Late May proved the most successful period for air attacks against Serb ground forces. Several factors influenced that success and combined to provide a greater opportunity for NATO air attacks. Those factors included an increased force structure, improved weather conditions, and a KLA offensive in western Kosovo that forced the Serbian Third Army out of its hiding places. NATO increased the number of AFACs and strikers for near-continuous daylight operations until combat operations ceased on 10 June 1999. A-10s continued to provide airborne and ground CAS alert until the end of June as NATO occupation ground forces entered Kosovo.
AAA—antiaircraft artillery
AB—air base
ABCCC—airborne battlefield command and control center (EC-130E)
AC—alternating current (electrical power with alternating polarity)
ACC—Air Combat Command
ADI—attitude direction indicator
ADVON—advanced echelon
AEF—Air Expeditionary Force
AEW—Air Expeditionary Wing
AFAC—airborne forward air controller, aka FAC(A)
AFSOUTH—Allied Forces Southern Europe; NATO’s regional headquarters at Naples, Italy
AGL—above ground level
AGM—air-to-ground missile
AIM—air intercept missile
AI—air interdiction
AIRCENT—Allied Air Forces Central Europe (NATO)
AIRSOUTH—Allied Air Forces Southern Europe (NATO)
AMRAAM—advanced medium range air-to-air missile
AO—area of operations
AOR—area of responsibility
APC—armored personnel carrier
APU—auxiliary power unit arty artillery pieces
ASC—air strike control
ATACMS—air tactical missile systems
ATO—air tasking order
AWACS—airborne warning and control system (E-3)
BAI—battlefield air interdiction
bandit—an enemy aircraft
BDA—battle damage assessment
BE—basic encyclopedia number used to catalog targets
bingo—(1) brevity term used by tactical air forces to indicate a fuel level that requires termination of the mission and recovery to a tanker or home station; (2) brevity term used by special operations SAR helicopter forces to indicate that the door gunner is abeam the survivor
bino—gyro-stabilized binoculars; 12 power and 15 power
bomblet—a CBU submunition
bootleg—unscheduled (e.g., a bootlegged tanker is an unscheduled air-to-air refueling)
BRAA—tactical control format providing target bearing, range, altitude, and aspect, relative to a friendly aircraft
break—an aggressive, abrupt maneuver to defeat SAM, AAA, or air-to-air threats
BSD—battle staff directives
C3CM—command, control, and communications countermeasures
CAIFF—combined air interdiction of fielded forces
CANN—temporarily removing parts from an aircraft (cannibalization) so others can fly
CAP—combat air patrol
CAS—close air support
CAVOK—ceiling and visibility OK
CBU—cluster bomb unit
CEM—combined effects munition (CBU-87)
CFACC—combined forces air component commander
COAC—combined air operations center
Compass Call—an aircraft configured to perform tactical C3CM (EC-130H)
CP—control point
CSAR—combat search and rescue
DC—direct current (electrical power with constant polarity)
DCA—defensive counterair
DEAD—destruction of enemy air defenses
dirtball—dirt road
doolie—first year cadet at the AF Academy
EABS—expeditionary air base squadron
ECM—electronic countermeasures
EFS—expeditionary fighter squadron
ELS—expeditionary logistic squadron
EO—electro-optical
EOG—expeditionary operations group
ESS—expeditionary support squadron
EUCOM—US European Command
EW—electronic warfare
FAC—forward air controller
fence—the demarcation line between friendly and enemy territory
FG—fighter group
FL—flight level; thousands of feet when using a standard altimeter setting of 29.92 (FL 300 is 30,000 MSL with 29.92 set)
FLEX—force level execution targeting cell (located within the CAOC)
FM—type of radio that uses frequency modulation; used by A-10 pilots primarily for interformation communication
FOV—field of view
fox mike—military phonetic alphabet expression for FM and commonly used to refer to the FM radio
frag—(1) the “fragmented order” which tasked unit aircraft, weapons, targets, and TOTs; (2) a lethal piece of warhead case that is explosively projected from the point of detonation to its impact point
FS—fighter squadron
FW fighter wing
GAU-8—A-10’s internal 30 mm cannon (Avenger)
GPS—Global Positioning System
Guard—a common emergency frequency that all pilots monitor
hard deck—the lowest altitude for operations allowed by the ROE
hardball—paved road
HARM—high-speed antiradiation missile (AGM-88)
heads-down—when the pilot concentrates on things inside the aircraft or looking outside through the binoculars, and is unable to clear the airspace for threats or other aircraft
hitting the tanker—aircrew jargon for rejoining on, connecting to, and taking fuel from a tanker
