BFD:
big fucking deal.
BIQ:
Bitch-in-Question.
byki (Russian):
bodyguards.
BOHICA:
Bend over—here it comes again!
Boomer:
nuclear-powered missile submarine.
BTDT:
Been There, Done That.
BUPERS:
Naval BUreau of PERSonnel.
C-130:
Lockheed’s ubiquitous Hercules.
C-141:
Lockheed’s ubiquitous Starlifter aircraft, soon to be mothballed.
C-4:
plastic explosive. You can mold it like clay. You can even use it to light your fires. Just don’t stamp on it.
C2CO:
Can’t Cunt Commanding Officer. Too many of these in Navy SpecWar today. They won’t support their men or take chances because they’re afraid it’ll ruin their chances for promotion.
CALOW:
Coastal And Limited-Objective Warfare. Very fashionable acronym at the Pentagon in these days of increased low-intensity conflict.
Cannon Fodder:
See FNG.
(French):
what a pity.
Christians in Action:
SpecWar slang for the Central Intelligence Agency.
CINC:
Commander-IN-Chief.
CINCLANT:
Commander-IN-Chief, AtLANtic.
CINCLANTFLT:
Commander-IN-Chief, AtLANtic FLeeT.
CINCUSNAVEUR:
Commander IN Chief, U.S. Naval forces, EURope.
clusterfuck:
see FUBAR.
CNO:
Chief of Naval Operations.
Cockbreath:
SEAL term of endearment used for those who only pay lip service.
COMINT:
COMmunications INTelligence
CONUS:
CONtinental United States.
crackers:
CRiminal hACKERS—cyberpunk tangos.
CQB:
Close-Quarters Battle—i.e., killing that’s up close and personal.
CT:
CounterTerrorism.
DADT:
Don’t ask, don’t tell.
DEA:
Drug Enforcement Agency.
DEFCON:
DEFense CONdition.
DEVGRP:
Naval Special Warfare DEVelopment GRouP, based at Dam Neck, Virginia. Current U.S. Navy designation for SEAL Team Six.
detasheet:
olive drab, ten-by-twenty-inch flexible PETNbased plastic explosive used as a cutting or breaching charge.
DIA:
Defense Intelligence Agency. Spook heaven based in Arlington, Virginia, and Boiling Air Force Base just outside Washington, D.C.
Dickhead:
Stevie Wonder’s nickname for Marcinko.
Diplo-dink:
no-load cookie-pushing diplomat.
DIPSEC:
Diplomatic SECurity
Dipshit:
can’t cunt pencil-dicked asshole
Dirtbag:
the look Marcinko favors for his Team guys.
Do-ma-nhieu (Vietnamese):
Go fuck yourself. See DOOM ON YOU.
Doom on you:
American version of Vietnamese for go fuck yourself.
Dweeb:
no-load shit-for-brains geeky asshole, usually shackled to a computer or pencil.
EC-130:
Electronic warfare-outfitted C-130.
EEI:
Essential Element of Information. The info-nuggets on which a mission is planned and executed.
EEO:
Equal Employment Opportunity (Marcinko always treats ’em all alike—just like shit.)
ELINT:
Electronic INTelligence.
EOD:
Explosive Ordnance Disposal.
F3:
Full Fucking Faulkner—lots of sound and fury.
FIS:
Flight Information Service.
flashbang:
disorientation device used by hostage rescue teams.
FNG:
Fucking New Guy. See CANNON FODDER.
Four-striper:
Captain. All too often, a C2CO.
frags:
fragmentation grenades.
FUC:
fucking ugly Corsican.
FUBAR:
Fucked Up Beyond All Repair.
gingi (Hebrew):
redhead.
Glock:
Goatfuck:
What the Navy likes to do to Marcinko. See FUBAR.
GSG-9:
Grenzchutzgruppe-9. Top German CT unit.
HAHO:
High-Altitude High-Opening parachute jump.
HALO:
High-Altitude, Low-Opening parachute jump.
HICs:
Head-In-Cement syndrome. Condition common to high-ranking officers. Symptoms include pigheadedness and inability to change opinions when presented with new information.
