Bolter: When an aircraft lands on a carrier for the arrested recovery or ‘trap’ it approaches slightly above stall-speed. As the plane hits the deck, the pilot applies full power as he could ‘bolter’ or fail to catch with the tail hook one of four arresting wires stretched across the deck. If these are missed, there is power to get airborne and go around again.
Boron shield: Light-weight armoured shielding — protects against high explosive or armour-piercing projectiles.
C–2A: Carrier based greyhound aircraft — same basic airframe as the E–2C but used as a workhorse for transporting spare parts, mail and personnel. A COD.
C–130: The Hercules medium-range high-wing military transport aircraft — powered by four turboprop engines.
CATCC: Carrier Air Traffic Control Centre.
Cavitation: A high-velocity bullet may cause a small entry wound but transfers its momentum to surrounding tissues when in the body. The shock-wave pulsations cause great internal damage — up to 40 times missile diameter. This is the area of cavitation.
CentCom: President Carter’s Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) later became CentCom or Central Command.
CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States.
COD: Carrier on-board delivery. Applied to the greyhound C–2A aircraft.
Comms: Communications.
Comms op: A possibly covert communications mission.
COMOPS: Command operations.
Condition Blue: Some forces use colours to designate degrees of readiness. Condition Red. Condition Black. And so on.
Condition One: McMurdo weather classification. Three: normal. Two: caution. One: danger.
Conflag: A fire station.
CT: Computerised tomography.
CV: A conventionally-powered American aircraft carrier.
CVBG: Carrier battle group.
CVN: A nuclear-powered carrier.
DOP: Director of Photography.
E–2C: The ‘Hawkeye’ carrier-based Grumman early warning aircraft. A mini-AWAC. A large round radar dish mounted on its upper fuselage provides the ‘eye in the sky’ for a carrier battle group (CVBG).
EPIRB: Emergency position-indicating radar beacon.
F–14: The Tomcat fighter — a two-seat supersonic interceptor with ‘attack capability’.
Fentanyclass="underline" A drug that can cause muscle rigidity and stop respiration.
Finnified: Finnified snow is snow crystallised with ice — resembles loose gravel.
FLIR: Forward-looking infra-red. An aid to night navigation. Can provide a real-time thermal image of approaching terrain.
FOD: Foreign object debris (and damage) — a constant concern with aircraft. A forgotten spanner, stray washer or nut can disastrously damage aircraft systems.
GCA: Ground-control approach.
GE: General Electric.
GIGN: The Groupe d’Intervention de Gendarmerie Nationale — French special forces.
GPS: Global positioning system — the satellite-based navaid.
Guard skin doubler: A strengthened strip in the C–130 fuselage in line with the prop arc. A broken prop will come through the fuselage as crashes have proved.
Hagglunds: A Swedish-made tracked all-terrain vehicle used in Antarctica. Twin cabin design.
Hangar queen: A problem aircraft that spends most of its time out of service. Often gets cannibalised for parts to support flight schedules of other planes.
Hawkeye: The C–2A aircraft.
HF: High frequency.
Hornet: The F/A–18 fighter aircraft (US Navy/Marine Corps designation).
Huffers: Engine-starting equipment.
Hypnagogic jerk: A bodily start experienced shortly before going to sleep.
ICU: Intensive care unit.
Ingram: A basic but robust submachine-gun.
INS: Inertial navigation system. Independent of external references.
IR: Infra-red.
JATO: Jet-assisted take-off. In fact, rocket-assisted, so a misnomer, and now termed ATO. The C–130 mounted eight JATO bottles, four on each side forward of the jump doors.
Joker: Joker is the fuel state above Bingo that would allow successful disengagement from an air-combat manoeuvre.
JP8: Primary fuel used in Antarctica — aviation fuel oil similar to diesel.
Karabiner: A strong metal oval with a spring-loaded gate in one side. An essential tool for rope work.
Kevlar: A light, immensely tough carbon fibre fabric used as body armour by special forces. Effective against most bullets including high velocity rounds.
Komitet: KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti).
Lats: Bodybuilder’s cant for the latissimus dorsi muscle.
Lollywood: Pakistan’s equivalent to Bollywood.
LSO: The Landing Signals Officer or ‘air boss’ on a carrier.
M249: Bipod-mounted 5.56mm Belgian light machine gun. Mag or belt-fed.
M–4: 9mm Spectre submachine-gun.
MDR: Motion detection radar — detects movement through masonry walls and other non-metal barriers.
Melt belclass="underline" Some polar bases need to make water from ice. A heated metal bell-shaped object lowered into the ice forms a cavern with water at the bottom.
Mossad: Israel’s central institute for intelligence and security.
MP5: Reliable and accurate Heckler & Koch sub-machine-gun.
MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.
MSA: Minimum safe altitude.
Myonecrosis: Death of muscle tissue.
N–1: Gyro compass used at the time in C–130s. Two were fitted.
NFOs: The back-end boys in the ‘tube’ of an E–2C. (CICO: Combat Information Centre Officer, ACO: Air Control Officer, RO: Radar Operator.)
Nicad: Nickel cadmium.
Nip: Frost nip. A mild version of frostbite.
NM: Nautical miles.
NSWC: Naval Special Warfare Center, Coronado, CA.
NVG: Night vision goggle(s).
OAE: ‘Old Antarctic explorer’. Term for repeat visitors.
Omega: Long-range hyperbolic radio navigation aid.
Pak One: The plane in which President Zia of Pakistan and the cream of his military staff died when it inexplicably crashed.
PAR: Precision approach radar.
Parabellum: A German term meaning ‘for war’. Used to distinguish 9mm Parabellum cartridges from 9mm short.
PDW: Personal defence weapon. A conveniently stowed and handled sub-compact used as a subsidiary weapon, for instance by tank crews.
PIM: Point and intended movement.
Pri-Fly: Primary flight control on a CV.
Prusiks: Loops of thin rope which, when secured around a standing line, provide a moveable purchase or stirrup. Used in pairs. Now supplanted by jumars — mechanical devices with a gripping and releasing action.