Bird table: A table (often strewn with maps) that all of the main players gather around to discuss and brief the details of operations
Bitching Betty: The Apache’s female cockpit voice warning system
Black brain: The black kneeboard Apache pilots fly with on their thigh that contains everything that can’t be committed to memory and may be needed instantly in flight
Bob-up box: A piece of symbology displayed in the monocle that remains fixed in space. It allows the crew to know how far they are from a self-generated known point in space they were hovering over when it was created.
Bonedome: Helmet
Brick: A term used in Northern Ireland for a four man patrol
Broken Arrow: A base or fort that has been overrun by the enemy
BRU: Boresight Reticule Unit
C-17: RAF transport plane
CAG: Combined Air Ground
Calibre: The inside diameter of the barrel of a weapon
Carbine: Short-barrelled SA80 with an additional grip at the front - used by Apache pilots and tank crews - 5.56 mm automatic
CAS: Close Air Support
Casevac: Casualty Evacuation
CH47: Chinook - a large wide-bodied helicopter with two rotors on the top. Used by many countries for carrying troops - may also carry equipment inside or underslung below.
Chicken fuel: Just enough fuel to make it back direct and land with the minimum fuel allowance
Chicken plate: Triangular armoured plate to shield the vital organs within the chest cavity from bullets and shrapnel
Chippies: De Havilland Chipmunk T10 training aircraft
Choke point: A point where a natural narrowing occurs in a route - like a bottleneck.
CMDS: Counter Measures Dispensing System
CO: Commanding Officer - Lieutenant Colonel in charge of a regiment, battalion or the Joint Helicopter Force
Collective lever: The flying control to the left-hand side of the pilot’s seat; held in the left hand; when raised the Apache climbs and when lowered it descends
ComAO: Combined Air Operation
Co-op: Co-operative rocket shoot - both of the Apache’s crew working together to fire the rockets at the target
Cow: Taliban slang for the Chinook helicopter
Crabs: Slang term for the RAF
CRV7: Canadian Rocket Vehicle 7 - the Apache’s rockets
CTAF Net: Common Tactical Air Frequency Net
CTR: Conversion To Role
CTT: Conversion To Type
Cyclic stick: The flying control between the pilot’s legs, held by the right hand and used to speed up, slow down, dive and turn the Apache
Danger close: The proximity to a weapon’s effect that is considered the last safe point when wearing body armour and combat helmet
Dasht-e-Margo: Desert of Death
DC: District Centre - the commercial/political/military centre of a particular area. Usually a building that once held power
Deliberate Operations: Preplanned operations like escort missions and deliberate strikes
Delta Hotel: Phonetic alphabet for DH - air speak for Direct Hit - call made when a weapon system hits its intended target accurately
Dfac: American Dining Facility
Dishdash: Loose kaftan-style outfit worn by many Afghan men
DoS: Days of Supply
DTV: Day television - black and white TV image generated from the day camera in the TADS
DVO: Direct View Optics
ECM: Electronic Counter Measures
ETA: Estimated Time of Arrival
ETD: Estimated Time of Departure
EWI: Electronic Warfare Instructor
Excon: Exercise Control
FAC: Forward Air Control/Controller
FARMC: Fuel, Ammunition, Rockets, Missiles, Countermeasures (farm-c)
Fast air: Offensive military jet aircraft
FCR: Fire Control Radar - the Apache’s Longbow radar
Fenestron: A tail rotor that is housed in a Venturi
FIBUA: Fighting In a Built-Up Area
Flares: Hot flares fired to attract heat-seeking missiles, luring them away from the Apache
Flechette: Five-inch tungsten darts fired from a rocket travelling above Mach 3.3
Flick: Military slang. When something has been signed over to you and you are held accountable for it
FLIR: Forward Looking Infrared - Sights that generate a thermal picture - an image produced by an object’s heat source above absolute zero
FOB: Forward Operating Base
FRV: Final Rendezvous point
GAFA: Great Afghan Fuck All - Dasht-e-Margo - the Desert of Death
Gazelle: British Army helicopter - generally employed for training, liaison and reconnaissance
GMPG: British Forces General Purpose Machine Gun - 7.62 mm bipod machine gun
GPS: Global Positioning System - satellite navigation equipment
Greenie tech: Nickname for an aviation technician. Aviation technicians are responsible for all electrical equipment on an aircraft
Green Zone: Lush habitation of irrigated fields, hedgerows, trees and small woods on either side of the Helmand River, bordered by arid deserts
Ground crew: People who work with aircraft when they are on the ground, but not technicians
Groundie: Military slang for ground crew
Ground school: Academic lessons on flying and all to do with flying: meteorology, law, engines, etc.
