GLOSSARY
 

AC:  Aircraft Commander. Also A/C.   Pilot in command of the helicopter.

AK-47:  The primary assault rifle used by communist forces in Vietnam. Fully automatic, 7.62mm. Known by its explosive popping sound, manufactured by the Soviets.

An Khe:  Home base of the 1st Cavalry Division, formally Camp Radcliffe, generally referred to as the 'Golf Course.'  108' 40' E  13' 58' N

ARC Light:  B-52 bombing missions.

Artillery:  General term applied to howitzer fire. Primarily 105mm, 155mm, and 175mm.

ARVN:  Army of the Republic of Vietnam.  A Vietnamese soldier.

Aerial Rocket Artillery:  Helicopters used to fire the 2.75 inch rocket.

Bamboo Viper:  Short, bright green snake, said to be deadly.

Beau coup:  French for many. GI slang for a lot or intense. Pronounced Boo Coo.

Beep Button:  A control button on the collective of UH-1 aircraft. Used to keep engine RPM within
normal operating ranges during rapid changes of power.

Booby Trap:  A hidden explosive charge that can be detonated by command, or explode when
disturbed.  Also mechanical devices, such as spears or sharpened stakes concealed along trails or in
pits.

Boonies:  Any area other than base camp or main forward camp or LZ.

BS:  Bullshit. BS'ing, telling tall tales or lies.

C.A.:  Combat assault.  Usually involving helicopters to transport troops.

C4:  Plastic explosive. More powerful than an equal weight of TNT.

CH-47:  A Chinook helicopter.  Troop transport.  Twin rotors, fore and aft, used for heavy cargo and troop transport.

C-123:  U.S. Air Force.  Twin engine cargo plane.

C-130:  U.S. Air Force. Large cargo plane. Known as the Hercules. dependable.

C-141:  U.S. Air Force. Largest cargo plane. Used primarily to ferry troops and supplies between the U.S. and Vietnam.  Jet engines.

Caribou:  A smaller cargo plane, twin-engined. Used locally to ferry troops and supplies by the U.S. Army.

C&C:  Command and Control. Also refers to helicopters used by commanders to control an operations.

C&L:  Command and Logistics.  Applied to support flights in the Mekong Delta

Call Sign:  Names and/or numbers assigned to units or individuals as identification, especially during radio communications.

CIDG:  Civilian Irregular Defense Group. U.S. Special Forces.  Vietnamese irregulars, often advised by U.S. Special Forces.

Charles:  The enemy.  Also known as dinks, Chuck, VC, and several other terms

Civil Affairs:  Efforts to win influence among the Vietnamese civilian population.

Clicks:  Slang for kilometer. Also, klick

CO:  Commanding Officer

C-Rations:  Combat meals, packed in single meal cartons. Some good, some bad. Contained  a pack of four cigarettes, matches, salt, pepper, toilet paper, and occasionally, something fit to eat.  Also C-Rats.

Delta:  Slang.  Short for the Mekong Delta. That portion of Vietnam, generally speaking, located south of Saigon. (Now known as Ho Chi Minh City.)

Door Gunner:  Crew member charged with firing the M-60 machine gun.

Dustoff:  Call sign for medical evacuation helicopters of the 13th Aviation Battalion.

Due Co:  Special Forces camp west of Pleiku, very close to the Cambodian border. Dirt landing strip, small village near by. 107' 48' E  13' 47' N

Extraction:  Removing troops from an LZ by helicopter.

Fire Fly:  A helicopter equipped with an intense lighting system to seek out the enemy at night.   Frequently armed with a .50 caliber machine gun, and accompanied by a flight of two gun ships.

Flares:  Illumination source at night. Bright light produced by burning chemicals suspended from a parachute. Could be dropped from aircraft, or launched by artillery or mortars.

FT. Rucker:  Home of U.S. Army Aviation. Located at Enterprise, Alabama.  Advanced portion of flight training was received at this base, including Instrument Training, Huey transition, Tactics, Low Level Formation, Gunnery Range, and extensive night formation and navigation training.

Ft. Wolters: Primary (basic) helicopter training received there. Just east of Mineral Wells, TX.

GCA:  Ground Control Approach. A method of landing aircraft by means of radar assistance. Used in bad weather, or at night, when visual contact with the terrain was lost.
 

General Larson:  Commanding General of II Corps. Basically the Central Highlands.

Golf Course:  Heliport of the First Cavalry Division. General John Wright, Jr, in an effort to convince troops, officers and all, to clear a camp for the Cav said, "If we swing enough machetes  ...... clear enough twenty-five foot circles, soon they will link together and we will have ....... only beautiful green grass ..... like a golf course." The name stuck.

Governor:  A device on UH-1 helicopters to automatically control engine and rotor speeds, allowing pilots to focus on other matters.

Grasshopper:  Dispersing aircraft so as to avoid exposure to attack

Grunt:  An American infantryman of any rank.

Guns Au Go-Go: Heavily armed Chinooks (CH-47), five were deployed to the 1st CAV only one survived the war.

Gun Ship:  A heavily armed helicopter - generally speaking the 'B' and 'C' model Hueys (and later, the Cobra) -  designed to deliver fire power as opposed to cargo.

Hanoi Hanna:  Female radio announcer, broadcast propaganda from North Vietnam, aimed at American troops in South Vietnam. Actually several women splitting shifts on the air, as opposed to Tokyo Rose, an individual announcer during WWII.

(LZ) Hammond:  Major forward camp of the 1st CAV. Binh Dinh Province (Bong Son) Located 109'4'E, 14'8' N.

Hardcore:  Complete indoctrination and total belief in established goals.  Also, living in a bare subsistence manner, as in Rodney 'Hardcore' Priebe.

