My Story: First Call
His voice came through a crackled phone line. My heart almost left my chest, and I could feel my palms get sweaty as my fingers white knuckled the phone trying to hear his words. I couldn't stop smiling. 30 seconds into our conversation my cheeks burned from pure joy. Each sentence he spoke he had to stop and explain an abbreviation, but I didn't care. It was the first time I heard his voice in 25 days.
AB - Airman Basic
A1C - Airman First Class
ABU - Airman Battle Uniform
AF - Air Force
AFB - Air Force Base
AFIT - Air Force Institution of Technology
AFROTC - Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps
AFSC - Air Force Specialty Code
Airman - Airman is the title given to all men & women in the AF regardless of rank
Amn - Airman
ASVAB - Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, the basic test a person takes before they enlist into the Air Force. Their score on this test will determine what kinds of jobs they qualify for in the AF.
Base - An established location that the United States Air Force uses as a center of operations
Base Passes - Without a military or DoD card civilians cannot enter the Base without the sponsorship of an Airman or a printed base pass acquired from an Airman.
Base Liberty - Privilege granted to visit on-base facilities and enjoy free time away from training. Airman on Base Liberty are restricted to the base and cannot leave.
BHA - Basic Housing Allowance
BMT - Basic Military Training
BX - Base Exchange, the grocery/supply/clothing store on base
CAC Card - Airman's military ID card
CQ - Control to Quarters
DoD - Department of Defense
Dream Sheet - Job and assignment preferences worksheet, usually filled out during BMT
Duty Station - Home Base where an Airman is assigned for 2-4 years
EC - Entry Controller
FLT - Flight: a group of Airmen that are training together, consisting of approximately 45-60 trainees
FY - Fiscal Year
MEPS - Military Entrance Processing Station
MTI - Military Training Instructor
MTL - Military Training Leader
OPSEC - Operations Security
PERSEC - Personnel Security System (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
PT - Physical Training
PS&E - Positive Support and Encouragement
PSC - Postal Service Center
RAP - Recruiter Assistant Program
Retreat - Signals the end of the official duty day, and serves as a ceremony for paying respect to the U.S. flag. During Retreat all Airman are expected to stop, face the flag, and salute until the end of retreat is played over the loudspeakers. If vehicles are driving on base, they are expected to safely pull to the right side of the road and park until the end of retreat is played.
Reveille - Musical signal for the start of the duty day
Service Dress - Complete Blue Uniform
SQ - Squadron (unit) that an Airman is assigned
Tapping Out - Releasing an Airman from flight formation.
TDY - Temporary Duty/Deployment
Town Pass - Opportunity for the Airman to leave base to go into town. Mostly occurs during graduation weekend in BMT
Trainee - A person that is in BMT. This term may carry over until an Airman graduates from Technical School
Tech School - Where an Airman receives his or her technical training before arriving at their first Duty Station
TRS - Training Squadron; used primarily in BMT
USAF - United States Air Force
VARL - Visitors Access Request Letter/Base Pass. Mainly used during BMT for a trainee to request base access for family and friends to visit the base during graduation weekend.
341 - Excellence/Discrepancy Report. Trainees and Airman must carry this form around with them at all times. They must have no less than two and no more than four on their person at all times while in uniform. If they do something wrong they will have to pull out the form and can be written up for it. Too many discrepancy reports can result in loss of privileges, early curfews, or other disciplinary actions. 341's are also used as a way for on-base organizations to keep a count of how many Airmen are in attendance/visit events.
Think this is the end of the list? Ha!
It'll take a lifetime, and just when you think you have it handled, it'll change.
Happy learning!
Special Thanks to:
U.S. Air Force ROTC
AFWM
A1C - Airman First Class
ABU - Airman Battle Uniform
AF - Air Force
AFB - Air Force Base
AFIT - Air Force Institution of Technology
AFROTC - Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps
AFSC - Air Force Specialty Code
Airman - Airman is the title given to all men & women in the AF regardless of rank
Amn - Airman
ASVAB - Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, the basic test a person takes before they enlist into the Air Force. Their score on this test will determine what kinds of jobs they qualify for in the AF.
Base - An established location that the United States Air Force uses as a center of operations
Base Passes - Without a military or DoD card civilians cannot enter the Base without the sponsorship of an Airman or a printed base pass acquired from an Airman.
Base Liberty - Privilege granted to visit on-base facilities and enjoy free time away from training. Airman on Base Liberty are restricted to the base and cannot leave.
BHA - Basic Housing Allowance
BMT - Basic Military Training
BX - Base Exchange, the grocery/supply/clothing store on base
CAC Card - Airman's military ID card
CQ - Control to Quarters
DoD - Department of Defense
Dream Sheet - Job and assignment preferences worksheet, usually filled out during BMT
Duty Station - Home Base where an Airman is assigned for 2-4 years
EC - Entry Controller
FLT - Flight: a group of Airmen that are training together, consisting of approximately 45-60 trainees
FY - Fiscal Year
MEPS - Military Entrance Processing Station
MTI - Military Training Instructor
MTL - Military Training Leader
OPSEC - Operations Security
PERSEC - Personnel Security System (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
PT - Physical Training
PS&E - Positive Support and Encouragement
PSC - Postal Service Center
RAP - Recruiter Assistant Program
Retreat - Signals the end of the official duty day, and serves as a ceremony for paying respect to the U.S. flag. During Retreat all Airman are expected to stop, face the flag, and salute until the end of retreat is played over the loudspeakers. If vehicles are driving on base, they are expected to safely pull to the right side of the road and park until the end of retreat is played.
Reveille - Musical signal for the start of the duty day
Service Dress - Complete Blue Uniform
SQ - Squadron (unit) that an Airman is assigned
Tapping Out - Releasing an Airman from flight formation.
TDY - Temporary Duty/Deployment
Town Pass - Opportunity for the Airman to leave base to go into town. Mostly occurs during graduation weekend in BMT
Trainee - A person that is in BMT. This term may carry over until an Airman graduates from Technical School
Tech School - Where an Airman receives his or her technical training before arriving at their first Duty Station
TRS - Training Squadron; used primarily in BMT
USAF - United States Air Force
VARL - Visitors Access Request Letter/Base Pass. Mainly used during BMT for a trainee to request base access for family and friends to visit the base during graduation weekend.
341 - Excellence/Discrepancy Report. Trainees and Airman must carry this form around with them at all times. They must have no less than two and no more than four on their person at all times while in uniform. If they do something wrong they will have to pull out the form and can be written up for it. Too many discrepancy reports can result in loss of privileges, early curfews, or other disciplinary actions. 341's are also used as a way for on-base organizations to keep a count of how many Airmen are in attendance/visit events.
Think this is the end of the list? Ha!
It'll take a lifetime, and just when you think you have it handled, it'll change.
Happy learning!
Special Thanks to:
U.S. Air Force ROTC
AFWM