How to Interpret US Navy Acronyms

Acronyms save time and space-as long as you know what they mean. Most acronyms come from the first letter of each word. Outside of the Internet, one of the largest users of acronyms is the military. No wonder military jargon can sound like a foreign language. Follow these steps to interpret the acronyms of the US Navy.

Instructions

1. Understand that the Navy uses literally hundreds of acronyms. Many apply to only specific facets of the Navy, like naval aviators or the naval oceanic office known as NAVOCEANO.

2. Know that people pronounce some navy acronyms as words. One well-known example that we commonly think of as a word is actually an acronym--RADAR, for "Radio Detection And Ranging." Other examples include AWOL for "Absent Without Leave," CHAMPUS for "Civilian Health and Medical Program for the Uniformed Services," CINCUSNAVEUR for "Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces Europe" and NATO to mean "North Atlantic Treaty Organization."

3. Pronounce most acronyms by the letters, however. For instance, "very high frequency" is shortened to VHF; "Air Combat Maneuvers" to ACM; "Aqueous Fire Fighting Foam" to
   AFFF; "Naval Criminal Investigation Service" to NCIS and "Officer-in-Charge" is referred to as OIC.

4. Familiarize yourself with two-letter acronyms. Two letter acronyms that end with "D" often mean "duty," as "active duty" or AD. When a two-letter acronym ends with "O," think "officer"-CO (commanding officer), JO (junior officer) and XO (executive officer).

5. Look up US Navy acronyms in the Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations.

6. Search for the meaning to many commonly used naval acronyms among several websites, including NavySpouses.com or NavyAcronyms.com.