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Some Friday Fun: Military Lingo Quiz #2

It’s supposed to be tricky, it’s a quiz!

Hooah!

I’ll bet you can guess which branch of service this week’s military lingo quiz involves. That’s right, the US Army.

For this quiz, we are using as the resource manual the book titled, Embrace the Suck: A Pocket Guide to Milspeak which was compiled and introduced by Col. Austin Bay.

The write up on the manual reads: “Col. Austin Bay is an Iraq war vet, renowned blogger, syndicated columnist, novelist, radio commentator. No writer is more respected on military matters. Now Col. Bay has turned his talents toward creating this first dictionary of ‘Milspeak’ - the soldier’s argot that is rich in irony, brutally efficient in conveying the immediacy and dangers of warfare, and can be a shorthand way for separating combat soldiers from fobbits.”

(Fobbits? You can bet that one is on the quiz.)

Let’s get started, shall we?

Please note: Bear in mind that some military terms are not exclusive to a certain branch of the Armed Forces. However, the definition given from the resource (in this case, “Embrace the Suck”) for that particular branch in the quiz will be considered the correct answer. Correct answers are given at the bottom of the quiz. (No peeking allowed!)
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US ARMY QUIZ

1. If you use the term “ranger candy,” you are referring to:

a) Having sweet potatoes for dinner
b) The nickname given to the new soldier added to a Special Forces team.
c) An 800-milligram Motrin (ibuprofen) pill.
d) An easy mission; like “it’s a piece of cake.”

2. What does the term “Air Force Mittens” mean?

a) Gloves that are worn while piloting a plane.
b) Slang for pockets. Gloves have fingers. Pockets, like mittens, do not.
c) Girls who hang out with pilots and hang on them like groupies.
d) A famous squadron name that only goes to the best of the best.

3. What does it mean when you go to the “John Wayne Driving School”?

a) Paying for special driving lessons because you keep failing the test
b) Going to horse training at the cavalry academy for drill and ceremony
c) You get a ticket every time you drive a government vehicle
d) Banging up a Humvee in the process of teaching new soldiers to drive it.

4. The phrase “All-American Decoy” indicates:

a) A guard posted out in the open.
b) A streetwalker waiting outside of a foreign Army base
c) An Iraqi wearing an Army uniform
d) A soldier who does something foolish on the battlefield

5. When the term “fobbits” is used, it refers to:

a) Short soldiers resembling hobbits with the letter “f” attached to stand for a well-known expletive (yes, that one).
b) Personnel who drive cargo trucks with the words “Freight OnBoard” painted on them.
c) A derogatory term that means soldiers who never leave a forward operations base.
d) None of the above.

6. If you are “embracing the suck” it means:

a) Receiving constant verbal abuse from superior members of the Army.
b) Getting nothing but dirty, degrading assignments
c) Stop Loss is in effect and you aren’t able to go home as planned.
d) The situation is bad, but deal with it

7. When someone refers to “Semper Knife”, it means:

a) Great job we did in combat today.
b) A twist on Semper Fi, indicating backstabbing.
c) Losing well-deserved time off because some additional work needs to be done.
d) Missing out on a night’s sleep because your guard duty relief didn’t show up.

8. When you refer to a “pig looking at a wristwatch”, you mean:

a) An inexperienced soldier has just joined your unit
b) The girl your buddy is flirting with at that moment has an Army boyfriend he doesn’t know about
c) Slang for “The new sergeant is a bad supervisor.”
d) Someone wearing a dumbfounded look.

9. An “airman alignment tool” is:

a) A chiropractor who takes referrals from the doctors at the post clinic.
b) A bar girl known not to be very choosy at closing time.
c) Any tool that can be used to beat the (bleep) out of someone.
d) None of the above.

10. When a soldier refers to “another Fallujah”, he or she means:

a) There is no action here.
b) A screwed-up place crawling with bad guys.
c) Equipment is breaking faster than it can be fixed.
d) A specific field training exercise that involves heavy urban fighting.

11. If you take a “turkey peek” it means:

a) You are taking an exam and cheating with notes pinned to your uniform.
b) Using night vision goggles to see a target on the rifle range.
c) Sneaking a look at a female soldier’s legs
d) Glancing around or over an object or surface, such as a corner or wall.

12. A place that is called “Marineland” means:

a) Slang for Iraq’s Anbar province, which is mainly patrolled by Marines
b) A bar or establishment that is frequented mainly by Marines
c) Slang for a Marine base
d) A patrol boundary recognized by Marines conducting car bomb searches.

13. When is it “Groundhog Day” when you are a soldier?:

a) When you unexpectedly receive your annual uniform allowance in your paycheck.
b) A special command holiday where everbody is told to scatter immediately after morning formation.
c) A formal personnel inspection conducted by the Command Sergeant Major.
d) Every day of your tour in Iraq.

