Dictionary of the Modern United States Military

“Warspeak,” the language of the military, can be for many civilians and for members of differing services an unintelligible hodgepodge of acronyms, slang terms and field operation expressions. Few laypersons may know that the Five F’s is a derogatory expression, though Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, Coast Guard and others know or can infer that “chairborn commandos” are administrative and support personnel.
The more than 15,000 entries in this comprehensive dictionary provide an inside look at the United States military. Weapons systems, governmental agencies, electronic warfare, medical terms, military infrastructure, communications, satellites and intelligence systems are among the topics covered in-depth. Also detailed are the acronyms and slang terms used by the soldiers in the field. The work provides numerous cross references for ease of use, along with a bibliography of over 2,200 sources.

S.F. Tomajczyk is the author of 11 nonfiction books and specializes in military affairs and terrorism. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.

S.F. Tomajczyk
Format: softcover (7 x 10 in 2 vols.)
Pages: 800
Bibliographic Info: tables, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008 [1996]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3775-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1150-1
Imprint: McFarland

VOLUME 1
Acknowledgments      v
Using This Book      ix
Introduction      xi
The Entries (A–Multiple)      1–396

VOLUME 2
The Entries (Multiple-Launch–Z)      397–712

Appendices
1: Chemical Agents 713
2: Military Designations 716
3: Military Ranks 719
4: Ruffles and Flourishes 720

Bibliography      721
Index      765

• A Library Journal Best Reference
• “Vast labor of love…informed definitions that touch on virtually every aspect of military life…recommended”—Library Journal
• “Definitions are complete and easily understood…illustrative quotations…interesting”—Booklist
• “Superior to its predecessors in providing succinct, intelligible explanations for the terms listed…recommended”—Choice
• “Broad coverage…an admirable choice”—ARBA
• “Extensively cross-referenced…meticulously researched…unique”—Reference Quarterly
• “Most useful”—Proceedings
• “Comprehensive”—Reference & Research Book News.