| GLOSSARY |
| 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X
Y Z |
| up 0-9 |
|
 SWAT
teams have all sorts of high-tech equipment at their disposal. This
officer carries a portable shield that provides excellent protection from
gun fire. |
| 10- 1 |
Signal Weak |
| 10- 2 |
Signal Good |
| 10- 3 |
Stop Transmitting |
| 10- 4 |
Affirmative (OK) |
| 10- 5 |
Relay (To) |
| 10- 6 |
Busy |
| 10- 7 |
Out of Service |
| 10- 8 |
In Service |
| 10- 9 |
Repeat (Say Again) |
| 10-10 |
Negative |
| 10-11 |
_____ On Duty |
| 10-12 |
Stand By (Stop) |
| 10-13 |
Existing Conditions |
| 10-14 |
Message/Information |
| 10-15 |
Message Delivered |
| 10-16 |
Reply to Message |
| 10-17 |
Enroute |
| 10-18 |
Urgent |
| 10-19 |
(In) Contact |
| 10-20 |
Location |
| 10-21 |
Call (____) by Phone |
| 10-22 |
Disregard |
| 10-23 |
Arrived at Scene |
| 10-24 |
Assignment Completed |
| 10-25 |
Report to (Meet) |
| 10-26 |
Estimated Time of Arrival |
| 10-27 |
License/Permit Information |
| 10-28 |
Ownership Information
(Vehicle) |
| 10-29 |
Records Check |
| 10-30 |
Danger/Caution |
| 10-31 |
Pick Up |
| 10-32 |
_____ Units Needed (Specify) |
| 10-33 |
Help Me Quickly |
| 10-34 |
Time |
| up A |
|
| ACP |
Administrative Command
Post, the part of the CP function that manages logistics, the press,
communications, and related operational support. The ACP is obe of two
CPs, the other being the Tactical Command Post, where the operation is
planned, directed, and commanded. Xou get y cup of coffee and a donut at
the ACP. |
| AO |
Area of Operations, the
designated limits for individuals, teams and the operation, defined during
the planning process. It can be a whole shopping center or office building
- or larger, the whole area affected by the operation. |
| AOR |
Area of Responsibility, the
area within the AO that a two-officer team will have as a primary
responsibility. For example, an entry team might have the right half of
the living room of a residence as a pi imary AOR after the door-kick. A
"sierra" or sniper team might have an AOR of the north wall of a
structure, and if there are two sniper teams in the group, one may have
the northeast wall, the other the northwest wall as AORs. A wolf pack
(assault) team may have three subAORs within a building, taken in sequence
after the door-kick. Individuals on the team will each have their own AORs
within each room. |
| APV |
Armored Personnel Vehicle.
Some teams use armored cars of the kind used by banks to transport
cash. |
| ARG |
Accident Response Group, a
DoE volunteer unit that responds to nuclear accidents. See also NEST |
| ATA |
Anti-Terrorist Assistance,
a program operated by the State Department to train foreign law
enforcement agencies in counterterrorism techniques. The U.S. Marshals
Service SOG provides the tactical training at its Tactical Center in
Louisiana. |
| ATAC |
Anti-Terrorist Alert
Center. Located in Washington, D.C., and operated by the Navy, the
center monitors terrorist activities worldwide and sends out alerts of
impending attacks. |
| "Avalanche" |
The code word one department has
adopted to warn of possible explosives in the AO; it also functions as an
evacuation order from the AOR. Other departments will use other words. If
you hear, "Avalanche! Avalanche! Avalanche!" on the radio, that's your cue
(in this particular department) to evacuate the AOR and dash back to the
LCC for further instructions. |
| up B |
|
| Bang |
Slang for a flash-bang
grenade. |
| BATF |
Bureau of Alcohol, tobacco
& Firearms, a federal agency that controls the movement of these
three controlled items, as well as explosives. |
| Bent Spear |
Codename for a nuclear weapons
incident. See also Broken
Arrow. |
| Black Talon |
A lethal, hollow-point bullet that
fragments into claw-like shards upon impact. |
| Blow and Go |
Phrase used by CT units in
reference to dynamic entries; you blow the explosive charges and
immediately enter the building through the breach or hole. |
| Breach |
To forcibly make entry, with a
ram, a kick, or with explosives-through a door or window, or right through
a wall if necessary. |
| Broken Arrow |
Codename for a nuclear accident.
