here is something i came across the web.military terminolgy terms and definitions
List of established military terms
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This is a list of established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years. Technology has changed so not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern ones. However they are still in current use in articles about previous military periods. Some of them like camouflet have been adapted to describe modern versions of old techniques.
Contents [hide]
1 Organisational
1.1 Judicial
2 Administrative
3 Technological
4 Land
4.1 Arms and services
4.2 Doctrinal
4.3 Ordnance
4.3.1 Edged
4.3.2 Projectile munitions
4.3.2.1 Individual
4.3.2.2 Artillery
4.3.3 Explosives
4.3.4 Incendiary
4.4 Vehicles
4.5 Engineering
4.6 Geographic
5 Naval
5.1 Arms and services
5.2 Doctrinal
5.3 Ordnance
5.4 Vessels
5.5 Engineering
6 Air
6.1 Arms and services
6.2 Operational
6.3 Doctrinal
6.4 Tactics
6.5 Ordnance
6.6 Aircraft
6.7 Engineering
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
[edit]Organisational
[edit]Judicial
safeguard - "Safeguard. A safeguard is a detachment, guard, or detail posted by a commander for the protection of persons, places, or property of the enemy, or of a neutral affected by the relationship of belligerent forces in their prosecution of war or during circumstances amounting to a state of belligerency. The term also includes a written order left by a commander with an enemy subject or posted upon enemy property for the protection of that person or property. A safeguard is not a device adopted by a belligerent to protect its own property or nationals or to ensure order within its own forces, even if those forces are in a theater of combat operations, and the posting of guards or of off-limits signs does not establish a safeguard unless a commander takes those actions to protect enemy or neutral persons or property. The effect of a safeguard is to pledge the honor of the nation that the person or property shall be respected by the national armed forces."[1]
forcing a safe-guard (1770-1785 period) -
Safe-guard, in military affairs, a protection granted by a prince or general, for some of the enemy's lands, houses, persons, &c. to preserve them from being insulted or plundered.[2]
safe-guards were individual soldiers or detachments placed to prevent places (often farms full of tasty crops and livestock) from being plundered. Forcing a safe-guard was the crime of overpowering a safe-guard. Safe-guards were often individual soldiers assigned to watch over an entire farm, so it only took a few marauders to "force" him.
forcing a safeguard (current) - Forcing a safeguard. "Forcing a safeguard" means to perform an act or acts in violation of the protection of the safeguard.[1]
[edit]Administrative
Cantonment, a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters. In the Southern Asia the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations.
Logistics
Materiel (also Matériel)
Military supply chain management
Staging area
[edit]Technological
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[edit]Land
No man's land is land that is not occupied or more specifically land that is under dispute between countries or areas that will not occupy it because of fear or uncertainty.
[edit]Arms and services
Artillery includes any engine used for the discharge of large projectiles in war. In military terminology, a unit of artillery is
An artillery battery is an organized group of artillery pieces.
Also see below Artillery
[edit]Doctrinal
These terms are used for talking about how armed forces are used. Many of the terms below can be applied to combat in other environments although most often used in reference to land warfare.
Ambush To make a surprise attack on an enemy that passes a concealed position.
Barrage (artillery) is a line or barrier of exploding artillery shells, created by the co-ordinated targeting of a large number of guns firing continuously.
Blockade - a ring of naval vessels surrounding a specific port or even an entire nation. The goal is to halt the importation of goods which could help the blockaded nation's war effort.
Booby trap
Breach (military) in fortified lines or a battle line.
Breakout (military): exploiting a breach in enemy lines so a large force (division or above) pass through
Bridgehead and its varieties known as Beachhead and Airhead
Charge (warfare): A large force heads directly to an enemy to engage in close quarters combat, with the hope of breaking the enemy line
Column (formation)
Counterattack
Counter battery fire
Coup de grâce a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded man; also applied to severely damaged ships (called scuttling when applied to friendly ships)
Coup de Main, a swift pre-emptive strike.
Decisive victory - an overwhelming victory for one side that often shifts the course of a conflict.
Echelon formation a military formation in which members are arranged diagonally
Defilade A unit or position is "defiladed" if it is protected from direct exposure to enemy fire. See also Hull-down
Encirclement
Enfilade A unit (or position) is "in enfilade" if enemy fire can be directed along the long axis of the unit. For instance, a trench is enfiladed if the enemy can fire down the length of the trench. Also, to place a unit in a position to enfilade, or the position so enfiladed.
