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U.S
Common
Military
Acronyms
and
Terms
Term
Paper
Title:
U.S
Common
Military
Acronyms
and
Terms
Second Stage
4th Year
2019
2
Abstract
This study pretends to provide a solution to the existing research question of an
insufficient treatment of military terminology in the professional formation as
translators and interpreters of the English Language Major students from the
Universidad de Oriente. Its aim is to improve this professional formation by creating a
Glossary of U.S Common Military Acronyms and Terms, to offer a specific
terminological reference in English language of the codes and jargon employed for
this scenario to the ELM students. Subsequently, the scientific tasks for this second
stage of research were: To summarize the first stage of the report, to establish the
aspects that were taken into consideration for the selection and organization of the
U.S Military Acronyms and Terms and to create a glossary in order to make the most
Common U.S Military Acronyms and Terms available for those who may need it.
Therefore, the employed scientific methods were: analysis-synthesis, induction-
deduction, logical-historical and the structured observation.
3
Table
of
content
Abstract……………………………………………………………………….…. 3
Introduction. …………………………………………………………………….. 5
1.2 Role of the translators and interpreters in a military scenario and its
relation to the ELM students from the Universidad de
Oriente................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Glossary-Building…………………………………………………..13
Conclusions..…….………………………...……………………………….….. 19
Recommendations..……………………………………………………….….. 20
Bibliographic references………………………………………………………. 21
Annexes…………………………………………………………………………. 23
4
Introduction
By the time of establishing communication using regular English many words sound
similar and can be easily misunderstood, and the same is true for a few letters if you
attempt to spell something out. Clear, expedient communication is vital to any military
operation, and the everyday method of conveying ideas is not always suitable.
Without a solid understanding of what is being communicated, mistakes are likely to
be made and may even be lethal. For this reason the U.S. military uses many unique
items and concepts that civilians are not exposed to. Because of this and the need
for expedient, clear communication, service members are immersed in a linguistic
world apart from the daily life of a civilian, and acronyms are commonly used to make
big concepts easy to communicate.
The Cuban English Language Major (ELM) Modelo del Profesional states the
translators and interpreters careers as the Major´s main professional profiles, as well
as their formation as communicational mediators in scenarios like international
tourism, international events and affairs, along with trade relations of the same
nature. However, it does not include the role of the translators and interpreters in a
military related scenario. In the ELM from the Universidad de Oriente, this kind of
formation takes part of the teaching-learning process only on the subjects of National
Defense Preparation and National Security, and not in any other subject, providing
vocabulary used only in a national level, which could be of no use in case of
translating any foreign military related document, dealing with intelligence information
or acting as interpreters in an international gathering (U.N) to discuss military related
matters. This study takes into consideration the United States wide armed forces
industry development and language expansion, the historical relationship between
Cuba and the United States of America and the possible aspects of the translators
and interpreters inside the Cuban Armed Forces intelligence and international affairs
departments, for the students’ contextualization of the profession in this area. After
going through the archives of the ELM UO it was evident that the topic of military
terminology has not been sufficiently treated. Therefore, the author of this paper
states as the research question the insufficient treatment of military terminology in
the professional formation as translators and interpreters of the English Language
Major students from the Universidad de Oriente.
5
The object of this paper is the teaching learning process of translation-
interpretation.
The research domain is thus the use of military related acronyms and terms to
support the teaching-learning process of translation-interpretation.
The objective of this term paper is to improve the ELM students’ professional
formation by means of a Glossary of U.S Common Military Acronyms and Terms.
