SATCOM — Satellite Communications System, the U.S. Air Force’s primary satellite communications system
SCARAB — (F), Self Contained Air Relocatable Alert Booster, a highly transportable small space booster system designed to quickly launch lightweight satellites into Earth orbit from any location
Sea Ray — small, inexpensive air-launched antiship missile, usually carried by helicopters based on naval vessels
SECDEF — Secretary of Defense, a member of the President’s Cabinet who makes the day-to-day decisions in all defense matters
Shuihong-5 — principal Chinese amphibious patrol and attack aircraft
SIOP — Single Integrated Operations Plan, the multi-service attack plan for all American military forces for the conduct of a strategic nuclear war
SITREP — Situation Report; usually refers to a request for a quick summary of a battle or the status of forces involved in a battle
SLAM — Standoff Land Attack Missile, the TV-guided version of the AGM-84 Harpoon missile
SM-2 — Standard Missile, the primary surface-to-air missile on large Navy warships
SMFD — Super Multi Function Display, a large aircraft instrument computer display that presents flight information in a pictorial icon-based format instead of alphanumerics
SPACECOM — Space Command, the Air Force major command responsible for all military space activities
SPO — Senior Project Officer, the director of a particular weapon-development project
Spratly Islands — a chain of small islands, atolls, and coral reefs in the South China Sea between the Philippines and Vietnam, long contested by several nations because of its strategic position and because of its natural resources
SPY-1 — primary three-dimensional radar system of the Aegis battle group air-defense system
SR-71 — “Blackbird” strategic reconnaissance aircraft, the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft ever built; retired in 1989 from the Strategic Air Command
SRAM — Short Range Attack Missile, a nuclear-armed inertially guided attack missile carried by B-52, B-1, FB-111A, and B-2 bombers
SS-25 — Primary Soviet-made nuclear-armed mobile intercontinental ballistic missile
START — Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, a proposed treaty between the U.S. and the USSR to limit the number of long-range strategic nuclear weapons by both sides
STRATFOR — Strategic Forces group, a team of Strategic Air Command commanders deployed ahead of a combat group to establish a headquarters team and set up support operations for combat aircraft
STRC — Strategic Training Range Complex, an extensive series of low-level navigation corridors, radar bomb-scoring sites, live bombing ranges, and fighter-intercept exercise areas in the north-central United States, operated by the Strategic Air Command for bomber aircrew training
STS — Shuttle Transportation System, the official name of the Space Shuttle program
Sugar pills — doughnuts, rolls, and other such snacks
TACIT RAINBOW — AGM-136 antiradar cruise missile designed by Northrop Ventura Corporation; seeks out and destroys enemy radar sites from as far as fifty miles; if the enemy radar shuts off, it can orbit the area until the radar is reactivated, at which time it will home in and destroy it.
Tank — nickname for the main Joint Chiefs of Staff conference room; also called the “Gold Room”
TCS — Telescopic Camera System, the long-range optical sight used on F-14 Tomcat fighters to identify enemy aircraft from beyond unaided visual range
TDRS — Tracking and Data Relay System, a series of satellites used to relay information from spacecraft to ground-control facilities without using other Earth stations; provides continuous and rapid data exchange for spacecraft
TDY — temporary duty, usually referring to military assignments lasting less than 180 days
Tomahawk — long-range, very accurate attack cruise missile; can be launched by submarines or naval vessels, and can carry a variety of warheads including nuclear, antiship, land attack, antirunway, or antipersonnel mines
Type EF5 guided missile destroyer — new class of primary Chinese heavy warships
UHF — ultra-high-frequency; primary line-of-sight radio frequency band
UNIDO — United Nationalist Democratic Organization, the principal political party in the Philippines organized to oppose the Marcos regime; placed in power in 1986
VFR — Visual Flight Rules; good-weather flight rules
VLS — Vertical Launch System, the current standard Navy missile-launch system, which uses a large box of missile cells instead of rotary missile storage magazines and which fires its missiles straight up instead of on rails
VPVO, VIP VO — Voyska Protivovozdushnoy Oborony, the Troops of Air Defense of the Soviet Union; here referring to the complex of fixed and mobile simulated enemy radar threat sites in the Strategic Training Range Complex operated by the Strategic Air Command to train bomber crews
WSO — Weapon Systems Officer, the navigator-bombardier on most tactical bomber aircraft such as the F-4, A-6, F-111, etc.
ZSU-23-4 — mobile air-defense gun unit built in the Soviet Union and used all over the world, consisting of four rapid-firing radar-guided 23-millimeter cannons; deadly to all aircraft which come within range
Zuni — standard unguided attack rocket carried by tactical fighter attack aircraft
Actual News Excerpts
Date: 5/21/90
PENTAGON DECLARES PHILIPPINES
“IMMINENT DANGER” AREA
WASHINGTON (MAY 18) UPI — The Defense Department designated the Philippines Friday as an area of imminent danger for special pay purposes, which means US military and civilian employees will be getting slightly larger paychecks.
The Pentagon said it took the action because of the “current unstable conditions” in the Philippines, where three American servicemen have been killed in politically motivated attacks this month alone.
Imminent danger pay is an additional 15 percent of basic salary for American citizens who are department employees and $110 per month for all US military personnel.
Date: 5/22/90
“Well, first in my mind, the communist dream in the Philippines will always be there. The communist dream of taking over and dominating the country will always be there because you can’t kill an ideology.”
General Renato S. de Villa, Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, from Asia-Pacific Defense Forum, U.S. Pacific Command, Winter 1989-1990
Date: 11/2/90
“… Turmoil in China… combined with speculation about U.S. forces departures from the Philippines, have merged to Cause a new appreciation for U.S. regional security presence….. I believe there is a growing realization in the Pacific that U.S. presence cannot be taken for granted. If the U.S. presence is substantially reduced, many Pacific nations perceive the danger of other nations moving into the vacuum created by our departure, with a potential result of conflict and instability.”