Gunship: An aircraft that has the capability of firing its cannon/s from the side instead of having to strafe head-on
Gun tape: The video tape put into an Apache that records what the selected sight sees
HALS: Hardened Aircraft Landing Strip: small runway
Harrier: British designed military jet aircraft capable of Vertical Short Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) - often called the ‘Jump Jet’
HEDP: High Explosive Dual Purpose (Hedpee) - 30 mm cannon rounds
Height: The height above the ground expressed in feet
HEISAP: High Explosive Incendiary Semi-Armour Piercing (high-sap) - kinetic rocket fired by the Apache
Hellfire: AGM-114K SAL (Semi-Active Laser) Hellfire is a laser-guided Hellfire missile fitted to the Apache
Hesco Bastion: Square metal meshed cubes lined with hessian and filled with rubble and/or sand. Used as defensive ramparts to protect bases and platoon houses from fire
H Hour: The moment offensive action begins - first bullet, bomb or the moment troops walk towards their intended target to attack
HIDAS: Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System - protection from SAMs
HIG: Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin - major group of the old Mujahideen with ties to Osama bin Laden
HLS: Helicopter Landing Site
HMD: Helmet Mounted Display
Hot: Air speak for clearance or acknowledgement that live bombs can be dropped
HQ: Headquarters - the nerve centre for planning and execution of operations
HRF: Helmand Reaction Force - two Apaches and a Chinook full of soldiers on standby at Bastion used to bolster any troops on the ground quickly
IAT: Image Auto-Track
IAT: International Air Tattoo. Now RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo)
Icom: A make of radio scanner used by coalition and the Taliban to monitor each other’s transmissions
ID: Identification
IDM: Improved Data Modem
IED: Improvised Explosive Device - home-made bombs or multiple mines strapped together
IEFAB: Improved Extended Forward Avionics Bay (eefab) The slabs that stick out either side of Longbow Apaches below the cockpits
IntO: Intelligence Officer
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
IPT: Integrated Project Team
IRA: Irish Republican Army - Northern Irish paramilitary group
IRT: Incident Response Team - Apaches, Chinooks, doctors, med
ics and Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) responsible for the immediate recovery of personnel in danger or injured
ISAF: International Security Assistance Force - multinational military force in Afghanistan
ISTAR: Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance
JDAM: Joint Direct Attack Munition - inertial navigation and GPS guidance system bolted onto a 500 to 2000-lb bomb to make it an accurate all-weather weapon
JHC: Joint Helicopter Command - the UK-based command headquarters and operating authority for all British military helicopters in the UK and abroad
JHF: Joint Helicopter Force
JHF(A): Joint Helicopter Force Afghanistan - ‘Main’ at Kandahar and ‘Forward’ at Camp Bastion - the Afghanistan helicopter headquarters operating under authority of the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC)
JOC: Joint Operations Cell - the functioning control centre of operations in the Helmand province
JTAC: Joint Terminal Attack Controller (Jaytac) - soldier responsible to his commander for the deliverance of air ordnance from combat aircraft onto a target. The airspace controller for a battle, normal callsign is Widow
KAF: Kandahar Airfield
KIA: Killed In Action
Klick: military slang for kilometre
LAV: Light Armoured Vehicles. Canadian 8x8 wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier
Leakers: Taliban that are attempting to escape (leak) from a target area
L-Hour: The moment the first helicopter lands on an LS during an operation
Lima Charlie: Phonetic alphabet for LC - air speak for Loud and Clear
Loadie: Loadmaster responsible for passengers and equipment in military troop-carrying helicopters or transport aircraft. Often mans one of the crew-served guns
LOAL: Lock-On After Launch (low-al) - missile is launched then it acquires a laser lock
LOBL: Lock-on Before Launch (lobel) - the missile locks onto the laser energy when it is still on the Apache