For the development of this study, it was divided into two stages. The scientific
tasks conducted for the first stage of the research were:
For a second stage of the research, these are the scientific tasks to follow:
6
Chapter
1:
Contextualization
of
the
translators
and
interpreters
in
the
military
scenario
1.1
THE
U.S
MILITARY
SLANG
OR
JARGON
The U.S military slang or jargon is the “standard U.S military and associated
terminology used to encompass the joint activity of the Armed Forces of the United
States (The Army, The Navy, The Marines, The Coast Guard and The Air Forces) in
both U.S joint and allied joint operations, as well as to encompass the Department of
Defense (DOD) as a whole.” (DOD Military Vocabulary Legislation, 12/04/2001)
Due to their capability of deploying a large contingent of soldiers, war material,
logistics, intelligence and counter-intelligence units, nuclear warheads and
technology all over the globe, they are considered the world´s most powerful armed
forces, and this title has also developed into a linguistic expansion of the vocabulary
employed by them. Sometimes, with the purpose of a better understanding by the
time of establishing communication among their units, is necessary the usage of
acronyms and specific terms.
Acronyms
OK Zero Killed
7
To this list can be included the phonetic alphabet adopted by NATO in 1956, that is
currently used by the U.S. military. More accurately, the alphabet is known as the
International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet (IRSA). The International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) developed the IRSA to account for discrepancies in
similar alphabets between different countries and organizations. Currently, the only
difference in the IRSA among countries that adopt it is the spelling of certain words,
such as Alfa for many European countries to avoid mispronunciations. The military
uses the IRSA to communicate for many different purposes including communicating
code, shorthand, slang, and certain acronyms.
For example, the phrase Tango Uniform correlates with the phrase tits up, which
refers to either a deceased individual or a broken piece of equipment. These types of
phrases may also arise from other forms of communication, such as the Naval saying
"bravo zulu" which means "well done". Rather than relating directly back to the first
letters of "well done," bravo zulu references flags of the same designation from a
maritime tactical signals publication.
A Alpha N November
B Bravo O Oscar
C Charlie P Papa
D Delta Q Quebec
E Echo R Romeo
F Foxtrot S Sierra
G Golf T Tango
H Hotel U Uniform
I India V Victor
J Juliet W Whiskey
K Kilo X X-ray
L Lima Y Yankee
M Mike Z Zebra
8
Its usage is simple; the word is spelled according to the first letter of the
correspondent word in the alphabet.
Even time can be expressed in a different way than the conventional one civilians are
used to, but military or commando movies and films have naturalized a little more this
employment. Nowadays is easy to understand when someone establishes a meeting
for the 1400 h, which actually means 2:00 pm.
Abbreviations
It is a term used for the shortened form of a written word or phrase used in the text in
the place of the whole, for economy of space and effort. Abbreviation is achieved
through the omission of letters a shortening of a word that can be written with
symbols, numbers and/or letters. Examples:
Some other terms are more specific for a military context, as can be KLICK which is
slang for kilometer, or JODY CALL which refers to the troop cadence for marching or
running.
9
1.2
ROLE
OF
THE
TRANSLATORS
AND
INTERPRETERS
IN
A
MILITARY
SCENARIO
AND
ITS
RELATION
TO
THE
ELM
STUDENTS
FROM
UNIVERSIDAD
DE
ORIENTE
The radio intelligence unit at the Guantanamo Base Border would be the perfect
example of such specialty development, by using translation and interpretation for
deciphering messages and continuous communications established from the Base to
the U.S Government and the other way around.
Other examples take place with the analysis of Cuba nowadays-international affairs
with other countries.
More than once the Republic has received diplomatic visitors, ambassadors and
representatives of other nations in official visit for improving international relations,
besides other nations Navy Forces and cadets, which in several occasions, at the
time of using English as the language of mutual communication, have employed U.S
military terminology. Also the participation of Cuba on international gatherings (U.N)
to discuss military related matters, that requires of prepared translators and
interpreters for obtaining a good communicational environment.
But what can bring for the translator interpreter in formation the fact of translating
texts of military character?
10
An interview to David de Soto, a veteran officer of the Intelligence Department from
the La Habana Military Region provided an answer for that question:
“Military translators and interpreters have been always demanded, not only in a
military context, but also for civilian institutions, just because texts of military
character are of an extreme variety. Are not focused in a concrete military aspect, but
have relation to most of the technic subjects, medicine and several branches of legal
translation, etc.”
