Vietnam Glossary Terms [Archive] - Marine Corps

thedrifter

08-12-02, 02:02 PM

MABS: Marine Air Base Squadron
MACV: Military Assistance Command, Vietnam; the highest U.S. military command in Vietnam, based at Saigon
MAF: Marine Amphibious Force
MAG: Marine Aircraft Group, composed of operational squadrons and headquarters and service units; e.g., MAG-16, based at MCAF Futema, Okinawa
Maggie's drawers: a complete miss at a target; a red flagged waved by the Marines who are pulling butts to taunt the shooter who missed his target completely
MAW: Marine Aicraft Wing, composed of operational aircraft groups and headquarters and service units; e.g., First Marine Aircraft Wing, Reinforced, based at Iwakuni, Japan
MCAF: Marine Corps Air Facility; e.g., MCAF Futema, Okinawa
MCAS: Marine Corps Air Station; e.g., MCAS El Toro, California
MCB: Marine Corps Base; e.g., MCB Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
MCRD: Marine Corps Recruit Depot; e.g., MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina
med evac: medical evacuation of casualties from the battle scene, usually by helicopter
MLR: main line of resistance; the area where the most defensive firepower is concentrated
MSR: main supply route; the route between the hooch and the PX
mustang: a Marine officer who had prior service in the enlisted ranks
MWSG: Marine Wing Service Group

nei-san: pidgin Japanese for girl or young woman
number one: the best
number ten: the worst
Nung: Vietnamese ethnic minority of Sino ethno-lineage from whose ranks fighters were recruited to perform mercenary work against the Viet Cong, but not necessarily for the South Vietnamese government
nuoc mam: fermented fish sauce applied liberally by the Vietnamese on everything they eat; awful smelling stuff
NVA: North Vietnamese Army

office hours: non-judicial punishment meted out at the discretion of the commanding officer or first sergeant; rulings and punishments are arbitrary and at the discretion of whoever is presiding
Old Corps: any period of Marine Corps history that old salts say they served in; during my term of enlistment (1961-1966) the Old Corps meant the period of time before the Ribbon Creek/McKeon Incident at Parris Island Marine Recruit Depot, April 8, 1956
1/1: First Battalion of the First Marine Regiment, referred to as One One; battalions in the Marine Corps are referred to by the number of their battalion and then to their parent regiment; e.g., 3/9 - Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, or three nine
Ontos: a lightly armored anti-tank tracked vehicle mounting six 106 millimeter recoiless rifles
OP: outpost

PAVN: People's Army of Vietnam, what the NVA was called before it was called that
pee: piaster, the South Vietnamese monetary unit; also called dong; in 1964, the official rate of exchange was 72 piasters to one U.S. dollar, or 134 piasters to one U.S. dollar in the black market; pl., pees
peon: an enlisted man, usually of lower rank
P.I.: Parris Island, South Carolina; hell on earth
pis cutter: garrison cap
pogey bait: candy, sweets
pogey rope: French fourragere worn by the 5th and 6th Marines, awarded to those two regiments by the French government for gallantry during World War One
port: left, left side; window
PRC-10: a back-packable radio transceiver; pronounced prick ten
pucker factor: degree of contraction of one's anus which is relative to the degree of danger one perceives himself to be in; rated one to ten (the tightest)
punji: sharpened bamboo stakes intended to injure or kill the hapless G.I. who falls or steps on one

R and R: rest and recuperation; a short leave from the war zone to an area where one might find sex, alcohol, sex, clean living quarters, sex, recreation, and sex.
rack: n., bunk; bed
recon: v., to make a reconnaissance; check things out; n., a reconnaissance unit
right seat: the place where the helicopter aircraft commander (HAC) sits; the HAC
Rock, the: Okinawa
round eye: a Caucasian, usually refering to a white woman