lt is much more serious than a Bent Spear. See also Dull
Sword. |
| BUD/S |
Basic Underwater
Demolition/SEAL training. A 26-week basic training course at Coronado,
California, that all SEAL candidates must endure and pass in order to be
considered for the SEAL teams. |
| up C |
|
| C2 |
Command and Control, the
process of controlling and directing an operation, based on military
experience and principles of command in battle. The C2 in an operation is
the operation commander, usually staffed by a person who is either the
team leader, team commander, or the chief of police; the C2 is clearly
identified in the pre-op briefing, and the C2 is, for the duration of the
op, God. |
| CA |
Compromised Authority, when
the crooks know you are coming-as happened at Waco forty-five minutes
before the original assault that resulted in six agent deaths. When CA is
discovered, one jurisdiction transmits over the tactical channel, "Jack
rabbit! Jack rabbit! Jack rabbit!" Despite a careful plan for a deliberate
entry and assault on a residence, if the subject comes out the door with a
shotgun, one of the sniper/observer teams will probably make the CA code
call over the radio to let C2 and the rest of the operation know there
hasbeen a sudden change of plan and the op will go down now. |
| CAM |
Chemical Agent Monitor, a
device that detects chemical warfare agents, such as sarin and soman. It
is typically set up along a perimeter, downwind of a potential gas release
to warn of an attack. |
| Canary |
Slang for a hostage. |
| CAT |
U.S. Secret Service's
Counter-Assault Team. |
| C/B |
Chemical/Biological. |
| CBDCOM |
Chemical & Biological
Defense Command, an Army command whose units respond to chemical and
biological incidents. |
| CBIRF |
Chemical/Biological Incident
Response Force, a Marine Corps unit. |
| Chicken Plate |
Slang for the ceramic or steel
disk that fits inside a bulletproof vest. The plate, which is positioned
over the heart, is designed to withstand hits from high-caliber
bullets. |
| CI |
Confidential Informant, a
"spy" of one sort or another, often a relative or associate of the
subjects. While "snitches" are frequently unreliable and often just as bad
as the people on whom they report, the information they provide can save
lives and is potentially very important. |
| CIRG |
Critical Incident Response
Group. A component of the FBI that oversees the deployment of the
Hostage Rescue Team and negotiators to crises. |
| Comm/Commo |
Communications, refers to the
frequency or method (not necessarily radio, as comm can be through hand
and arm signals, notes, or other code systems). "The comm frequency is
'blue,"' means the blue radio channel is primary for the op. |
| CQB |
Close Quarter Battle, the kind of
combat that is a hallmark of police special ops, where engagements are at
extremely short range and happen at extremely high speed. |
| CQS |
Close Quarter Shooting, the
particular kind of engagements common to SWAT operations within buildings,
with a mix of hostages and crooks, often in the dark, and with smoke and
explosions nearby. |
| CR |
Designation for a tear gas agent
that can penetrate a gas mask filter that normally will stop CS and CN
tear gas. CR is used against terrorists equipped with gas masks. |
| Crow |
Slang for a terrorist. See also Tango. |
| CST |
U.S. Secret Service's
Counter-Sniper Team. |
| CTC |
Counterterrorism Center.