Hooch:  Any building.

IFR:  Instrument Flight Rules. Indicates the pilot is conducting his flight without visual reference to the ground, relying on instruments in the aircraft to provide information as to attitude and location.

IG:  Inspector General. Basically, an annual inspection of the U.S. Army.

Incoming:  Receiving hostile fire

JP-4:  Jet Propellant, Grade 4. Used as fuel for turbine engines. Also used as fuel for Zippo lighters, lanterns, fire starting, and cooking C-rations.

KIA:  Killed In Action.

LOG Runs:  Logistical missions involving the resupply and administrative needs of troops.

Low Level:  Officially: Flying less than fifty feet above the terrain.
                   In practice: Flying less than ten feet above the terrain.

LZ:  Landing Zone

M-16:  U.S. rifle. 5.56 mm, gas operated, air cooled, automatic/semiautomatic assault weapon weighing 7.6 pounds, with a 20 round magazine. Maximum range 2350 meters.   Capable of 650-700 rounds per minute. Sustained automatic firing rate of 100-200 rounds per minute.

M-60:  Standard American light machine gun. Gas operated, air cooled, belt fed, automatic weapon. Often called THE GUN. Hueys carried two of these fired by the crew chief and the door gunner.

M-79:  Single-shot 40mm grenade launcher.  Also known as 'The Thumper.'

Mad Minute:  Weapons free fire. Generally conducted at larger American LZs. Conducted at random intervals on perimeters to discourage infiltration.

Medevac:  Medical evacuation of wounded or injured by helicopter.

Mermite:  Large insulated food containers.

Mitey-mite:  Small single cylinder gasoline engines, usually used as pumps.

Mohawk:  Twin engine aircraft, used for reconnaissance. OV-1.  One of'em damn near killed me one night west of Pleiku.

Montagnards: A somewhat primitive tribal culture living in the Central Highlands.

Mortar:  Explosive launching tube, with sights, generally in 60 and 81 mm.

Number 1:  Slang.  Meaning the best.

Number 10:  Slang.  Meaning the worst.

Number 10,000:  Slang. Exaggeration of how terrible things can be.

No Sweat:  Easy.  No problem.

Nuoc mam:  Vietnamese fish sauce, prepared by burying various ingredients, primarily raw fish, in earthen jars until totally rotten. Very odoriferous.

(LZ) Oasis:  Major forward camp of the 1st CAV 108"2'E, 13'*48'N.  Located southwest of Pleiku.

Orbit:  Flying in circles over a specific location.

Paddy:  Rice field.

Pleiku:  Major city in Central Highlands. 108' 2' E, 14' N

Poncho Liner: Nylon blanket designed to be worn with the rubberized rain gear known as a poncho.  Considered to be one of the finer items of equipment to come out of the Vietnam war. Primary use:  blanket.

Periodic Inspection:  (PE) Conducted at 100 flying hour intervals.  Maintenance designed to reduce component failure.
 

(PZ) Pickup Zone. Area used to load troops prior to an assault

PMI:  Preventive Maintenance Inspection.  Conducted at 25 flying hour intervals.

POL:  Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants. Applied, in aviation units, to refueling sites.

Pop Smoke:  Activate a smoke grenade to indicate location or wind direction/velocity.

Province:  Political division in South Vietnam, roughly equivalent to a state.

P-38:  A small collapsible can opener.  A great little tool that could do anything.  Came packed with C-Rations.

Perforated Steel Plank:  (PSP) Used in construction of bunkers, and as hardstands for parking aircraft.  Long "planks" of steel with baseball sized holes in a pattern.

Puff the Magic Dragon:  AC-47 aircraft (WWII vintage - DC-3) armed with electric mini-guns. Extremely high rate of fire. Usually referred to as Puff or Spooky.

Qui Nhon:  Coastal city in central South Vietnam. Nice place to spend a day off 109'9'E, 13-45'N.

Rock'n'Roll:  Firing a weapon on full automatic.

Rest and Relaxation:  A week off, usually spent out of Vietnam, in cities such as Bangkok, Sydney, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

ROKS:  Republic of Korea.  Troops referred to as ROKS.  Very tough.

RRF:  Regional Reaction Forces in the Mekong Delta. Troops that could be moved fairly far from their home provinces. In the Cav, meant Ready Reaction Force - a standby team to be deployed during contact with the enemy. Later replaced by "QRF."

Rumor Control:  The most accurate troop at predicting the future, or the biggest rumor monger.

Sampan:  A small boat, generally having a thatched roof, used to move material on the rivers and coastal waters of Vietnam.

Sin City:  A recreational area built and supervised by the First Cavalry Division.

Skid:  Landing gear on helicopters.  Tubular metal, permanently fixed to the underside of the aircraft.

Sky Crane:  CH-54 helicopter. Largest helicopter, strictly for cargo or sling loading.  Also used to drop a few 10,000 pound bombs.

Sling Load:  Transporting cargo suspended by cable beneath the aircraft.

Smoke:  Huey equipped to inject oil into the engine exhaust, resulting in a dense white smoke. Laid between known or suspected enemy positions and allied operations to obscure vision.

SOP:  Standard Operating Procedure.

Straphanging:  Goldbricking, sandbagging. Also known as Ghosting.

TAC AIR:  Jet bombers.  Usually F-4s, or F-5s.  Also known as fast movers.

Taps:  Bugle call. Played at 2200 hrs daily to indicate lights out, also performed as a postlude to military funerals, or memorial service.

UH-ID:  Official nomenclature for the workhorse of the Vietnam War:  The Huey.

VC:  Viet Cong.

VFR:  Visual Flight Rules.  Apply when the air crews are in visual contact with the ground.

WIA:  Wounded in Action.