S-1: administrative section of a battalion/squadron or lower echelon
S-2: intelligence section
S-3: operations and training section
S-4: supply and logistics section
saddle up: put on packs and prepare to move out
Saigon tea: the drink the American G.I.s buy their female bar companions to get the girls to sit with them, usually non-alcoholic
salt: n., a Marine who has been through several enlistments, who has been in combat, who served in the "Old Corps"
salty: adj., describing a person or object that has been around since Christ was a corporal
same-same: the same as
sandbagger: a slacker, someone who is not pulling his own weight; someone who is doing as little as possible
SAR: search and rescue; also the name of the Combat Recovery Team (CRT) prior to October 1964
scuttlebutt: rumor
782 gear: Marine Corps issue field equipment consisting of packs, webgear, shelter half, tent poles, canteen and cover, entrenching tool, cartridge belt, magazine pouches, first aid kit, etc.; named for the form number that had to be filled out to draw the issue
ship over: to re-enlist
****: combat; as when the **** hits the fan (when combat is most intense)
**** can: n., trash can; v., to throw away
short round: an artillery shell or mortar round that falls short of its intended target
short time: a one shot sexual intercourse, lasting between thirty seconds to thirty minutes, depending on the condition of the Marine
short timer: someone who had very little time left to serve in Vietnam or in the military service
Shu-Fly: the code name for U.S. Marine helicopter operations in Vietnam between 1961 and 1965
sick bay: naval medical clinic
sitrep: situation report; a report issued by a unit at regular intervals, or when requested, to report on its activities and findings, or lack of such.
skipper: commanding officer
skivvies: underwear
skivvy house: house of prostitution
slick: a passenger carrying helicopter
slop chute: store having food, drinks, and games
smoke: smoke grenade
smoke your zone: what the pilot of the helicopter or the forward air observer tells personnel on the ground to do in order to mark their position
smoking lamp: referring to a space of time when cigar/cigarette smoking is permitted; e.g. - "The smoking lamp is lit for one cigarette and one cigarette only." or "The smoking lamp is out until we are airborne."
snoop and poop: to perform a reconnaissance
SOP: standard operating procedure
sorry 'bout that: expression used when something goes awry, such as when one throws a grenade at the wrong people
south: South Vietnam; usually going down south - meaning that one is going to Vietnam
souvenir: adopted by the Vietnamese to mean give, such as in - "Hey G.I., you number one. You souvenir me baby, okay?"
squid: sailor
stacking swivel: neck, as in "if you don't get your **** together I'll grab you by your stacking swivel and choke the living **** out of you"
starboard: right side
stinger: a UH-34D helicopter armed with rockets and machineguns; a helicopter gunship
straight arrow: a Marine who remained faithful to their spouse
strategic hamlet: a fortified Vietnamese hamlet
strike: n., assault, usually launched from helicopters
survey: v., to place that item in surplus, or to ****can it
swabby: same same sailor

TAD: temporary additional duty
TAOR: tactical area of responsibility
Tet: Vietnamese lunar new year, usually falling during the end of January or beginning of February
thump gunner: grenadier armed with the M-79 grenade launcher
tiger flight: n., a heliborne tactic that uses a helicopter or light aircraft as decoy to draw fire, then, once fire is received, will engage the enemy position with aerial weapons or will land right on the suspected enemy positions and deposit troops who will close with the enemy and destroy him
top: master sergeant
Tourane: the French name for the city of DaNang before 1954
troop and stomp: close order drill
twidget: an aviation electrician

VC: Viet Cong
ville: city, town, or any cluster of huts
VMA: Marine attack squadron; literally, heavier-than-air Marine aircraft attack squadron
VMCJ: Marine composite reconnaissance squadron
VMF: Marine fighter squadron
VMF(AW): Marine fighter squadron, all-weather
VMGR: Marine aerial refueling and transport squadron
VMO: Marine observation squadron
VNAF: Vietnamese Air Force, pronounced Vee Naff

WIA: wounded in action
willy peter: white phosphorus ordnance, small arms bullet, grenade, shell, or bomb
WM: a woman Marine; a BAM

xich-lo: pronounced sick low, the Vietnamese pedicab that was the primary non-pedestrian mode of transportation in the ville
xin loi: pronounced sin loy, meaning "sorry", like in "No money, no honey. Xin loi, G.I."
XO: executive officer

Yankee Mike: the phonetical for YM, the tail code for all HMM-365 aircraft

zap: to kill
zip, zipperhead: Vietnamese
zippo: a cigarette lighter; named for a cigarette lighter manufacturer, ZIPPO Lighters
zulu time: Greenwich Mean Time

Sempers

Roger