Staffed and operated by the CIA, the center monitors the whereabouts and
actions of terrorists worldwide. |
| up D |
|
| DAT/P |
Deliberate Assault Team/Plan, one
way of moving in on the suspects, characterized by slow, precise,
carefully controlled and coordinated movements; the alternative is an
emergency assault team or plan, used when everything suddenly goes to
hell. |
| Demo |
Demolitions, either the
materials or the team members. Some teams have and use explosives to open
doors, or to make doors in the middle of walls. |
| DevGroup |
Development Group, the new name
for SEAL Team Six. |
| DoD |
Department of
Defense. |
| DoE |
Department of Energy. |
| DoS |
Department of State, a
federal agency that deals with terrorism involving Americans outside the
continental United States. |
| Double Tap |
Two aimed shots fired in rapid
succession at a terrorist to ensure that he does not pose any further
threat. See also Mozambique. |
| Dry Hole |
An empty room or structure. |
| Dull Sword |
Codename for a situation in which
a nuclear weapon malfunctions or is damaged, and could result in
detonation or radioactive contamination. See also Bent
Spear. |
| DVP |
Distinguished Visitor
Protection, a mission often assigned to SWAT teams when the president
or other famous persons come to town for a visit. Even a small team like
Reno's has provided security for Presidents Reagan and Bush, General
Schwartzkopf, visiting foreign heads of state, and public figures. |
| up E |
|
| Eagle |
Slang for a good guy (i.e.,
counterterrorism operator). |
| EAT or EAP |
Emergency Assault
Team/Plan, used for hasty reactions to events requiring immediate
action, such as the rescue of a team caught or overwhelmed during a
deliberate assault. An emergency assault is conducted despite the plan for
the deliberateassault, when there isn't a choice. These plans anticipate
situations where a team member gets shot, or something else puts a crimp
in the deliberate assault plan; the assault has to continue, using the EAT
or EAP. |
| EOC |
Emergency Operations
Center. |
| EPIC |
El Paso Intelligence
Center. Operated by the DEA, EPIC tracks and interdicts the movement
of drugs, aliens, and weapons. Numerous federal agencies participate at
EPIC, including the FBI, Secret Service, and Customs Service. |
| EMT |
Emergency Medical
Technician, the team member or support staff who always is written
into the plan to provide immediate aid to anybody who is injured during
the course of an operation. An EMT on the team may very well shoot
somebody, then immediately treat the wound he or she has just inflicted.
The EMT is not normally on an assault or entry team, but may be part of an
arrest team. |
| EOD |
Explosive Ordnance
Disposal, the problem of getting rid of the case of old dynamite
discovered in the basement of a residence or the det cord booby traps
installed by a crook in a fortified house. |
| EP-1 or -2, -3 |
Entry Point One, a designated way
for the entry team to go into a structure. It can be a door, window, or
hole in the wall, which the demo team has just blown with a coil of det
cord. Good teams normal- brief at least two entry points, the second
providing an alternative if the first doesn't work for whatever reason.
EP-1 is normally the front door; EP-2 might be the front picture
window. |
| Evac |
Evacuation team or
plan. If hostages or innocents -or wounded team members need to get
pulled out of a residence, there is seldom time to sit around and talk
about it; an evac team and plan will be part of the SOP and the
briefing, |
| EXP |
Exit Point. |
| EX-1 |
Exit Point 1. The team will
leave through a designated point in the structure, normally specified in
the briefing. |
| up F |
|
| FAA |
Federal Aviation
Administration, a federal agency that is responsible for terrorist
incidents that occur aboard U.S. aircraft. |
| FAP |
Final Assault Point. |
| FAST |
Fleet Antiterrorist Security
Team, a Marine Corps unit. |
| FBG |
Flash-bang grenade. Also
referred to as "bangs" and "flashcrashes" |
| Ferret |
A finned plastic capsule (12
gauge, 37 mm) that contains tear gas. The ferret has a blunt front end
that is scored; it bursts open on impact, releasing the gas. Ferrets can
penetrate 3/4-inch plywood barriers at 100 feet. |
| Frags |
Fragmentation
grenades. |
| Frangible Ammo |
A copper-polymer bullet that turns
into dust when it strikes a target, resulting in no ricochet or fragments
flying back at the shooter. Frangible ammo is used by CT units for CQB
drills. |
| Funny Platoon |
Nickname for Delta Force's
all-female detachment, which conducts recon and collects intelligence for
the team. |
| up G |
|
| GIGN |
Groupe d'intervention cle la
Gendarmerie Nationale, France's elite counterterrorist unit. Among
GIGN's accomplishments were the rescue of a school bus of children that
was hijacked in Djibouti by four terrorists in February 1976, and the
assault of an Air France jetliner that was hijacked by Algerian terrorists
in December 1994. |
| Glaser Round |
A high-velocity, prefragmented
projectile produced in a soft point, round-nose style bullet. Nearly 100
percent of available energy is transferred to the target, resulting in
massive trauma. The Glaser round gives a 9 mm the same stopping power as a
.44 magnum. |
| Glass House Drill |
An exercise in which an assault
team practices assaulting a target using tape on the floor to indicate the
location of walls, doorways, furniture, etc. Glass house drills are done
when an assault team doesn't have time to build a scale mock structure of
the target. |
| GSG-9 |
Grenzschutzgruppe-9, Germany's
elite counterterrorist unit. GSG-9 retook a hijacked Lufthansa 737 with 91
persons aboard that had been hijacked by terrorists in October 1977. The
assault occurred at Mogadishu Airport; no hostages were killed. |
| up H |
|
| HAHO |
High Altitude, High
Opening. A parachute insertion technique used to thwart detection by
hostile forces on the ground. Parachutists jump out at 20,000+ feet,
deploy their chutes, and quietly drift to the predetermined landing site
25 to 50 miles away downwind from where they initially jumped out of the
plane. |
| HALO |
High Altitude, Low Opening.