Extraction point
Envelope
Fabian strategy, avoiding pitched battles to wear down the enemy in a war of attrition
File (formation) single column of soldiers
Flank, to attack an enemy or an enemy unit from the side, or to maneuver to do so.
Frontal assault
Guerilla tactics attack the enemy, then retreat, hit-and-run
Hors de combat, out of the fight, surrendered, wounded, and so on.
Killing field
Lodgement, an enclave made by increasing the size of a bridgehead
Infantry square, Pike square, or Schiltron
Infiltration
Interdiction, to attack and interrupt enemy supply lines.
Melee (also Mêlée)
No quarter, or "Take no prisoners", or "no mercy", or "kill them all": all enemy troops are to be killed, even those who surrender. It is now a war crime to give such an order.
Overwatch when one small unit can support another.
Patrolling
Parthian shot
Pickets (or picquets), sentries or advance troops whose job is to warn of contact with the enemy. A soldier who has this job is on "picket duty".
Pincer maneuver
Pitched battle
Phalanx
Pocket
Pyrrhic victory - Often a costly victory for one side that could eventually lead to defeat.
Raiding
Rank (formation) single line of soldiers
Reconnaissance
Retreat (military) - Withdrawal of troops from a battlefield to a better defensive position.
Rout
Sack The deliberate destruction and/or looting of a city usually after an assault.
Salients The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant.
Scorched earth
Scuttling The deliberate destruction of a ship to prevent its capture and use by an enemy. Commonly used as a coup de grâce, but has also been a protest (as after the First World War).
Shield wall
Shoot and scoot - type of fire and movement tactic used by artillery to avoid counter-battery fire. (This term is primarily used by American forces.)
Siege, is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition, often accompanied by an assault.
circumvallation, a line of fortifications, built by the attackers around the besieged fortification facing towards the enemy fort
contravallation, a second line of fortifications behind the circumvallation facing away from the enemy fort to protect the besiegers from attacks by allies of the besieged.
escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders, and was a prominent feature of siege warfare in medieval times.
Forlorn hope, most frequently used to refer to the first wave of soldiers attacking a breach in defences during a siege.
Chevaux de frise, sword blades chained together to cut up people trying to charge into a breach in the walls.
Investment, surrounding an enemy fort (or town) with armed forces to prevent entry or escape.
parallel trenches
Siege engines, specialised weapons used to overcome fortifications of a besieged fort or town; in modern times, the task has fallen to large artillery pieces.
Siege train, specialised siege artillery accompanying an army for use in a siege.
Siege tower, a wooden tower on wheels constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification.
Storm to move quickly and noisily like a storm
Sortie, also "to sally". A sudden attack against a besieging enemy from within a besieged fort or town.
Surrender at discretion means unconditional surrender instead of surrendering with terms.
Skirmish
Withdrawal (military), generally meaning pulling forces back while maintaining contact with the enemy.
[edit]Ordnance
These terms are used in identification of means of combat to inflict damage on the opponent.
[edit]Edged
Weapons that are used to inflict damage through cutting or stabbing.
Bayonet
Bill (weapon)
Danish axe
halberd
Knife
Pole weapon or * Poleaxe
pike (weapon)
Partisan (weapon)
Spear
Sword
[edit]Projectile munitions
Munitions are ordnances that inflict damage through impact.
[edit]Individual
Bow (weapon)
Sling (weapon) and Slingshot (hand catapult)
Firearms
machine gun
musket
pistol
revolver
rifle
submachine gun
[edit]Artillery
Crew-served, non-vehicle mounted weapons.
Ballista
Catapult
Mangonel
Onager (siege weapon)
Trebuchet
Guns
gun
cannon
mortar
howitzer
[edit]Explosives
Explosives comprise ordnance that causes damage through release of force.
Bangalore torpedo
Camouflet
Grenade
Hand grenade
Rifle grenade (see also Grenade launcher)
Rocket propelled grenade
Land mine
Anti-tank mine
Anti-personnel mine
Shell (weapon)
[edit]Incendiary
Incendiary ordnance causes damage through release of heat.
flamethrowers
Greek fire
napalm
white phosphorus largely anti-tank weaponry
[edit]Vehicles
Armoured car
Chariot
Half-track
Tank
[edit]Engineering
See also List of fortifications
Fortification
Barbed wire
Banquette or a fire step
Bastion
Bastion fortress (see below star fort and Trace italienne)
Berm
Blockhouse
Breastwork (fortification)
Bulwark
Bunker: A heavily fortified underground or partially underground facility. Used for defensive positions, they are also commonly used as command centers for high-level officers.
Counterscarp, is the side of a ditch, in front of the wall of a fortress, furthest from the wall.