14. When you refer to the “Advanced Echelon”, you mean:

a) A group of dignitaries who will spend the day touring an Army battalion.
b) A unit’s first group on the ground in theater.
c) A brigadier general and his entourage.
d) The out-of-arena compound where electronic communications are established with ground troops.

15. To soldiers, angels are:

a) Soldiers wounded in combat who die in a military hospital while undergoing care.
b) Red Cross females who are sent on humanitarian missions to impoverished regions to offer aid.
c) Young refugees of war
d) Beautiful single women who frequent the base clubs looking for romance.

16. To soldiers, a “beltway clerk” is:

a) The soldier designated to drive personnel to and from the airport in a government vehicle on duty weekends.
b) A slang term for anyone who spends their active duty career behind a desk.
c) The soldier assigned to keeping track of moving violations among personnel who get citations from civilian police.
d) A slang term for a Washington political representative or someone who trades on his supposed political connections.

17. When the acronym “FUBIJAR” is used, it means:

a) That Iraqi soldier is a walking disaster, don’t give him any responsibility.
b) Fill’er Up Brother I’m Just About Ripped - request for more to drink.
c) A play on FUBAR. F(ouled) Up, But I’m Just A Reservist.
d) None of the above.

18. When you refer to someone as “Ali Baba”, you mean:

a) Slang for anyone from the Middle East.
b) Slang for enemy forces.
c) Slang for someone who is behaving stupidly.
d) All of the above.

19. When the word “MARINES” is used by soldiers it means

a) That “other” branch of the Armed Forces as being inept and clumsy.
b) Guys who are able to get any girl they want in the bar because they use their Marine Corps manners.
c) Mangy Animal Rockheads Introducing Never Ending Stupidity
d) Many Americans Running Into Never Ending S(bleep)

20. The initials “AZ” stand for:

a) Passing a special obstacle course that includes simulated air and ground warfare noted in a soldier’s service record.
b) Alpha Zulu - a salutation used between troops in a combat zone
c) Abbreviation for Al-Qaeda’s former Iraqi “emir” Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
d) All Zones (Clear) or (Not clear) depending on which radio signal is sent.

ANSWERS

1. (c) Ranger candy is an 800-milligram Motrin (ibuprofen) pill.

2. (b) Air Force Mittens: Slang for pockets. Gloves have fingers. Pockets, like mittens, do not.

3. (d) John Wayne Driving School is banging up a Humvee in the process of teaching new soldiers to drive it.

4. (a) All-American Decoy: A guard posted out in the open. “We’ve got a team in the building, and an all-American decoy outside.”

5. (c) Fobbits: Derogatory term for soldiers who never leave a FOB (Forward Operations Base).

6. (d) Embrace the suck”: Translation: The situation is bad, but deal with it

7. (b) Semper Knife is yet another twist on Semper Fi. It means “back- stabbing.”

8. (d) “Pig looking at a wristwatch”: Slang for a dumbfounded look. (”Stop looking at that mop like a pig looking at a wristwatch, and clean the floor.”)

9. (c) An airman alignment tool is any tool that can be used to beat the (bleep) out of someone. Specifically, a breaker bar.

10. (b) The term, “another Fallujah” means a screwed-up place crawling with bad guys.

11. (d) Turkey peek: To glance around or over an object or surface, such as a corner or wall.

12. (a) Marineland is slang for Iraq’s Anbar province, which is largely patrolled by U.S. Marines

13. (d) Groundhog Day: Every day of your tour in Iraq. Terms suggests the days never change—always long and hot, and the same events keep recurring. From the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day.

14. (b) Advanced Echelon: A unit’s first group on the ground in theater. Usually led by the unit executive officer (XO) and has a lot of loggies (logistics personnel).

15: (a) Angels: are soldiers who die in a military hospital while undergoing care.

16. (d) Beltway clerk: A derisive term for a Washington political operative or civilian political hatchet man—in other words, someone who trades on his supposed political connections. May refer to so-called “Washington defense experts” who have never served in the armed forces.

17. (c) FUBIJAR: A play on FUBAR. F(ouled) Up, But I’m Just A Reservist. A sarcastic jab by a reservist at criticism from a regular.

18. (b) Ali Baba: Slang for enemy forces. Originated in the first Gulf War but can mean a terrorist or enemy in CENTCOM area.

19. (d) The wry definition is “Many Americans Running Into Never Ending S***.”

20. (c) AZ: Abbreviation for Al-Qaeda’s former Iraqi “emir” Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Used when the f-(bleep) was alive.

How did you do? Next Friday we’ll quiz you on another branch of the Armed Forces…and if you have a quiz of your own like that you’d like to share here, please let me know!

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