The translators and interpreters cannot perform their professional activity without
having certain knowledge of the specialized terminology related to the contexts that
translate. The main aspect of specialized contexts is the terminology they present,
and the more specialized they become, the more is the terminology. This kind of
communication is basically characterized by how specific is the subject and its
cognitive perspective. Besides, the thematic specificity is reflected on the terminology
it contains.
Translators and interpreters are mediators between two native speakers of different
languages; they play their role by positioning themselves in the shoes of the person
who emitted the message and assuming his/her capabilities. If the translators and
interpreters do not act like that, he or she will hardly perform a good translation. To
assume the capability of a specialized text producer requires having knowledge of
the specific subject to be treated, to handle that content and the terminology to
express it.
For accomplishing the translation context to be (compared with the original), as literal
regarding content, stylistic adjustment and close to the lexical uses the original text
producer would have naturally employed as possible. Therefore, the translators and
interpreters should use terms. Translation as a practice is a process of information
transference between different languages, in which terminology plays an outstanding
role (Cabré M., Teresa; El traductor y la terminología: necesidad y compromiso,
Barcelona, España)
11
That happens because specialists, natural producers of the specialized speech,
usually employ terminological units in expression processes and knowledge sharing,
due every specialty have disposition of these specific units to represent their
concepts. That is why the quality of a specialized translation requires terminology,
adequate to the context specialized level, as a usual resource. In consequence,
terminology is of a relevant importance for translation interpretation.
But not all languages have the referred terminology, even less coded into glossaries
or databases, sufficiently upgraded to answer for the needs of the translators and
interpreters. That is the reason why terminological problem solving emerged from the
bibliography lack of information during the translation activity, or even when it does
appear, presents insufficient background for a correct selection of the equivalent unit.
There is no doubt the translator and interpreter must acquire the correct terminology
during the translation process for getting a quality product, and to create and keep
glossaries obviously supposes great amount of time and effort, but for who
understands its importance is precisely time and effort what is saving.
Even though, most of the existing glossaries do not satisfy the needs of translators
and interpreters. Reasons more than evident are outdating, insufficient information,
not worthy quality, and some time the inexistence of the specific subject glossary. A
glossary destined to solve problems emerged from translation and interpretation of a
specific subject, must be related and to be created according to the needs of this
professional.
Such arguments respond for the proposal of creation of an English Glossary of U.S
Common Military Acronyms and Terms, due it solves not only the problem of finding
the specific term related to the subject, but that provides the explanation of the term
and makes influence on a better comprehension of the given message.
12
Chapter
2:
Glossary-‐Building
This research work is committed to bring a greater understanding, as well as
providing knowledge of, some specific acronyms and terms of U.S military usage by
offering a glossary on U.S. Common Military Acronyms and Terms.
The following are some of the main features of glossaries that briefly describe their
usefulness:
Accuracy
The first important reason for the creation of glossaries is accuracy in the use of
terms in a translation. The more accurate the translation is, the more trustable it
becomes. If a person works with a language service provider to develop a glossary of
specific terms, which may or may not have been translated previously, the translation
team would be fully equipped to choose the correct term in the target language.
13
Language is very flexible and everyone has a diverse sense of language, so the
usage of different ways to refer the same thing is common. This is a chance to give
translators essential information about the meaning of a term.
Consistency
Consistency will also improve if a glossary is created before translation. A list of key
terms along with their corresponding definitions will help ensure that the correct terms
are consistently used throughout the text. For the case of the technical translation it
would be unacceptable for a word to be translated differently each time. The same
way, in other languages there is a range of choices available, and a glossary will
make sure that the correct choice is made.
Translation
Speed
Using a translation glossary can also have the added bonus of speeding up the
translation process. An actual fact is that a good translator uses most of his or her
time researching things like phrasing, wording and background information rather
than actual translation. To find the perfect term can certainly reduce the total time an
assignment can take to a translator, avoiding unnecessary research and effort. It
equally removes the need for a translator to continually type the term over and over
again.