A parachute insertion technique in which the parachutist falls to about
2,000 feet above the ground before deploying his parachute. HALO minimizes
the time you spend floating down in your parachute, which is when you are
most at risk from enemy observation and fire. |
| Head job |
Slang term meaning to be shot in
the head. |
| HEU |
Highly Enriched
Uranium. |
| HRT |
Hostage Rescue Team, an
elite FBI unit that responds to terrorist and similar high-risk
incidents. |
| HNT |
Hostage Negotiation
Team. |
| Hydra-Shok |
Lethal hollow-point ammunition
manufactured by Federal Cartridge Company. Many CT forces use Hydra-Shok
ammo, including the FBI's HRT and the U.S. Marshals Service's SOG. |
| up I |
|
| IND |
Improvised Nuclear Device
(i.e., a homemade nuclear bomb). |
| INS |
Immigration &
Naturalization Service, a federal agency that prevents the illegal
entry of individuals into the United States. |
| INT |
Intelligence information,
the detailed data needed to execute an operation. It can come from many
sources-informants, pinhole cameras, and tiny microphones that can be
inserted through walls. |
| up J |
|
| Jedi |
Nickname for members of DevGroup,
after the movie Star Wars. |
| JSOC |
Joint Special Operations
Command. A component of the U.S. Special Operations Command
headquartered at Pope AFB that oversees the employment of DevGroup,
SFOD-D, and 160th SOAR. |
| up K |
|
| Keep |
A secured location where people
who have been pulled out of a location can be debriefed without
distractions. The people kept at this location might be hostages or
hostage takers who can provide information about who and what is still
inside or still a threat to the officers conducting the operation. When a
team has a distinguished visi- mission, a keep will be specified, perhaps
by the Secret Service. Then, if something happens, a designated member of
the team will take the VIP to the keep and will guard him or her,
controlling access to the location, until a code word is transmitted
indicating "all clear." Until then, nobody gets access to the keep. |
| Kicker |
Nickname for someone on an assault
team who is responsible for kicking open a closed door. |
| up L |
|
| Little Bird |
Nickname for an AH-6 or MH-6
helicopter used by the HRT and military CT forces for assaults and covert
insertions. |
| LCC |
Last Cover and
Concealment. |
| LP/OP |
Listening Post/Observation
Post, the classic stake-out, surveillance situation where officers
collect information without ever intending to make "hard" contact. |
| up M |
|
| Medevac |
Medical support for the
team. |
| MEU/SOC |
Marine Expeditionary
Unit-Special Operations Capable. A specially trained and equipped
Marine Corps unit that conducts unconventional warfare and hostage
recovery. |
| Mob |
Nickname for DevGroup. |
| MOU |
Memorandum of
Understanding, a formal (though not always written) set of
instructions, guidelines and conditions for the roles of an individual, a
two-officer team, or an entire special op unit. Essential for good team
integration on an operation is to define the duties, responsibilities, and
limits for each team member, particularly when people from different
organizations participate on the same op. |
| Mousehole |
Nickname for a small, round-shaped
breach made into walls and/or doorways with explosives. CT assault teams
use mouseholes to move room to room in a building to avoid hallways (which
are often booby-trapped or covered by weapons fire), as well as to
surprise tangos. |
| Mozambique |
Slang for firing two bullets to
the chest of a terrorist and one to the head.This ensures that the tango
is permanently out of the picture. See also Double
Tap. |
| up N |
|
| NCA |
National Command Authority.