Longbow: The Longbow radar is the Apache’s Fire Control Radar. It looks like a large Swiss cheese and sits on top of the main rotor system
LOS: Line of Sight
LS: Landing Site - any unprepared Helicopter Landing Site
LSJ: Life Support Jacket - survival waistcoat - escape jacket
LWRS: Laser Warning Receiving System
Lynx Mk7: British Army anti-tank helicopter armed with missiles on each side
ManPADS: Man Portable Aid Defence System - shoulder-launched heat-seeking missile
MAWS: Missile Approach Warning System
Max chat: As fast as possible
MC: Military Cross - awarded in recognition of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land.
MIA: Missing In Action
Mission Net: An encrypted frequency used to coordinate the mission during operations
MoD: Ministry of Defence
Monocle: The pink see-through glass mirror over an Apache pilot’s right eye that displays green symbology and images from the onboard computers and sights
Mosquito: Taliban slang for the Apache
MPD: Multi-Purpose Display - one of two five-inch screens on the console in each Apache cockpit
MPOG: Minimum pitch applied to the main rotor blades when on the ground
MPSM: Multi-Purpose Sub-Munition
Mujahideen: Afghan opposition groups - fought the Soviets during the Soviet invasion and each other in the Afghan Civil War - plural for the word mujahid meaning ‘struggler’
Multiple: A Northern Ireland patrol consisting of two or more bricks
MWR: Moral, Welfare and Recreation. Large US facility in which to unwind with the freely provided games, refreshments, TVs, Cinema, computers, gaming stations, DVDs and the internet
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
Negative: Air speak for ‘no’
Negative Lima: No laser
Nimrod: A long-range maritime patrol aircraft modified for surveillance
NVG: Night Vision Goggles - night sights that magnify light by 40,000 times
OC: Officer Commanding - major in charge of a squadron or company group
OP: Observation Position
Ops: Operations - as in Ops tent, Ops room, Ops Officer or literally an operation
ORT: Optical Relay Tube - the large console in the front seat with PlayStation-type grips on either side
Pairs fire-and-manoeuvre: One static soldier aiming or shooting whilst his buddy manoeuvres to a position forward or backwards of him. They swap roles and do this continually manoeuvring with one foot on the ground at all times
Para: Nickname for a soldier from the Parachute Regiment or the Regiment itself
Pathfinder Platoon: a small unit designed and trained to fight behind enemy lines; 16 Air Assault Brigade’s equivalent of the SAS
Pax: Official military term for people
P-check: Northern Ireland term for checking the details of a car from its number plate
PFL: Practice Forced Landing - practising landing without the use of any engines
PID: Positive Identity
Pinzgauer: Small 4x4 all-terrain utility truck
PNVS: Pilot’s Night Vision System (Pinvis) - the thermal camera that sits above the TADS on the Apache’s nose
Port: Left-hand side of an aircraft or vessel
PRT: Provincial Reconstruction Team
PMI: Power Margin Indicator
QHI: Qualified Helicopter Instructor - flying instructor
RA: Royal Artillery
RAD: Ram Air Decelerator
Radome: A dome that shrouds a radar head
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rearm: Reload the Apache with ammunition
Red Top: Gazelles painted anti-collision Day-Glo red, flown by range officers whose job is to ensure that troops, vehicles and aircraft are within safety limits
Replen: Military slang for replenishment
RF: Radio Frequency
RIP: Relief In Place - Apache flights handing over the battle between each other, maintaining support to the ground troops
RMP: Royal Military Police - British Military Police
RoC: Rehearsal of Concept
ROE: Rules Of Engagement - law set by a country’s government laying down the rules governing how arms are brought to bear
ROZ: Restricted Operating Zone
RPG: Rocket Propelled Grenade - shoulder-launched rocket with a powerful grenade warhead on the front
RQHI: Regiment’s Qualified Helicopter Instructor
RTA: Road Traffic Accident
RTB: Return To Base
RTM322: Rolls-Royce engines for the Apache
RTS: Release To Service - the document that details what can and can’t be done with the Apache regarding flight, firing, etc.
