Earth day - Twenty-four hour period running midnight to midnight. Planets have different rotations resulting in different lengths of days. Earth days are used in space to ensure all ships are using the same universal unit for the measurement for time. Also called an eday or standard day. Same principle also applies to earth hour (ehour) and earth year (eyear).
Eday - See earth day.
Ehour - See earth day.
Evac - Evacuation.
Executive officer - Second in command of a ship or unit. The executive officer is responsible for the oversight of the administrative work of the unit, and he/she is considered the enforcer of discipline. In short, the commander is the nice guy, and the executive officer is the hard guy. Executive officers often move up to be commanders in their own right. Commonly called by the initials XO.
Eyear - See earth day.
Flag officer - Generals or admirals are called flag officers because they have their own flags adorned with the appropriate emblem of their rank. These flags fly at their headquarters or are displayed aboard ships if the officer is present.
Flag rank - See flag officer.
Flagpole officer - Disparaging slang term for officers who spend the majority of their careers at headquarters or rear area establishments working for high ranking officers and other power brokers in an attempt to be noticed and to gain powerful patrons. They only come out to the operating forces to command so as to get the "command" check mark on their records. Term comes from the fact there is always a flagpole at headquarters buildings and they are never far from it.
FTF - Face to face.
Freq/Freqs - Frequency, frequencies.
Hallucinate tattoo - A tattoo on the body that changes when it is viewed from different angles. When the body muscles flex or move, the tattoo changes.
Hallie - Slang term for a hallucinate tattoo.
Head - Naval term for a bathroom.
Identify friend or foe (IFF) - An identification number assigned to each ship. This number will appear on the screen of a sensor when the sensor scans that ship. Slang term is squawk.
IFF - See identify friend or foe.
Intel - See intelligence.
Intelligence - Information gleaned from all sources that gives insight into other forces operations, weapons, methods, and SOPs. Usually, this information is thought of as applying to the enemy, but it actually applies to everyone including your own forces, neutral forces, and civilian/commercial entities. Commonly called intel.
IntelO - Short for Intelligence Officer.
Kilometer (km) - A measure of distance based on the metric system. It is 1000 meters long. A meter is just less than 40 inches. One kilometer is 5/8 or .62 of a statute mile so 100 km is approximately 62 miles. Slang term is klick.
Klick - Slang for kilometer.
Letters of Marque and Reprisal - A government permit given to private individual(s) to take property from a foreign state or its citizens as reparations for injury caused by that state.
Log dogs - Slang for logistics personnel.
Logistics personnel - Crewmembers responsible for obtaining and distributing material and supplies needed for unit use or mission accomplishment.
Midrats - Slang for midnight rations. Food put out on the mess decks just prior to midnight so the oncoming midnight to 0400 watch standers can eat and, shortly after, the watch coming off at midnight can eat before retiring.
Noisemakers - Slang term for small decoys used to imitate a ship’s engine emissions and heat to fool long-range sensors.
OD - See officer of the deck.
Officer of the deck - A senior crewmember put in charge of the ship in the absence of the captain. Exercises all the authority of the captain. Commonly called by the initials OD.
Operational security - Keeping plans, operations, methods of operation, SOPs, capabilities, and other relevant information restricted to the people who need to know. No discussions with outside sources. Commonly called OpSec. Slang term is close hold.
Operations officer - Person in charge of planning and carrying out the operations for the ship or unit. Usually, he/she is the third in command after the CO and XO. Commonly called the OpsO or Ops.
OpSec - See operational security.
Ops - See operations officer.
OpsO - See operations officer.
Overhead - Naval term for ceiling, particularly aboard ship.
Net - Term for communication network with multiple units on one communication channel for command and control coordination.
P4 - See personal for.
Personal for - A private message sent between commanders that bypasses normal communications channels so nobody else can read/hear it. Often used to convey bad news or to discuss personal or embarrassing topics. Commonly called a P4.
Rack - Naval term for a bed.
Return to force - Friendly units returning to friendly territory or joining other friendly units. Usually requires following a given route and having current IFF codes and passwords. These procedures keep enemy units from coming into friendly territory or approaching friendly units by impersonating friendly forces. Often referred to as RTF procedures.
RTF procedures - See return to force.
Sitreps - See situation reports.
Situation reports - Reports sent to higher headquarters or other units as required to keep them informed on the situation and the status of the sending units. Units send them on a regular basis or as required by circumstances. Usually, the report has an established format that is filled in to ensure all aspects of operations, logistics, personnel, intelligence, etc. are covered. Commonly called sitreps.
Snakes - Slang for the Mamba class destroyers of the Marbellan Space Navy.
SOP/SOPs - See standard operating procedures.
Squawk - See identify friend or foe (IFF).
Standard day - See earth day.
Standard operating procedures - Established procedures which all members of an organization know so as to reduce briefing times and, when faced with any given situation, all members will react in a given way so the response is coordinated and cohesive. Commonly called by the initials SOPs.
Table of organization - A list stating the number of people, their rank, and the number and type of equipment a military unit should have. Commonly called the T/O.
Tac screen - Slang for tactical screen. Screen brought up on computer that shows all sensor returns so as to show the current situation.
T/O - See table of organization.
United Against Slavery (UAS) - Organization headquartered in the Aurora Empire dedicated to the eradication of slavery throughout the universe using peaceful protests, economic boycotts, and lobbying for new laws.
Vacuum - Slang for outer space.
White phones - System used to listen for ships in subspace and used by ships in subspace to listen for ships in real space. Akin to present day sonar.
XO - See executive officer.
About the Author
Sean Benjamin is the pen name for the author. He has two sons named Sean and Ben who live in Australia. He also has a lovely wife named Lynnda and, alas, only one cat now. He resides in Las Vegas. He is a retired Marine Corps pilot who fought in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. This is his fifth book.
The Queen's Hammer Page 30
