Body Armor: Far too heavy for SEAL use in the water.
Bogey: Pilots’ word for an unidentified aircraft.
Boghammar Boat: Long, narrow, low dagger boat; high-speed patrol craft. Swedish make. Iran had 40 of them in 1993.
Boomer: A nuclear-powered missile submarine.
Bought It: A man has been killed. Also “bought the farm.”
Bow Cat: The bow catapult on a carrier to launch jets.
Broken Arrow: Any accident with nuclear weapons, or any incident of nuclear material lost, shot down, crashed, stolen, hijacked.
Browning 9mm High Power: A Belgium 9mm pistol, 13 rounds in magazine. First made 1935.
Buddy Line: 6 feet long, ties 2 SEALs together in the water for control and help if needed.
BUD/S: Coronado, California, nickname for SEAL training facility for six months’ course.
Bull Pup. Still in testing; new soldier’s rifle. SEALs have a dozen of them for regular use. Army gets them in 2005. Has a 5.56 kinetic round, 30-shot clip. Also 20mm high-explosive round and 5-shot magazine. Twenties can be fused for proximity airbursts with use of video camera, laser range finder, and laser targeting. Fuses by number of turns the round needs to reach laser spot. Max range: 1200 yards. Twenty round can also detonate on contact, and has delay fuse. Weapon weighs 14 pounds. SEALs love it. Can in effect “shoot around corners” with the airburst feature.
BUPERS: BUreau of PERSonnel.
C-2A Greyhound: 2-engine turboprop cargo plane that lands on carriers. Also called COD, Carrier Onboard Delivery. Two pilots and engineer. Rear fuselage loading ramp. Cruise speed 300 mph, range 1,000 miles. Will hold 39 combat troops. Lands on CVN carriers at sea.
C-4: Plastic explosive. A claylike explosive that can be molded and shaped. It will burn. Fairly stable.
C-6 Plastique: Plastic explosive. Developed from C-4 and C-5. Is often used in bombs with radio detonator or digital timer.
C-9 Nightingale: Douglas DC-9 fitted as a medical-evacuation transport plane.
C-130 Hercules: Air Force transporter for long haul. 4 engines.
C-141 Starlifter: Airlift transport for cargo, paratroops, evac for long distances. Top speed 566 mph. Range with payload 2,935 miles. Ceiling 41,600 feet.
Caltrops: Small four-pointed spikes used to flatten tires. Used in the Crusades to disable horses.
Camel Back: Used with drinking tube for 70 ounces of water attached to vest.
Cammies: Working camouflaged wear for SEALs. Two different patterns and colors. Jungle and desert.
Cannon Fodder: Old term for soldiers in line of fire destined to die in the grand scheme of warfare.
Capped: Killed, shot, or otherwise snuffed.
CAR-15: The Colt M-4Al. Sliding-stock carbine with grenade launcher under barrel. Knight sound-suppressor. Can have AN/PAQ-4 laser aiming light under the carrying handle. .223 round. 20- or 30-round magazine. Rate of fire: 700 to 1,000 rounds per minute.
Cascade Radiation: U-235 triggers secondary radiation in other dense materials.
Cast Off: Leave a dock, port, land. Get lost. Navy: long, then short signal of horn, whistle, or light.
Castle Keep: The main tower in any castle.
Caving Ladder: Roll-up ladder that can be let down to climb.
CH-46E: Sea Knight chopper. Twin rotors, transport. Can carry 25 combat troops. Has a crew of 3. Cruise speed 154 mph. Range 420 miles.
CH-53D Sea Stallion: Big Chopper. Not used much anymore.
Chaff: A small cloud of thin pieces of metal, such as tinsel, that can be picked up by enemy radar and that can attract a radar-guided missile away from the plane to hit the chaff.
Charlie-Mike: Code words for continue the mission.
Chief to Chief: Bad conduct by EM handled by chiefs so no record shows or is passed up the chain of command.
Chocolate Mountains: Land training center for SEALs near these mountains in the California desert.
Christians In Action: SEAL talk for not-always-friendly CIA.
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency.
CIC: Combat Information Center. The place on a ship where communications and control areas are situated to open and control combat fire.
CINC: Commander IN Chief.
CINCLANT: Navy Commander IN Chief, atLANTtic.
CINCPAC: Commander-IN-Chief, PACific.
Class of 1978: Not a single man finished BUD/S training in this class. All-time record.
Claymore: An antipersonnel mine carried by SEALs on many of their missions.
Cluster Bombs: A canister bomb that explodes and spreads small bomblets over a great area. Used against parked aircraft, massed troops, and unarmored vehicles.
CNO: Chief of Naval Operations.
CO-2 Poisoning: During deep dives. Abort dive at once and surface.
COD: Carrier Onboard Delivery plane.
Cold Pack Rations: Food carried by SEALs to use if needed.
Combat Harness: American Body Armor nylon-mesh special-operations vest. 6 2-magazine pouches for drum-fed belts, other pouches for other weapons, waterproof pouch for Motorola.
CONUS: The Continental United States.
Corfams: Dress shoes for SEALs.
Covert Action Staff: A CIA group that handles all covert action by the SEALs.
CQB: Close Quarters Battle house. Training facility near Nyland in the desert training area. Also called the Kill House.
CQB: Close Quarters Battle. A fight that’s up close, hand-to-hand, whites-of-his-eyes, blood all over you.
CRRC Bundle: Roll it off plane, sub, boat. The assault boat for 8 SEALs. Also the IBS, Inflatable Boat Small.
Cutting Charge: Lead-sheathed explosive. Triangular strip of high-velocity explosive sheathed in metal. Point of the triangle focuses a shaped-charge effect. Cuts a pencil-line-wide hole to slice a steel girder in half.
CVN: A U.S. aircraft carrier with nuclear power. Largest that we have in fleet.
CYA: Cover Your Ass, protect yourself from friendlies or officers above you and JAG people.
Damfino: Damned if I know. SEAL talk.
DDS: Dry Dock Shelter. A clamshell unit on subs to deliver SEALs and SDVs to a mission.
DEFCON: DEFense CONdition. How serious is the threat?
Delta Forces: Army special forces, much like SEALs.
Desert Cammies: Three-color, desert tan and pale green with streaks of pink. For use on land.
DIA: Defense Intelligence Agency.
Dilos Class Patrol Boat: Greek, 29 feet long, 75 tons displacement.
Dirty Shirt Mess: Officers can eat there in flying suits on board a carrier.
DNS: Doppler Navigation System.
Draegr LAR V: Rebreather that SEALs use. No bubbles.
DREC: Digitally Reconnoiterable Electronic Component. Top-secret computer chip from NSA that lets it decipher any U.S. military electronic code.