Текст книги "Liberators"

Автор книги: James Wesley Rawles

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 28 (всего у книги 29 страниц)

60

WEDDING PRAYER

If every Jewish and anti-Nazi family in Germany had owned a Mauser rifle and twenty rounds of ammunition and the will to use it, Adolf Hitler would be a little-known footnote to the history of the Weimar Republic.

–Aaron Zelman, cofounder of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

Porthill Border Crossing Station, Idaho—Twenty-two Years After the Crunch

Phil and Malorie Adams pulled up to the border checkpoint with their pickup’s radio playing an oldie by the Mumford & Sons. They had enjoyed a pleasant drive down from their ranch near Kamloops.

As he handed his Canadian driver’s license to the officer at the booth, Phil wondered how old this young man must have been when the Crunch hit. He surmised perhaps less than four years old. The border patrol officer noted the Resistance Veterans of Canada Association (RVCA) sticker on the Ford’s windshield.

Phil caught the border patrol admiring the MP5 submachine gun mounted on the dashboard and the brace of Glock pistols with extended magazines holstered in the center console. “Do you have anything to declare?” the officer asked.

“Just hello.”

The officer noted that the children in the backseat were both quietly reading well-worn books from the Little House on the Prairie series. Phil and Malorie were proud of their kids for being avid readers. Alan Cedric Adams was eleven years old, and his sister, Claire Megan Adams, was eight.

The officer nodded. “Enjoy your visit to the United States, sir, and thank you for your service.”

•   •   •

Both the wedding and the reception that followed were being held at the Elkins Resort on Priest Lake. The groom, Leo LaCroix-Kim, had met his bride, Chantal, when they were both attending the University of Idaho. Chantal Tolliver was from the town of Priest Lake, Idaho. Her father owned and operated Priest Lake Country Outfitters, a business that rented snowmobiles in the winter and guided float trips in the summer. They also had a rifle and pistol range, where they gave private instruction. In recent years, many of their shooting-school students had been tourists from Japan.

The wedding celebration seemed swarmed with children. There was lots of laughter as children ranging from toddlers to teenagers ran around, pell-mell. The mothers and grandmothers hoped that none of the children would fall or jump into the lake until after the group photos had been taken.

Phil and Malorie greatly enjoyed attending the wedding and catching up with acquaintances. They were amazed at how quickly all of the children had grown up. As soon as they arrived, they immediately found Ray McGregor and his wife, Sylvia.

Ray was wearing a red-and-green Clan McGregor kilt. Sylvia was one of Stan Leaman’s second cousins. She was just sixteen years old at the onset of the Crunch and had come to live at the Leaman ranch after her parents had been killed by a Chinese drone strike when she was nineteen. She and Ray had married fourteen years after the Crunch. Ray and Sylvia had a son and a daughter, who were now ages four and six, and Sylvia was pregnant with their third child. Their son was named Alan Leaman McGregor and their daughter was named Claire Malorie McGregor.

Other guests from Canada included Stan Leaman; his wife, Katie; their grade-school-aged children, Philip Alan Leaman and Claire Malorie Leaman; and their infant son, Terrence Billy Leaman. Of their three children, Philip showed the most First Nations traits, with jet-black hair and dark-brown eyes.

Also attending were Ken and Terry Layton, and their sons, Dan, Thomas, and Gray.

Todd and Mary Gray were also there with their four children. There were also three generations of the Altmiller family, who had traveled from Florida.

The guests that were the least well-known by the wedding party were Dustin Hodges and his wife, Sheila. Sheila’s son, Tyree, wasn’t with them. He was a U.S. Army aviation warrant officer, deployed in the Africa campaign. It was hoped that the Chinese would be pushed out of Africa in the next few years.

Joshua and Megan Kim were there, but could be in Idaho for only three days. They were both working at Field Station (FS) Kunia, Hawaii, operated by the recently reestablished Army Security Agency. Joshua was the site manager and Megan wore two hats as both senior analyst and constitutional protection oversight manager. (The NSA and the military SIGINT agencies now had strict rules that precluded recording the conversations or intercepting the e-mails of American citizens.)

The wedding ceremony had a strong gospel message, and some great old hymns, which pleased Phil and Malorie. The decorations and place cards were all readied in the reception hall. The wedding cake had been made from two full sheet cakes that were cut and pieced together in the shape of North America and then frosted white. “Leo” was written in icing across Canada and “Chantal” was written across the United States. A red line of icing marked the Forty-ninth Parallel, bisected by the shape of a heart.

