radio band used by amateur radio operators.

HK or H & K: Heckler & Koch, the German gunmaker.

HK91: Heckler & Koch Model 91. The civilian (semiautomatic-only) variant of the 7.62 mm NATO G3 rifle.

HMAS: His/Her Majesty’s Australian Ship.

HMNZS: His/Her Majesty’s New Zealand Ship.

HMPNGS: His/Her Majesty’s Papua New Guinea Ship.

HQ: Headquarters.

HQJOC: Headquarters Joint Operations Command (of Australian Defence Force).

Humvee: High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (spoken “Humvee”).