HK:
ultrareliable pistol, assault rifle, or submachine gun made by Heckler & Koch, a German firm. SEALs use H&K MP5-Ks submachine guns in various configurations, as well as H&K 93 assault rifles, and P7M8 9mm, and USP 9mm, .40- or .45-caliber pistols.
Hotti-ha (Hebrew; plural is hotti-hot):
a real piece.
Huey:
Original slang for Bell’s AH-I two-bladed helicopter, but now refers to various UH configuration Bell choppers.
HUMINT:
HUMan INTelligence.
humongous:
Marcinko Dick.
Hydra-Shok:
extremely lethal hollowpoint ammunition manufactured by Federal Cartridge Company.
IBS:
Inflatable Boat, Small—the basic unit of SEAL transportation.
IED:
Improvised Explosive Device.
IMPOTUS:
William Jefferson Clinton.
Jarheads:
Marines. The Corps. Formally USMC, or, Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children.
JSOC:
Joint Special Operations Command.
KATN:
Kick Ass and Take Names. Marcinko avocation.
KH:
KeyHole. Designation for NRO’s spy-in-the-sky satellites, as in KH-12s.
KISS:
Keep It Simple, Stupid. Marcinko’s basic premise for special operations.
LANTFLT:
AtLANTic FLeeT.
M2:
Mossad muscle. Israeli bad boys.
M-16:
Basic U.S. .223-caliber weapon, used by the armed forces.
Mark-I Mod-0
basic unit.
MILCRAFT:
Pentagonese for MILitary airCRAFT.
Mossad:
Israel’s intelligence organization. Equivalent to CIA.
MOTI:
Ministry of the Interior.
NAVAIR:
NAVy AIR Command.
NAVSEA:
NAVy SEA Command.
NAVSPECWARGRU:
NAVal SPECial WARfare GRoUp.
Navyspeak:
redundant, bureaucratic naval nomenclature, either in written nonoral, or nonwritten oral modes, indecipherable by nonmilitary (conventional) or military (unconventional) individuals during normal interfacing configuration conformations.
NIS:
Naval Investigative Service Command, also known as the Admirals’ Gestapo. See: SHIT-FOR-BRAINS.
NMN:
No Middle Name.
NRO:
National Reconnaissance Office. Established 25 August 1960 to administer and coordinate satellite development and operations for U.S. intelligence community. Very spooky place.
NSA:
National Security Agency, known within the SpecWar community as No Such
Agency.
NSCT:
Naval Security Coordination Team (Navyspeak name for Red Cell).
NSD:
National Security Directive.
NYL:
nubile young lovely. See: HOTTI-HA.
OBE:
Overtaken By Events—usually because of the bureaucracy.
OMON:
Russian acronym for Otdel Militsii Osobovo Naznachenyia, or Special Purpose Militia Detachment. SWAT team attached to the Russian Ministry of the Interior.
OOD:
Officer Of the Deck (he who drives the big gray monster).
OP-06-04:
CNO’s SpecWar Briefing Officer.
OP-06:
Deputy CNO for Operations, Plans, and Policy.
OP-06B:
Assistant Deputy CNO for Operations, Plans, and Policy.
OPSEC:
Operational SECurity.
PDMP:
Pretty Dangerous Motherfucking People.
POA:
piece of ass. See: HOTTI-HA.
POTUS:
President of the United States. See: IMPOTUS.
RDL:
real dirty look.
RPG:
Rocket-Propelled Grenade.
R2D2:
ritualistic, rehearsed, disciplined drills.
RUMINT:
RUMor INTelligence.
S2:
Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up.
SATCOM:
SATellite COMmunications.
SCIF:
Special Classified INtelligence Facility. A bug-proof room.
SEAL:
SEa-Air-Land Navy SpecWarrior. A hop-and-popping shoot-and-looter hairy-assed Frogman who gives a shit. The acronym stands for Sleep, Eat And Live it up.
Semtex:
Czecho C-4 plastic explosive. Used for canceling Czechs.
SES:
Shit-eating smile.
SH-3:
versatile Sikorsky chopper. Used in ASW missions and also as a spec-ops platform.
Shit-for-brains:
any no-load, pus-nutted, pencil-dicked asshole from NIS.