The top-level of America's military chain-of-command, which consists of
the President and the Secretary of Defense. |
| NEST |
Nuclear Emergency Search
Team, a DoE unit that locates nuclear devices and weapons. See also ARG. |
| Night Stalkers |
See TF-160. |
Non-Lethal Weapons
(Less Than Lethal) |
Weapons designed to injure, stun,
distract, confuse, etc., rather than kill a human being. |
| NVG |
Night Vision Goggle. |
| up O |
|
| OC |
Oleoresin Capsicum, an
inflammatory tear gas made from red peppers.The hotness of OC is based on
the capsaicin content of oleoresin.The unit of measure is called a
Scoville Heat Unit (SHU). Pure capsaicin is 15 million SHU. Spray
containers used by CT units have 5 percent OC with 2 million SHU. OC
causes immediate and temporary blindness, as well as induces choking,
coughing, and nausea. |
| Op |
Plan A mission statement, normally
written, that defines the operation's objectives and methods-a product of
the team leader, team sergeant/supervisor. The op plan follows the classic
five-paragraph order format used by the military. |
| Op Sec |
Operational Security, a set
of procedures outlining how to avoid compromising the mission or its
participants in any way. |
| Operator |
Member of a special ops team, a
sworn officer participating in the tactical (not administrative) phase of
the mission. |
| up P |
|
| Parrot |
Slang for a person who has not yet
been identified as a friendly or a bad guy. Hence, he is an unknown. |
| Plink |
A single discriminating shot,
usually a bullet to the head. |
| up Q |
|
| up R |
|
| Ranch |
See Wally
World. |
| Re-Org |
Another expression for the
post-mission debriefing session, an evaluation of how the mission went,
and how that compared to the way it was planned. A "lessons learned"
session. Some teams do this quite formally, by subunits. The Re-Org is
sometimes supported by careful documentation of the residence by officers
who come through and make photographs and videotape records, maps, and
diagrams of the location and its components. |
| ROE |
Rules of Engagement, part
of the briefing and comes from the C2. Wolf pack ROE will be different
than those for Sierra teams. |
| Room Broom |
Nickname for a compact submachine
gun, such as the H&K MP5K. |
| Route |
When the subunits move up to the
FAP, each will move along a designated route. This is part of the briefing
and will include possible "rally points." |
| up S |
|
| SAS |
Special Air Service, Great
Britain's premier CT unit that gained world attention in 1980 when it
recaptured Princess Gate from terrorists who had taken over the Iranian
embassy in London (Operation Nimrod). |
| Scuba/HALO Physical |
Nickname for the thorough medical
physical given to candidates applying to Delta Force. |
| SCT |
Scout Teams. The scouts
help find the routes into and out of the AO, into the FUP and the AOR.