14
2.4
The
usefulness
of
the
proposed
glossary
to
the
ELM
Students
A glossary was selected rather than any other material because for its usefulness to
language students and professionals. The importance of its employment is
highlighted during the development of the translation and interpretation activity with a
specific vocabulary to make reference of processes, objects, etc.
Even though, most of the existing glossaries do not satisfy the needs of translators
and interpreters. Reasons more than evident are outdating, insufficient information,
not worthy quality, and some time the inexistence of the specific subject glossary. A
glossary destined to solve problems emerged from translation and interpretation of a
specific subject, must be related and to be created according to the needs of this
professional.
Such arguments respond for the creation of an English Glossary of U.S Common
Military Acronyms and Terms, due it solves not only the problem of finding the
specific term related to the subject, but that provides the explanation of the term and
makes influence on a better comprehension of the given message.
15
2.5
Characterization
of
the
Glossary
on
U.S
Common
Military
Acronyms
and
Terms
0–9
0K – Zero Killed (pronounced OK, as the expression that everything is okay)
1LT – First Lieutenant (U.S. Army) (USMC uses "1Lt" and USAF uses "1st Lt")
2LT – Second Lieutenant (U.S. Army) (USMC uses "2Lt" and USAF uses "2d Lt")
16
A
AAR – After Action Review
AB – Airbase
H
HALO – High Altitude Low Opening Airborne
HE – High Explosive
17
J
JA – Judge Advocate [General]
18
Conclusions
It is expected that the present term paper has succeeded in the achievement of the
objective proposed at the beginning of this work, by compiling and organizing useful
information about U.S Military Acronyms and Terms and creating a glossary as a tool
for the translation interpretation process; also by providing information about the U.S
military slang or jargon commonly used, a phenomenon that can constitute a difficulty
faced by the students of the ELM in their future positions as translators and
interpreters in the translation-interpretation process; which is especially the case of
translating any foreign military related document, dealing with intelligence information
or acting as interpreters in an international gathering (U.N) to discuss military related
matters, which are the perfect environment for these language term variations to
appear.
19
Recommendations
The following are some recommendations to consider for this stage of the research:
20
Bibliographic
References
1. Ojeda Amador, Grisel: History of Translation and Interpretation in Cuba
Interactive Multimedia; Cuba–Canada Symposium on Translation, Interpretation
and Terminology, celebrated in Cuba, March 2011
3. Rojas Crespo, María de las Nieves El rol del intérprete desde la perspectiva de
las Fuerzas Armadas; Abril de 2017
8. http://Www.Acronymfinder.Com/Ate-The-Fudge-Up-(polite-form%3B-Military-
Slang-For-Smoeone-Constantly- Making-Mistakes)-(ATFU).Html
10. Clifton, Grace, "Making the Case for the BRAT (British Regiment Attached
Traveler)", British Educational Research Journal, Vol. 30, No. 3 2004
11. Adams, Leah; Kirova, Anna (2006). Global Migration and Education. Mahwah,
21
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. pp. 263–64.ISBN 0-8058-5838-
5{{inconsistent citations}}
12."CASEX"(http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/CASEX). TheFreeDictionary.com.
Retrieved 31 July 2015.
13. http://militarywords.com/result.aspx?term=JAFO
14.https://www.militaryonesource.mil/military-life-
cycle/friendsextended_family/common-military-acronyms
16.https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-
list_alphabetically/d/dod-acronyms.html
17. https://www.acronymslist.com/cat/us-army-acronyms-(official).html
18. https://www.acronymfinder.com/Department-of-Defense-(US-government)-
(DoD).html
22
Annexes
Annex 1
Military Bases
Troops
23
24
Annex 2
4. What should bring the military text translating learning for the translation
interpretation professional in formation?
5. Do you consider of importance the role of the translator interpreter in the military
context? Why?
25