CAG Carrier Air Group Commander, normally a senior Navy captain aviator.
Technically, an obsolete term, since the air wing rather than an air group is now deployed on the carrier. However, everyone thought CAW sounded stupid, so CAG was retained as slang for the Carrier Air Wing Commander.
CAP Combat Air Patrol, a mission executed by fighters to protect the carrier and battle group from enemy air and missiles.
Carrier Battle Group A combination of ships, air wing, and submarines assigned under the command of a one-star admiral.
Carrier Battle Group 14 The battle group normally embarked on Jefferson.
CBG See Carrier Battle Group.
CDC Combat Direction Center ― modernly, replaced CIC, or Combat Information Center, as the heart of a ship. All sensor information is fed into CDC and the battle is coordinated by a tactical action officer on watch there.
CG Abbreviation for a cruiser.
Chief The backbone of the Navy. E-7, -8, and -9 enlisted pay grades, known as chief, senior chief, and master chief. The transition from petty officer ranks to the chief's mess is a major event in a sailor's career. Onboard ship, the chiefs have separate eating and berthing facilities. Chiefs wear khakis, as opposed to dungarees for the less senior enlisted ratings.
Chief of Staff Not to be confused with a chief, the COS in a battle group staff is normally a senior Navy captain who acts as the admiral's XO and deputy.
CIA Christians in Action. The civilian agency charged with intelligence operations outside the continental United States.
CIWS Close-in Weapons System, pronounced "seewhiz." Gatling gun with built-in radar that tracks and fires on inbound missiles. If you have to use it, you're dead.
COD See C-2 Greyhound.
collar count Traditional method of determining the winner of a disagreement. A survey is taken of the opponent's collar devices.
The senior person wins. Always.
Commodore Formerly the junior-most admiral rank, now used to designate a senior Navy captain in charge of a bunch of like units. A destroyer Commodore commands several destroyers, a sea control Commodore the S-3 squadrons on that coast. Contrast with CAG, who owns a number of dissimilar units (e. g., a couple of Tomcat squadrons, some Hornets, and some E-2s and helos).
compartment Navy talk for a room on a ship.
Condition Two One step down from General Quarters, which is Condition One.
Condition Five is tied up at the pier in a friendly country.
CONUS CONtinental United States. Normally used to refer to the mainland only.
crypto Short for some variation of cryptological, the magic set of codes that makes a circuit impossible for anyone else to understand.
CV, CVN Abbreviation for an aircraft carrier, conventional and nuclear.
CVIC Carrier Intelligence Center. Located down the passageway (the hall) from the flag spaces.
data link, the LINK The secure circuit that links all units in a battle group or in an area. Targets and contacts are transmitted over the LINK to all ships. The data is processed by the ship designated as Net Control, and common contacts are correlated. The system also transmits data from each ship and aircraft's weapons systems (e. g., a missile firing). All services use the LINK.
desk jockey Nonflyer, one who drives a computer instead of an aircraft.
DDG Guided missile destroyer.
DESRON Destroyer commander.
DICASS An active sonobuoy. dick stepping Something to be avoided. While anatomically impossible in today's gender-integrated services, in an amazing display of good sense, it has been decided that women do this as well.
Doppler Acoustic phenomena caused by relative motion between a sound source and a receiver that results in an apparent change in frequency of the sound. The classic example is a train going past and the decrease in pitch of its whistle. When a submarine changes its course or speed in relation to a sonobuoy, the event shows up as a change in the frequency of the sound source.
Double nuts Zero zero on the tail of an aircraft.
E-2 Hawkeye Command and control and surveillance aircraft. Turboprop rather than jet, and unarmed. Smaller version of an AWACS, in practical terms, but carrier-based.
ELF Extremely Low Frequency, a method of communicating with submarines at sea. Signals are transmitted via a miles-long antenna and are the only way of reaching a deep-submerged submarine.
Envelope What you're supposed to fly inside of if you want to take all the fun out of naval aviation.
EWs Electronic warfare technicians, the enlisted sailors that man the gear that detects, analyzes, and displays electromagnetic signals. Highly classified stuff.
F/A-18 Hornets The inadequate, fuel-hungry intended replacement for the aging but still kick-your-ass potent Tomcat. Flown by Marines and Navy.
Familygram Short message from submarine sailor's family to a deployed sailor. Often the only contact with the outside world that a submarine sailor on deployment has.
FF/FFG Abbreviation for a fast frigate (no, there aren't slow frigates) and a guided missile fast frigate.
flag officer In the Navy and Coast Guard, an admiral. In the other services, a general.
flag passageway The portion of the aircraft carrier that houses the admiral's staff working spaces. Includes the flag mess and the admiral's cabin. Normally separated from the rest of the ship by heavy plastic curtains, and designated by blue tile on the deck instead of white.
Flight Quarters A condition set onboard a ship preparing to launch or recover aircraft. All unnecessary persons are required to stay inside the skin of the ship and remain clear of the flight deck area.
flight suit The highest form of navy couture. The perfect choice of apparel for any occasion ― indeed, the only uniform an aviator ought to be required to own.
FOD Stands for Foreign Object Damage, but the term is used to indicate any loose gear that could cause damage to an aircraft. During flight operations, aircraft generate a tremendous amount of air flowing across the deck. Loose objects ― including people and nuts and bolts ― can be sucked into the intake and discharged through the outlet from the jet engine. FOD damages the jet's impellers and doesn't do much for the people sucked in, either. FOD walkdown is conducted at least once a day onboard an aircraft carrier. Everyone not otherwise engaged stands shoulder to shoulder on the flight deck and slowly walks from one end to the other, searching for FOD.
fox Tactical shorthand for a missile firing. Fox one is for a medium-range missile guided by radar, such as an AMRAAM or Sparrow; fox two is for an IR-guided missile such as a Sidewinder; the fox three is for a long-range Phoenix missile.
GCI Ground Control Intercept, a procedure used in the Soviet air forces.
Primary control for vectoring the aircraft in on enemy targets and other fighters is vested in a guy on the ground, rather than in the cockpit where it belongs.
GIB See backseater.
GMT Greenwich Mean Time.
green shirts See shirts.
handler Officer located on the flight-deck level responsible for ensuring that aircraft are correctly positioned, "spotted," on the flight deck.