They also determine the construction of the AOR, its entry points,
exterior door, and window construction. |
| SEAL |
Sea/Air/Land, one component
of the Navy's Special Warfare Command that is tasked with special
operations. The acronym also jokingly stands for "Sleep, Eat And Live it
up!" |
| Semtex |
A Czechoslovakian plastique
explosive that is popular with terrorists. |
| SFOD-D |
Special Forces Operational
DetachmentDelta, which is more popularly known as Delta Force. |
| Shell |
A shell is often an invisible ring
of officers around an AO; they may be observers on a surveillance team
around a drug house or a half-dozen people in plain clothes around a
distinguished visitor. One of the shell will be called a "shadow" man, an
officer who will stick close to the VIP, and another officer will cover
him or her, the whole shell providing mutual cover in a discreet
way. |
| Shadow Stalkers |
Nickname for the USMS Special
Operations Group. lt comes from the fact that the unit hunts dangerous
fugitives (a.k.a. shadows), as well as waits in the shadows of federal
courthouses during high-profile cases to thwart terrorist attacks. |
| Shoot and Scoot |
A phrase that aptly describes how
an assault team clears a building or structure: They find the bad guys,
shoot 'em, and then quickly move on to the next room or area. |
| Shooter |
Nickname for the members of an
assault team who are responsible for shooting hostiles. See also Kicker. |
| Sierra |
One department's term for a
sniper/observer team, a two-officer element. |
| SIOC |
Strategic Information
Operations Center, a specially equipped suite from which the FBI
directs major investigations (e.g., World Trade Center bombing, Montana
Freemen siege). |
| Slime |
Slang term meaning to be gassed
with a chemical agent. |
| Snake |
A common term for a six-officer
raid team, moving in line; the first two officers are often designated the
"point" element. |
| SOG |
Special Operations Group. 1) In
the FBI, SOG is responsible for covert intelligence gathering. 2) In the
U.S. Marshals Service, SOG is an elite unit that deploys to high-risk
situations, such as escorting terrorists to and from federal courts. |
| SRT |
Special Reaction Team. In
the military, a specially trained unit that reacts to and resolves special
threats, such as terrorist acts and hostage taking. Organized under a
squad concept, the ideal SRT is comprised of nine members. |
| Stockholm Syndrome |
When hostages begin to empathize
with their captors and turn against their rescuers. Named after a 1973
incident that occurred in Stockholm, Sweden, in which two suspects held
four clerks hostage for 13 1 hours after an aborted robbery.When an
assault team attempted to release them, the hostages shielded the suspects
with their bodies. One hostage later married one of the suspects. |
| SWAT |
Special Weapons and
Tactics, a unit that is trained and equipped to handle special,
high-risk incidents (e.g., barricaded suspects, snipers, armed
encounters). Most law enforcement agencies and military bases have SWAT
teams. |
| up T |
|
| Takedown |
An assault on a target. |
| Tango |
Slang for a terrorist. So named
after the military's designation for the letter "T" (Tango) in the
phonetic alphabet. See also Crow. |
| TCP |
Tactical Command Post, the
location where the operation is launched and commanded, situated away from
the ACP where the news media and crowds of curious bystanders usually
congregate. |
| TF-160 |
Task Force 160, which is
also known as the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (I 60th
SOAR). It is an elite Army unit based out of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, that
engages in covert operations and ferries Delta Force and other special
operations units around. The I 60th SOAR is nicknamed "Night Stalkers"
because it does most of its work at night. |
| Tie-Tie (Flex Cuffs) |
A lightweight and flexible
22inch-long plastic band that is used to handcuff someone's wrists or
legs.The keyless tie-tie is so strong (tensile strength of 370 pounds)
that it can only be removed by cutting it off with a knife or a pair of
clippers. |
| Trick |
To modify and/or customize a
weapon. |
| up U |
|
| Uncle Fester |
A person who publishes/shares
information on how to make chemical weapons. |
| UC |
Undercover agent, a police officer
acting under cover-as opposed to a CI, or confidential informant, who is
perhaps a crook providing information for a payoff. |
| USCS |
United States Customs
Service, a federal agency that prevents the illegal entry of
substances, weapons, etc. |
| USMS |
United States Marshals
Service |
| USSOCOM |
United States Special
Operations Command. A unified command established in 1987 and
headquartered at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida. lt has overall operational
command of military special operations forces. See also JSOC. |
| USSS |
United States Secret
Service. |
| up V |
|
| up W |
|
| Wally World |
Nickname for Delta Force's new,
multimillion dollar, special operations training facility at Ft. Bragg.
(The original Delta Force HQ was located at Ft. Bragg's old stockade and
was known as "The Ranch" because of the propensity of some operators to
chew tobacco and wear cowboy boots. When Delta moved to its new
facilities, the name came along with it.) |
| Willy Peter (WPs) |
Nickname for a White Phosphorus
incendiary grenade. |
| Wolf Pack |
One department's term for an
assault team, a two-officer sub-unit. |
| up X |
|
| up Y |
|
| up Z |
|
| [Home] [Idea] [Qualification] [Tactics] [Squads
(soon)] [Glossary] [Reference] [Guestbook] [Email
NME]] |
