James Rawles - Survivors - A Novel of the Coming Collapse

BLM:Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency that administers public lands.

BMG:Browning machine gun. Usually refers to .50 BMG, the U.S. military’s standard heavy machine-gun cartridge since the early twentieth century. This cartridge is now often used for long-range precision counter-sniper rifles.

BOQ:Bachelor officers quarters.

BP:Blood pressure.

BX:Base exchange.

C-4:Composition 4, a plastic explosive.

CAR-15:See M4.

CAS:Close air support.

CAT:Combat application tourniquet.

CB:Citizens band radio, a VHF broadcasting band. There is no license 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.

CHU:Containerized housing unit. ACONEX retrofitted with a door, window, top vent, power cabling, and air-conditioning unit, as used by servicemen in Iraq. Spoken “Chew.”

CLP:Cleaner, lubricant, protectant. A mil-spec lubricant, sold under the trade name “Break Free CLP.”

CO 2:Carbon dioxide.

COD:Collect on delivery; cash on delivery.

CONEX:Continental express, the ubiquitous twenty-, thirty-, and forty-foot-long steel cargo containers used in multiple transportation modes.

COPS:Committee of Public Safety.

CP:Command post.

CPY:Ham radio shorthand for “Copy.”

CRKT:Columbia River Knife & Tool.

CU:Ham radio shorthand for “See you (later).”

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.

DE:Ham radio shorthand for “from.” This is used between call signs.

DF:Direction finding.

DMV:Department of Motor Vehicles.

Drip oil:The light oil or hydrocarbon liquids condensed in a natural gas piping system when the gas is cooled. Also called natural gasoline, condensation gasoline, or simply “drip.” Amixture of gasoline and drip oil can be burned in most gasoline engines without modification. Pure drip oil can be burned in some gasoline engines if the timingis retarded.

E&E:Escape and evasion.

ES:Ham radio shorthand for “and.”

FAA:Federal Aviation Administration.

FAL:See FN/FAL.

FB:Ham radio shorthand for “Fine business.” Usually means “That’s great” or “That’s wonderful.”

FBO:Fixed base operator. Typically a small private airport’s refueling facility.

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

FER:Ham radio shorthand for “for.”

FEUS:Farmington Electric Utility System.

FFL:Federal firearms license.

FLOPS:Flight operations.

FN/FAL:A 7.62mm 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.

Fobbit:Derogatory nickname for soldiers who rarely go outside the defensive perimeter of a forward operating base (FOB).

FORSCOM:U.S. Army Forces Command.

Frag:Fragmentation.

FRS:Family Radio Service.

Galil:See AK.

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.

Glock:The popular polymer-framed pistol design by Gaston Glock of Austria. Glocks are a favorite of gun writer Boston T. Party.

GMRS:General Mobile Radio Service, a licensed UHF-FM two-way radio service. See also FRS and MURS.

GMT:Greenwich Mean Time.

Gold Cup:The target version of Colt’s M1911 pistol. It has fully adjustable target sights, a tapered barrel,and a tighter barrel bushing than a standard M1911.

GOOD:Get out of Dodge.

GPS:Global positioning system.

Ham:Slang for amateur radio operator.

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

HI:Ham radio shorthand for “laugh.”

HK or H&K:Heckler und Koch, the German gun maker.

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

HOA:Home owners’ association.

HR:Ham radio shorthand for “here.”

Humvee:High-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle, spoken “Humvee.”

HW:Ham radio shorthand for “how.”

IBA:Interceptor body armor.

ID:Identification.

IFV:Infantry fighting vehicle.

IPI:Indigenous populations andinstitutions.

IV:Intravenous.

K:Ham radio shorthand for “Goahead.”

Kevlar:The material used in most body army and ballistic helmets. “Kevlar” is also the nickname for the standard U.S. Army helmet.

KJV:King James Version of the Bible.

KL:Ham radio nickname of Kaylee Schmidt.

KN:Ham radio shorthand for “Goahead” (but only the station that a ham is already conversing with).

L1A1:The British Army version ofthe FN/FAL, made to inch measurements.

LAW:Light anti-tank weapon.

LC-1:Load-carrying, Type 1 (U.S. Army load-bearing equipment, circa 1970s to 1990s).

LDS:Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormons. (Flawed doctrine, great preparedness.)

LF:The aircraft designation for aircraft from Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.

LP:Liquid propane.

LP/OP:Listening post/observation post.

LRRP:Long-range reconnaissance patrol.

M1A:The civilian (semiauto only) equivalent of the M14 rifle.

M1 Abrams:The United States’ current main battle tank, with a 120mm cannon (“main gun”).

M1 Carbine:The U.S. Army semiauto carbine issued during World War II. Mainly issued to officers and second-echelon troops such as artillerymen for self-defense. Uses “.30 U.S. Carbine,” an intermediate (pistol-class) .30 caliber cartridge. More than six million were manufactured. See also M2 Carbine.

M1 Garand:The U.S. Army’s primary battle rifle of World War II and the Korean conflict. It is semiautomatic,chambered in .30-06, and uses a top-loading, eight-round en bloc clip thatejects after the last round is fired. This rifle is commonly called the Garand, after its inventor. Not to be confused with the U.S. M1 Carbine, another semiauto of the same era, which shoots a much less powerful pistol-class cartridge.

M1A:The civilian (semiauto only) version of the U.S. Army M14 7.62mm NATO rifle.