Young Writers Society

Hello there I am currently creating a story and I've gotten a bit caught up with military jargon. To be honest I have no idea of how the system works, what the technical terms are for certain aspect etc. Although I haven't worked out the entire plot line for this particular story I know that at least two of my characters will have been involved with the military recently no matter what happens. I don't need deep in depth knowledge but a little bit can go a long way since I feel like I know nothing at the moment. (Kinda feeling like Jon Snow...)

So, what I'm really looking for is someone who could go through with me the basics (at first) of how the military roughly operates, how it can be organised and with all the important terms explained. This is to ensure my characters sound like they have actually been in combat etc. If anyone could shout out a, "Hey I know military stuff!" to me who are willingly to answer any questions on this subject it would be a huge help. Or maybe someone knows of a site thats like a book for dummies on this?

Either way, I hope someone here can help me out/ point me in the right direction! I shall be eternally grateful!!

I gotcha covered. Send me a PM!

Thank you!

Any chance you guys can post some stuff in this thread when you're done? I'm curious too!

Exactly what points of "military" are you looking for? I'm sure you've gotten all the command chain correct so I think you are asking for communication jargon? Am I right? If I'm correct on this guess you can totally ask me anything on that.

My stock of jargon would definitely be different from the U.S. Military jargon though. There are differences as you go from branch to branch so just imagine the difference between countries!

Here are some notes I have gotten so far:

What is it called when they are sent out?

Deployments! Common phrases to describe this are "shipped overseas", "TDY" (temporary duty; this may be used to describe work-related travel of less than 30 days, BUT as far as I know it's also Air Force-only lingo), "going to the sandbox" (for more recent conflicts), and someone's status is "deployed". One deployment is called a "tour".

What are the groups called i.e how is it organised?

It depends on what type of unit, which branch they're in, and how far down the food chain (chain of command) you want to go. Most commonly you'll see "platoon" for infantry, "squadron" for cavalry, and "flight" for Air Force.

Here is a list of how it is organised, starting from the smallest 'group':
ARMY/Infantry//AIR FORCE
Fireteam//(no equivalent) are 4-5 people and are the most basic unit for STX (small unit tactics)
Squad//Element squads are controlled (theoretically) by Sergeants, 2 Fireteams per squad
Platoon//Flight no more than 100 people (infantry) and typically land at about 50-70, have 2-4 (usually four) squads
Company//Squadron usually 100-200 people, although they could get as large as 300 especially in infantry companies, made of 2-4 platoons
Battalion//Group between 200-500 soldiers with 2 or more companies
Brigade/Regiment//Wing; Brigades are for regiments which are self-sufficient...or something like that. Probably something you want to look up to be certain.
Division//Numbered Air Force 10,000 to 20,000 people divided into regiments
Corps (pronounced "core")//Major Commands (MAJCOM)

(All additional information in red is in relation to the Army, not the Air Force.)

When they return from a 'tour' of fighting roughly how long of a break would they receive before they may be called out again?

Depends on the branch. The Air Force is actually talking about changing this pattern in the near future. Typically the Army will go out for 12-15 months and come back for about the same. Right now the Air Force varies by what "job" (AFSC, Air Force Specialty Code; in the Army, this is MOS, Military Occupation Specialties), but typically it's a 6 month on/12 month off or 6 month on/6 month off rotation. Some jobs rarely or never deploy; some people volunteer to deploy if an opportunity presents itself.

What the ranks are within the army?

Basically you have enlisted troops, non-commissioned officers (higher-ranking enlisted), and officers of company, field, and general grade (lieutenants and captains to colonels to generals). Rank is also not synonymous with position, although you typically or must have certain ranks for certain positions.

List of ranks:
ARMY//AIR FORCE
Private (basic)//Airman Basic --These guys are going through basic training
Private//Airman --aka "mosquito wings" because it's one chevron
Private First Class//Airman First Class --for the exceptional, just starting out
Corporal//Senior Airman --this is where the rank insignia starts to get different for Air Force
Sergeant (both)
Staff Sergeant (both)
Sergeant First Class//Technical Sergeant --aka "tech sergeant"
Master Sergeant (both)
First Sergeant//First Sergeant --apparently in the Air Force there are three different kinds and they outrank different types of Master Sergeant...look it up!
Sergeant Major//Senior Master Sergeant
Command Sergeant Major//Chief Master Sergeant
Command Sergeant Major of the Army//Chief MSGT of the Air Force (only one of them at a time!)
ARMY abbreviations: PVT, CPL, SGT, SSGT, SFC, MSGT, 1st SGT, SMG, CSM

Officers: these are the same for everyone (except Navy, because Navy is crazy)
Second Lieutenant/2nd LT (aka "butter bar" because the insignia is one gold bar)
First Lieutenant (silver bar)/1st LT
Captain (two silver bars, aka "railroad tracks")/CPT
Major (gold leaf cluster)/MAJ
Lieutenant Colonel (silver leaf cluster; notice silver trumps gold?)/LTC
Colonel (aka "full bird" because the insignia is an eagle with wings outstretched)/COL
Brigadier General (one star; generals can also be referred to by this moniker)/Brig Gen
Lieutenant General (2 star)/LT Gen
Major General (3 star)/MAJ Gen
General (4 star)/Gen
At one point, there was also a "5 Star", ie General of the Army. I think General George C. Marshall was the last one of these, or Eisenhower; either way, there hasn't been one since WWII.

Who are known as soldiers?

"Soldiers" speak specifically to the Army. The other services go by airmen (Air Force, and yes it's always masculine), sailors (Navy), and Marines (self-explanatory). If you want to describe "soldiers" generally, meaning mixed branches, they're "service members". Veterans are anyone who has served; those who served in combat are "[War name] veterans" (for example, WWII veteran, Vietnam veteran, Afghanistan veteran, etc).

Note: This information is from Gladius so all credit for this goes to her! Also explains why it sometimes says 'I'. If I have made any mistakes send me a PM and I'll edit and correct it. I will post more when I find out more. Hope this helps!

PiesAreSquared wrote:Exactly what points of "military" are you looking for? I'm sure you've gotten all the command chain correct so I think you are asking for communication jargon? Am I right? If I'm correct on this guess you can totally ask me anything on that.

My stock of jargon would definitely be different from the U.S. Military jargon though. There are differences as you go from branch to branch so just imagine the difference between countries!

At the moment I am just wanting to know basic information so I can gain a base knowledge of this topic and my characters seem realistic. So that I'm not just throwing together terms that may or may not be connected to what I am talking about.

Once I know the basics I can then begin to try and understand the jargon. You could be a great help then I'm sure. Does what you know relate to the British system then? The characters are British and in the British army so specific terms surrounding that would be perfect!

My knowledge is closer to British Army. What you were given is closer to U.S. stuff which I myself don't fully understand.

Really though, I could just copy-paste because https://www.army.mod.uk/structure/32321.aspx Well, why else..

Private (Basic) would be called a recruit. Plain simple Recruit. At least it is recruit here in this former colony of Britain.

Structure wise those are general numbers for formations.

To use specific terms, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_ ... itish_Army You have every big command name there
(Alll links accessed on 27-04-2014 8:13AM GMT+8 are correct)
That's not all I have, but I think it does the job.