Unofficial, Unabridged Dictionary For Marines - An attempt to capture the lexicon of the United States Marine Corps

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A. J. Squared Away	A Marine with everything in place and in order. The perfect Marine. The opposite of Joe Shit the Rag Man.
A/O	Area of Operations
A-1 Sky Raider	(Vietnam Era) Single engine propeller driven aircraft also called Sandy or Spad
A-4 Sky Hawk	(Vietnam Era) Single engine attack jet. Medium size (some say small) and subsonic. Called The Scooter or Heinemann's Hot Rod.
Abaft	Aft (to the rear) of any given point on a ship.
ACE	Air Combat Element.
ACE Medical	Battalion Aid Station for USMC Aviation units in the field.
Acme Beer	World War II era beer made in San Jose, California and sent to the South Pacific specifically for Marine units. It came in both a green and a brown bottle but only the brown colored bottles were fit to drink. The green bottles contained a liquid that smelled like a skunk.
Actual	(Commtalk)Radio call sign for commander of a unit. If the unit call sign is "Brownbag" the unit commander will be "Brownbag Actual".
AD	Active Duty.
Administrative Discharge	A non-punitive discharge prior to completion of an enlistment. A way for the Marine Corps to move someone out without effecting post-service benefits.
Admiral	The highest naval rank in peacetime (See Fleet Admiral). The rank insignia consists of four silver stars in a row. The admiral ranks did not appear in the U. S. Navy until the Civil War. Prior to that time a captain was the highest rank in that service. When placed in command of larger units he was sometimes designated a Flag Officer, but that was a billet, not a rank. The current admiral ranks (from junior to most senior) are: Rear Admiral (lower half), one star; Rear Admiral (upper half), two stars; Vice Admiral, three stars; Admiral, four stars and Fleet Admiral, five stars.
Admiral of the Navy	A rank given to Admiral Dewey by an act of Congress in March 1899 to place him above all other admirals. See Fleet Admiral.
Adrift	Floating aimlessly, usually without a rudder or compass. Missing in action. Setting one’s self off from the norm.
AFRTS	Pronounced A-farts. American Forces Radio and Television Service, provider of commercial type radio and television programming to ships and overseas stations. Depending on the politically correct form at the time American can be replaced with Armed and Service can be replaced with System.
AFSC	Air Force Specialty Code. The Air Force equivalent of an MOS.
Aft	Behind, from the naval term for the after section of the ship.
AFU	All Fucked Up.
Air Force	One of the five uniformed military branches. Also, in the Air Force, a unit consisting of multiple wings and given a numerical designation (e.g. 8th Air Force). Used from World War II until the 1970s.
Air Krulaks	Black, Goretex lined combat boots issued from 1997 until 2001. Named after the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps from a popular sneaker named Air Jordans after a basketball player.
Air Start	Blow job.
Air Strike	See Close Air Support.
Air Wing	An aviation unit equivalent to an infantry division.
Airedale	Anyone serving in aviation.
Airman	A Navy enlisted rank. See Seaman. Also an Air Force enlisted rank. See private first class. Or a generic term for anyone in the Air Force.
AK-47	Soviet-manufactured Kalashnikov semi-automatic and fully automatic combat assault rifle, 7.62-mm; the basic weapon of the Communist forces.
Alabama Black Snake	(Vietnam) A very large male sex organ. Most often used by local women to describe black men.
ALCON	All concerned. Used in radio traffic.
Ali Baba	(Iraqi Freedom) An enemy combatant, a looter or any bad guy. (From "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves").
ALICE	All-purpose, Lightweight, Individual Carrying Equipment. A pack system in use in the 1970s and 1980s.
All Hands	Everyone.
Allotment	A specific amount deducted from a Marine's pay and sent to another entity.
ALPHA	(Commtalk) A. Sometimes spelled ALFA. Also the Marine green uniform with blouse and ribbons.
Alpha Mike Foxtrot	Adios, Mother Fucker. Goodbye. A polite form is Adios My Friend.
Alpha Unit	A Marine's spouse. (see Dependent Wife)
AMF	See Alpha Mike Foxtrot. Adios, Mother Fucker.
Ammo	Ammunition.
Ammunition Supply Point	The location, usually just behind the Forward Edge of Battle Area, where line units receive their ammunition resupply. In the movies, an ASP is usually called an "ammo dump."