SIGINT:
SIGnals INTelligence.
SLUDJ:
Top secret NIS witch-hunters. Acronym stands for Sensitive Legal (Upper Deck) Jurisdiction.
SMG:
submachine gun.
SNAFU:
Situation Normal—All Fucked Up.
SNAILS:
Slow, Nerdy Assholes In Ludicrous Shoes.
SOCOM:
Special Operations COMmand, located at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida.
SpecWarrior:
One who gives a fuck.
Spetsnaz:
Russian SpecWarriors who all too often don’t give a fuck.
SSN:
nuclear attack sub, commonly known as sewer pipe.
SSBN:
nuclear ballistic missile submarine, commonly known as boomer.
STABs:
SEAL Tactical Assault Boats.
SUC:
Marcinkospeak for Smart, Unpredictable, and Cunning.
SWAT:
Special Weapons And Tactics police teams. All too often they do not train enough, and become SQUAT teams.
Szeb (Arabic):
dick.
TAD:
Temporary Additional Duty (SEALs refer to it as Traveling Around Drunk).
Tailhook:
the convention of weenie-waggers, gropesters, and pressed-ham-on-glass devotees that put air brakes on NAVAIR.
TARFU:
Things Are Really Fucked Up.
TECHINT:
TECHnical INTelligence.
THREATCON:
THREAT CONdition.
Tiger stripes:
The only stripes that SEALs will wear.
TIQ:
Tango-In-Question
TMWTP:
the man with the pin.
TTS:
Marcinko slang for Tap ’em, Tie ’em, and Stash ’em.
U2:
Ugly and unfamiliar.
UNODIR:
UNless Otherwise DIRected. That’s how Marcinko operates when he’s surrounded by can’t cunts.
VDL:
Versatile, Dangerous, and Lethal.
vor v zakonye (Russian):
mafiya Godfather.
Wanna-bes:
the sort of folks you meet at Soldier of Fortune conventions.
Weenies:
pussy-ass can’t cunts and no-loads.
WTF:
what the fuck.
zapodlo (Russian):
shady business.
Zulu:
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) designator used in formal military communications.
Zulu-5-Oscar:
escape and evasion exercises in which Frogmen try to plant dummy limpet mines on Navy vessels while the vessels’ crews try to catch them in bombus interruptus.
Index
All entries preceded by an asterisk (*) are pseudonyms.
A
Accelerometers, 32
Adidas GSC-9 tactical boot, 5
Air France waybill, 28-29, 33, 34, 36, 44, 72, 92, 142, 170, 229
AK-47s, 70, 72, 129
Alpha Teams, 108
AMAN (Agaf Modiin), 64, 66, 67, 68, 71, 228, 304
ambassadors, 43
ambush, 121-22
AMEMB (AMerican EMBassy), 37, 38, 42-43
bubble in, 137-38
Ames, Aldrich Hazen, 105
Andrews, Hoot, 111, 112
Andropov, 73
AO (Area of Operations), 66, 69
Arava, 325, 331
ATS (Air Traffic Service), 327
B
baffle system, 138
Baku restaurant, 46
Banque Lasalle, 28, 29, 36
Barrett, A. G. (“Gunny”), 171, 172
Barrett, Everett Emerson, 47, 111, 112, 258
Beckwith, Charlie, 102
Begin, Menachem, 313
Ben Gal, Avi, 203, 251, 255, 256, 287
Ben Gal, Avi (cont)
in burglary of Lantos & Cie, 261-62, 265-69, 274-77, 280, 282-84
and Ehud Golan, 231, 252-54, 289-90, 354-55
information withheld by, 189, 191
in Israel, 294, 296-311, 317-25
in Lebanon, 64-71, 363-64, 367-68
in Moscow, 61-64, 72-78, 142, 143-44, 149
in parachute jump into Syria, 326-43
Paris meeting with Marcinko, 186-88, 225-33
in Syrian operation, 343-51
Ben Gal, Miriam (Mikki), 298-99, 308, 321
Beretta .22-caliber pistol, 348
BFC (Ball-Freezing Conditions), 326
Bizon submachine guns, 122, 125
Black September, 192
Black Talon ammunition, 44
