(Newswire.net — December 12, 2020) —
The military alphabet has been around for quite some time, and in many ways has become an established distinct language of its own. Today, after years of research and field testing, the military alphabet has proven to become a global form of military, naval, and aviation communication. Its origin story can be traced back to the years of great global conflict such as that of World War I and II, and although it has gone through multiple changes and adaptions – today the military alphabet is easily understood, spoken, and used by a plethora of cultures, people, and in various dialects.
The following guide will give you a better understanding of how to use this alphabet, and ultimately how it works.
Understanding how the military or phonetic alphabet works
It’s quite simple to grasp the idea that during times of conflict and war, communication is one of the most important elements for any military group or aviation personnel. Easy communication between infantry members, such as sharing coordinates, devising a plan of action, or simply trying to convey a certain message between one another when communication is bad or blurred can become the fine line between life or death.
To easily eliminate poor communication or having to share long and tedious sentences or words, especially via radio communication should be kept short and concise – a new set of words were allocated to each letter of the alphabet. This meant, that those out in the field or air can easily liaise with one another or ground control using short words or phrases.
The results were this, for example, each letter of the alphabet has a designated assigned word. Alpha is for the letter A, Bravo for B, Charlie for C, Delta for D, and so on. As one might imagine, having these clear and concise words for every letter can become a very tedious process to memorize and use when needed.
Using the military alphabet
As mentioned above, we now know that each letter has a designated word, so to make things easier for those using it – researchers and military groups have designed or established their own set of phrases, using the phonetic alphabet.
For example, during times of distress or conflict, someone would simply have to radio or communicate with troop members – November (N) Golf (G) meaning No Good. Another good example would be, Oscar-Mike meaning On the Move. This meant that military and aviation personnel could quickly communicate with each other, and immediately understand the situation that may be occurring miles away.
Using the military alphabet via radio communication
Radio communication, especially in the military is the most important form of cross-communication between multiple troop members and their higher officials. For them to have an established method of using the military alphabet, these entities have a strict platform of tactical communication that is adhered to whenever communication via radio.
The first is having a clear call sign for the beginning of the message. A call sign is simply a specific name or easily identifiable nickname for each person. For example, the opening of a radio transmission would look something like “Hey Maverick, this is Snowman…Over.” This idea came to life for members to identify themselves without revealing too much information. Other important actions such as frequent radio check-ins and prowords such as I Verify “I am verifying message/info upon request” or Copy “Message received” are also key elements to the procedure of conducting a successful radio transmission.
How to memorize the alphabet?
Although it might be a lot easier to learn the military alphabet, as opposed to learning a whole new language, the same rules would apply here as well. Key things to consider when learning the alphabet is that you’ll need to write it out first and understand that each letter has one specific assigned word. Furthermore, you can record yourself saying each letter and word, whether it’s from A – Z, Z – A or randomly, have a firm grasp of each word. Test yourself, whenever you can, or ask a friend to test your skills.
Learning the alphabet would mean you would be able to make use of a skill that has helped thousands of military troops and aviation personnel easily communicate during times of danger and battle.