Amtrac	Slang for Amphibious Armored, Tracked, Personnel Carrier. (LVT/AAV).
Amtracker	An Assault Amphibious Vehicle crewman.
Anchor Clanker	In the Navy, a Boatswain's Mate. Or anyone in the Navy.
Anchor Pool	A betting pool, the winner of which has come closest to the time logged by the Officer of the Deck for dropping or weighing anchor.
ANGLICO	Air Naval Gunfire LIaison COmpany. Composed of 4-man "fire control teams". A fire control officer (FICTO - usually a Lt, but due to the limited number of Lt's in the reserves, may be lead by a Captain in the Reserves). A "REAL TEAM", the officer shares the load of radios (UHF, VHF and HF) and batteries and rifle - just like the Lance Corporal. Usually parachute and SCUBA qualified. ANGLICO rarely works with Marine Corps units. You will find ANGLICO teams attached to and supporting U.S. Army (often to 82nd & 101st Airborne) and Foreign Forces giving these forces the capability to use U.S. Naval Gunfire and close air support from Navy and Marine Aircraft. Used in the Vietnam era and reduced from four to two companies in 1997 (both surviving companies were reserve units) and brought back for the Afghanistan operations.
AN-M14	Incendiary (Thermite) Hand Grenade. Weighing 32 oz and containing 26.5 oz of TH3 thermite mixture it is designed to start fires with its 40 seconds of 4,300 degrees F.
AN-M8	HC Smoke Hand Grenade. Weighing 25.5 oz it contains 19 oz of HC which emits a dense smoke for up to 2.5 minutes. It has a 2-second delay.
Ant Hill	An outpost with major communications assets apparent from the large number of antennae in the vicinity.
ARA	Aerial Rocket Artillery. A Cobra AH-1G helicopter with four XM159C 19-rocket (2.75 inch) pods.
Arc Light	(Vietnam)B-52 bombers dropping their entire load of bombs (typically 105-500 pound bombs) on suspected concentrations of enemy troops.
Arlington Ridge	Location in Arlington VA north of the National Cemetery overlooking the Potomac River and Washington DC. It is the site of the Marine Corps Memorial, the sculpture of Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in World War II.
Armed Services	Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. See Uniformed Services
Arty	Artillery.
As You Were	Informal command to continue what you were doing or to indicate a correction to a previous order or comment.
ASAP	As Soon As Possible.
ASP	Ammunition Supply Point.
Ass Hanging Out	Applied to someone who is either not squared away or whose ignorance is showing.
Ass Pack	The little first aid kit worn on web gear, and located in the middle of the lower back. Usually contained two field pressure dressings, tourniquet, and some iodine. Sometimes, there was even geedunk in there.
Assault Line	Marine attack formation with troops advancing abreast.
Asshole to bellybutton	Standing close together in a line.
Assholes and Elbows	Seeing only the backs of people who are going forward toward an objective.
ASVAB	Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (skills test)--required to join the armed forces.
Ate up	Enthralled with a belief or objective that no other thoughts to the opposite can be comprehended.
Aviation Cadet	A student in military flight training. In some instances they have come from other officer procurement programs while at other times they were stand-alone commissioning and flight training programs. See Cadet.
Aviation designations	HMH = Marine heavy helicopter squadron HMLA = Marine light attack helicopter squadron HMM = Marine medium helicopter squadron HMT = Marine helicopter training squadron LAAD = Low-altitude air defense MACS = Marine air control squadron MASD = Marine aviation support detachment MASS = Marine air support squadron MALS = Marine aviation logistics squadron MTACS = Marine tactical air command squadron MWSS = Marine wing support squadron MWCS = Marine wing communications squadron MWHS = Marine wing headquarters squadron VMAQ = Marine tactical electronic warfare squadron VMAT = Marine attack training squadron VMA = Marine attack squadron VMFA(AW) = Marine all-weather fighter attack squadron VMGR = Marine aerial refueler squadron VMGRT = Marine aerial refueler/transport squadron VMFA = Marine fighter attack squadron VMFAT = Marine fighter attack training squadron VMU = Unmanned aerial vehicle squadron
Aye	Yes. A naval expression.
Aye Aye	I understand your order and will comply. A naval expression.
Azimuth	Compass heading toward an objective or target.
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