Coupure
Castle
Medieval fortification
Arrow slit (arrow loop, loophole)
Barbican
Concentric castle
Drawbridge
Portcullis
Moat
Machicolation
Murder-hole
Citadel
Dragon's teeth: Triangular obstacles that block the movement of tanks.
Earthworks
Fort
Fortress
Defensive fighting position a Rifle pit or Fox hole
Glacis
Hill fort (New Zealand Pa (Māori))
Lunette (fortification), an outwork consisting of a salient angle with two flanks and an open gorge.
Mine is a siege method used since antiquity against a walled city, fortress or castle where tunnels are dug to undermine the foundations of the walls. A counter mine is a tunnel dug by the defenders below an attackers mine with the intention of undermining the attackers mine before it undermines the walls.
Outwork, a minor defence, built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached.
Ravelin, a triangular fortification, detached outwork in front of the bastions.
Redan is a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other material.
Redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick.
Reduit is the strongest fortification which should provide protection during a persistent attack. A citadel, for example, is the reduit in classical fortifications.
Sangar (fortification), a small temporary fortified position with a breastwork originally of stone, but now built of sandbags and similar materials.
Sally port also "to sally" out and Sortie
Sapping
Scarp (fortification) fortress side of a ditch in front of a wall.
Sconce (fortification), a small protective fortification, such as an earthwork often placed on a mound as a defensive work for artillery.
Slighting is the deliberate destruction of a fortification without opposition from its builders or its last users.
Star fort (see above Bastion fortressand below Trace italienne)
Tenaille (archaic Tenalia), an advanced defensive-work, in front of the main defences of a fortress which takes its name from resemblance, real or imaginary, to the lip of a pair of pincers.
tête-de-pont a temporary defensive work to defend a bridge, at the end of a bridge adjacent to an enemy.
Trace italienne. Star-shaped fortresses surrounding towns and even cities (see above Star fort and Bastion fortress)
Trench
[edit]Geographic
Defile (geography) is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front.
debouch, to emerge from a defile (or something similar) into open country (debouch can also be used to describe water that flows out of a defile into a wider place such as a lake) and so a fortification at the end of a defile is sometimes known as a debouch.
[edit]Naval
[edit]Arms and services
These terms are used for combat arms and supporting services of armed forces used in naval warfare.
[edit]Doctrinal
Describes terms used for talking about how naval armed forces are used.
Blockade
Coup de grâce a final shot intended to finish off a sinking ship (which should be distinguished from scuttling).
Crossing the Tee
In the van--leading
Line astern, Line ahead, or Line of battle
Raking fire
Scuttling
Weather gage
[edit]Ordnance
Torpedo
Naval mine
Turret
[edit]Vessels
Aircraft carrier
Battleship
Battlecruiser
Cruiser
Frigate
Destroyer
Submarine
Torpedo boat
Hovercraft
[edit]Engineering
[edit]Air
[edit]Arms and services
These terms are used for combat arms and supporting services of armed forces used in air warfare.
[edit]Operational
Sortie used by air forces to indicate an aircraft mission count (flew seven sorties) or in the sense of a departure (the aircraft sortied).
[edit]Doctrinal
These terms are used for talking about how aviation armed forces are used.
[edit]Tactics
Area bombing, carpet bombing and pattern bombing.
Sortie a mission flown by one aircraft
[edit]Ordnance
Bomb
Missile
[edit]Aircraft
Airship
Bomber
Dirigible balloon
Fighter
Fighter bomber
Spotter plane
[edit]Engineering
[edit]See also
List of military tactics
Glossary of military abbreviations
Glossary of German military terms
List of equipment used in World War II
List of World War II electronic warfare equipment
[edit]References
^ a b
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/mcm/bl102.htm Article 102—Forcing a safeguard, Punitive Articles of the UCMJ
^ Captain Smith, George., An Universal Military Dictionary, or A copious explanation of the technical terms & c. used in the equipment, machinery movements and military operations of an army..., London, Printed for J. Millan, near Whitehall, 1779
[edit]External links
A Glossary of Victorian Military Terms by the Palmerston Forts Society. A more comprehensive version has been published by the PFS: A Handbook of Military Terms by David Moore
A Dictionary of Military Architecture: Fortification and Fieldworks from the Iron Age to the Eighteenth Century by Stephen Francis Wyley, drawings by Steven Lowe
Military Earthworks Terms by the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior
Military Terms Dictionary Lookup on military terms offering you clear definitions by some of the most reliable reference works in this field.
Categories: Military terminology | Military lists
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