A easy guide to the most common military acronyms for “newbie” military spouses. Disclaimer: I use the term “Spouse” generally. Please know that I know that many of you are fiancés, girlfriends, boyfriends, or maybe a parent to your service member! I hope this guide works well for you too!
Welcome to the military family! You fell in love with a military member. You start thinking about how your lives would be: the places you will go, the people you will meet, the military balls. One day your service member comes home and you realize that they are speaking a language you DO NOT understand. Literally.
Anyone else??
SO, BAH, LES, OPSEC….What is he talking about??
I remember the first time I sat down to look at my husband’s LES (don’t worry, I’ll explain this in a bit). The acronyms were so confusing! I couldn’t tell what was what and I started to panic a little. Will I EVER understand all this?? I remember attempting to google all the acronyms in hopes that I would be able to find the answer and not have to ask my husband to translate. This did not go according to plan and I ended up with some trial and error in my sleuthing. I found out something very important that day.
The military has it’s own language.
Is it to save time? Maybe to keep paperwork more crisp and clean? Maybe they want to fully confuse all civilians by using this lingo? No matter the reason, the fact is, these acronyms are here to stay. But don’t you worry! I am here to help! Now past my newbie status, I have begun to master many of the acronyms and they are starting to become second nature.
So I am sharing with you!
Each branch has their own additional acronyms, but I want to make sure to provide you with a general good list of some of the most common acronyms across the different branches. Make sure to comment if I am missing others you feel are important!
- AD – Active Duty
- AWOL – Absent WithOut Leave – Not a good thing
- BAH – Basic Allowance for Housing – Allowance provided for those living OFF base (amount based off zip codes)
- BAS – Basic Allowance for Subsistence – used to pay for food for active duty military members.
- BOLC – Basic Officer Leader Course
- BT – Basic Training
- Chit– Request or Voucher
- CO – Commanding Officer
- COLA – Cost of Living Allowance – an extra allotment (similar to BAH, and BAS) that is given when living in areas with such an extremely high cost of living, that your pay, bah, and bas is not enough.
- CONUS – Continental United States
- DEERS – Defense Enrollment Eligibility enRollment System – is a way of verifying who is eligible to receive military benefits (you need this to get TriCare – military healthcare services).
- DFAC – Dining Facility – “Mess Hall” is the common slang for that.
- DITY – Do-It-Yourself Move – You pack, load and move all your items. These can be either a full or partial (military moves some of your items).
- DOD – Department of Defense
- EM – Enlisted Member
- ETA – Expected Time of Arrival
- FCP – Family Care Program
- FRG – Family Readiness Group – An officially command-sponsored organization of family members, volunteers, etc, which provide support and assistance, and a network of communications among the family members, the chain of command, and community resources.
- JAG – Judge Advocate General’s Corps – Military “Lawyers”
- KIA – Killed In Action
- KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid
- LES – Leave and Earning Statement – the “paycheck”. It will show you a breakdown of allotments, deductions and entitlements.
- LT – Lieutenant
- MEPS – Military Entrance Processing Center
- MIA – Missing In Action
- Milso – Military Significant Other – YOU!
- MP – Military Police
- NCO – Non-Commissioned Officer – A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not earned a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually obtain their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks.
- OCONUS – Outside of Continental United States
- OIC -Officer In Charge
- OPR – Officer Performance Report
- OPSEC – Operational Security Don’t tell anyone operational information, such as when/where your SO is going. This is extremely important, especially with social media.
- OTS/OCS – Officer Training School/Officer Candidate School
- PCS – Permanent Change of Station – I have talked about this a lot: military moves.
- PERSEC – Personal Security – Keep personal information private and secure.
- PFT – Physical Fitness Test
- POA – Power of Attorney – VERY IMPORTANT to have updated at all times!
- POV – Personally Owned Vehicle
- PPM – Personal Procured Move – another word for DITY
- PT – Physical Training
- ROTC – Reserve Officer Training Corps
- SGLI– Service member’s Group Life Insurance. – Provided to all service members in case the worst would happen. The service member is also able to opt for their significant others to have a policy, called a FSGLI (FAMILY Service member Group Life Insurance).
- SO – Significant Other – Also, YOU!
- TDY – Temporary Duty
- TLF – Temporary Living Facility
- TSP – Thrift Savings Plan – Federal Government-sponsored retirement savings and investment plan. The purpose of the TSP is to provide retirement income.
- USAF – United States Air Force
- USCG – United States Coast Guard
- USMC – United States Marine Corps
- USN – United States Navy
- VA – Department of Veteran Affairs
- WILCO – Will Comply
- WO – Warrant Officer
- XO – Executive Officer
As I said before, there are MANY more acronyms and lingo than I could possibly all write out, some very branch specific. However, I hope that this list will give you more confidence when reading orders, the LES and even just simply talking to your service member!