black units, 150
Blynkenski, 54, 57, 58, 59, 83-84, 86, 92, 94-98, 119
Boehm, Roy, 94, 156, 165, 211, 218, 271, 326
Bollé SWAT goggles, 5
bomb shelter, 310
boot knife, 122, 123, 124-25, 139
bootlegger’s turn, 250
Brezhnev, 73
Brud, 284
bulletproof vest, 6
BUPERS (BUReau of PERSonnel), 161, 167
BYEMAN, 104
C
car chase, 245-50
CDA (Chief Defense Attaché), 9
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). See Christians in Action
chain of command, 16-17, 134-37, 174
Charles, Ray, 4
Chichkov, Vassily, 11, 13, 92, 95, 96, 119
choke-hold maneuver, 272
Christian militia, 66
Christians in Action (CIA), 31, 37, 104, 182, 206
agents of, 189-91
and DIA, 67
and secure communications, 286
in Syrian sting operation, 314-15, 359-60
CIA. See Christians in Action
Clinton, Bill, 39, 158n, 190, 317
&n
bsp; COMINT (COMunications INTelligence), 65
computers
booby-trapping, 274-75
debugging program, 280
deleting files from, 278-79
CONUS (CONtinental United States), 39
Cooper, Jeff, 124
Coyle, Red, 111, 112
Crocker, Thomas E., 171-74, 179, 181, 288, 299-300, 301, 316-17, 353
Cusiter, Dan, 235
D
Day of the Jackal, The (Forsyth), 202
DCI (Director of Central Intelligence, 314, 317
DCM (Deputy Chief of Mission), 16-17, 33, 41, 43, 53, 74, 316, 365
DDO (Deputy Director of Operations), 189-90
Delta Force, 111
Desert One, 102, 218
Designation Gold priority, 41, 42
*Dewey, Allan (Duck Foot), 47, 49, 99, 163, 261
in Moscow operation, 102, 105-34
transfer of, 167
DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), 10, 31, 33, 48, 67, 185, 333
Dirty Name, 263-64
DISCO (Diplomatic Intelligence and Security Coordination Officer), 143
disinformation, 67, 353
DOPPMA/DCNOPPO (Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy, and Operations, 41
DREC (Digitally Reconnoiterable Electronic Component), 286n-87n
DSS (Diplomatic Security Service), 40-41, 130, 134
DST (Department of Territorial Surveillance), 201-02
DTSA (Defense Technology Security Administration, 34
dual-use technology, 48, 77, 142, 143, 149, 169, 353, 357, 359, 361
Dubiel, 218
Duncan, USS, 218
Durant, Michael, 219
Dynamo club, 29, 30, 32, 47, 51, 52, 54, 75, 79-92, 141
E
Eastwood, Clint, 84
EEIs (essential elements of information, 180, 329
Egoz battalion, 62
ELINT (ELectronics INTelligence), 65, 104, 138
embassy. See AMEMB
Entebbe raid 101
entries, tactical, 350
E-ring admirals, 9
F
false flag recruitment, 33
FAT (File Allocation Table), 279
FBIS (Foreign Broadcast Information Service), 188
FMLN, 26, 193
FN (Foreign Nationals), 87
Forsyth, Freddie, 202
FORTE (Fast On-board Recording of Transient Experiments), 230, 287-88, 299, 343, 349, 357
freon, 48, 170, 229, 353
Fudo, 157
G
Gerber boot knife, 122, 123, 125, 139
Gerber Multi-Plier, 7
GIQ (Goon-in-Question) 11,
Glock 27 9mm, 46, 183
gloves, 8
Golan, Ehud, 191-94, 231, 243, 252-53, 289-90, 313, 344, 355-56, 360-61
Golani Brigade, 62
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 73, 181
Gore-Tex boots, 53
Greene, Ev, 166
Greenpeace, 206
Griffith, Grant, 14, 279, 289
Grinkov, Viktor, 87-88, 89, 91, 105, 120, 130-35, 141, 149, 231, 281
Grose, 111
GRU, 282
Guevara, Che, 26
Gulf War, 32, 358
H
HAHO (high altitude, high opening) jumps, 318-19, 336-37, 340