RV: Rendezvous - designated meeting place
RWR: Radar Warning Receiver
SA80: British Forces rifle - 5.56 mm automatic
SAL: Semi-Active Laser
SAM: Surface-to-Air missile
SAS: Special Air Service - an independent British Special Forces unit of the British Army
SBS: Special Boat Service - an independent British Special Forces unit of the Royal Navy
Scratcher: Military slang for bed
SF: Special Forces - e.g. SAS and SBS
SFI: Senior Flying Instructor
Sitrep: Situational Report
Starboard: Right-hand side of an aircraft or vessel
Stinger: US-designed Surface-to-air ManPADs (Man Portable Air
Defence System) Missile. Taliban slang for any shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile
SupFAC: Supervisory Forward Air Controller
SWO: Squadron Weapons Officer
Symbology: Flying and targeting information beamed onto the monocle
T-33: Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star. An old military jet built under licence by the Canadians and renamed the CT-133 Silver Star
TA: Territorial Army
TADS: Ta
rget Acquisition and Designation Sight - the ‘bucket’ on the nose of the Apache that houses the Apache’s cameras
Taliban: Collective term used in this book for Taliban, Al-Qaeda and Hezb-I Islami Gulbuddin (HIG)
Tanky: A member of one of the tank Regiments - tank commander, driver or gun loader
TFAD: Task Force Availability Date
Theatre: Country or area in which troops are conducting operations
Thirty mike mike: Military slang for thirty millimetre or the Apache’s cannon rounds
Thirty mil: Alternative name for thirty mike mike
TOC: Tactical Operations Cell
Topman: Callsign for the British Harrier
TOW: Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided missile - fired from the British Army Lynx helicopter
Tracer: Bullets that burn with a red, orange or green glow from 110 metres to 1,100 metres so that they can be seen
TSD: Tactical Situational Display
UFD: Up Front Display - an LED instrument that displays critical information to the Apache crews
USAF: United States Air Force
Venturi: A tubed duct that changes pressure to speed air up
VP: Vulnerable Position
WAH-64D: British version of the Apache
WI: Weapons Instructor
Widow: Callsign for JTACs in Afghanistan
Wildman: British Apache callsign from May 2006 to October 2006
Wingman: The other aircraft in any pair of aircraft
WMIK: Weapons Mounted Installation Kit - an odd-looking Land Rover with bars all over it to which weapons can be attached
WO1: Warrant Officer Class One - a soldier who holds a Royal Warrant is known as Warrant Officer; Class One is the highest non-commissioned rank in the British Army
WO2: Warrant Officer Class Two
Zero-zero: A term used to describe a specific type of approach to land in a helicopter
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe a great debt of gratitude to Captain Paul Mason, Army Air Corps, the Apache guru who (as he constantly reminds me) taught me all I knew. You were an inspiration to me Paul.
My sincere thanks to the Attack Helicopter Force Commander, Lieutenant Colonel David Turner AAC, and the Director of Army Aviation, Brigadier David Short CBE ADC, for their support throughout, and for letting me tell it the way it was.
A special thank you to Paula Edwards at the MoD for her habitually elegant tightrope act.
The dedication, time, enthusiasm and friendship of the HarperCollins team has been nothing short of monumental. John Bond and Arabella Pike, thank you for believing in me.