There was an enormous pile of wrapped wedding gifts on two tables in the back of the reception hall. Phil got a chuckle seeing the large number of distinctively long rectangular boxes. Ever since the ouster of the UN occupiers, guns and ammunition had become standard wedding gifts in both Canada and the United States. Just like giving gold as wedding gifts in India, guns were seen as a lasting store of wealth. They were also considered “invasion insurance.” Phil and Malorie added their own large, heavy gift boxes to the pile. They contained a full-auto German MG4; another box with a tripod, links, and small accessories for the same gun; a full-auto QBZ-95 bullpup and six magazines; an ammo can full of 5.8x42mm cartridges; and a pair of Glock 30S pistols.

Everyone was having a wonderful time at the reception. There was a lot of mingling between the tables, embraces, and laughter. As Ray was returning to their table with two cups of punch, he overheard his wife, Sylvia, saying to the bride’s father, “Ray has killed dozens of enemy soldiers—mostly with IEDs—but I’ve only seen him hit one man.”

“Oh, not that story again!” Ray objected.

“No, let her tell it,” Mr. Tolliver said.

Sylvia continued. “It’s true. You hush now, Ray, and let me tell this. We were at an RVCA meeting in Kamloops last summer. And there was a roly-poly young man there, bragging his tail off. Based on his age, I thought that he must have been in the resistance to the Chinese occupation. But he was claiming to have resisted the French, too. With Ray and me both standing there, this fellow launched into a cock-and-bull story about how he was with ‘a nine-man team that had destroyed eight French helicopters at the Williams Lake helibase.’ So Ray played along with him, and said, ‘Tell me more. How did you do it?’ And this poseur says, ‘I’ll tell you. We used compound bows to silently take out the three sentries, and then we used TH3 incendiary grenades that had been smuggled to us by a U.S. Special Forces team.’”

Mr. Tolliver cocked his head, and Sylvia went on. “So Ray says to him, ‘That was one fine bit of work, sir. I’d like to shake your hand!’ So when this fellow reached out his hand, quick as lightning, Ray punched him in the nose.”

Mr. Tolliver roared with laughter.

Ray looked sheepish. “Yep, I couldn’t control the urge, so I hit him. I’m afraid I made quite a scene that evening. There was blood going down the front of his nice white shirt. I said to him, ‘For your information, it was just me and my two friends who were there that night, not you and that mythical nine-man team. And by the way, we didn’t use archery equipment on the sentries, nor did we use thermite on the helicopters. But I’ll spare you the actual details because I don’t want you incorporating them into your own story, if you ever dare repeat it.’”

GLOSSARY

10/22: A semiautomatic .22-rimfire rifle made by Ruger.

1911:See M1911.

5Ws: Who, What, When Where, Why. (Intelligence report format.)

9/11: The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

AAA: Depending on context, American Automobile Association or Anti-Aircraft Artillery.

Accredited/Accreditation: The formal approval of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) that meets prescribed physical, technical, and personnel security standards.

Acoustic Security: Security measures designed and used to deny aural access to classified information. See also SCIF.

ACP: Automatic Colt Pistol.

ACU: Army Combat Uniform. The U.S. Army’s predominantly gray “digital” pattern camouflage uniform that replaced the BDU.

AFB: Air Force Base.

AFCENT: Allied Forces Central Europe. (A military command.)

AGL: Above Ground Level.

AI: Artificial Intelligence.

Air Gap:See High Side and Low Side.

AK: Avtomat Kalashnikov. The gas-operated weapons family invented by Mikhail Timofeyevitch Kalashnikov, a Red Army sergeant. AKs are known for their robustness and were made in huge numbers, so that they are ubiquitous in much of Asia and the Third World. The best of the Kalashnikov variants are the Valmets that were made in Finland, the Galils that were made in Israel, and the R4s that are made in South Africa.

AK-47: The early generation Kalashnikov carbine with a milled receiver that shoots the intermediate 7.62x39mm cartridge. See also AKM.

AK-74: The later generation AK carbine that shoots the 5.45x39mm cartridge.

AKM:Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy. The later generation 7.62x39 AK with a stamped receiver.

ALAT:Aviation Légère de l’Armée de Terre. (Light Aviation of the Land Army.)

AM: Amplitude Modulation.

Ammo: Slang for ammunition.

AO: Area of Operations.

AP: Armor Piercing.

APC: Armored Personnel Carrier.

AR: Automatic Rifle. This is the generic term for semiauto variants of the Armalite family of rifles designed by Eugene Stoner (AR-10, AR-15, AR-180, etc.).

AR-7: The .22 LR semiautomatic survival rifle designed by Eugene Stoner. It weighs just two pounds when disassembled. Still in production, it has been manufactured by several American makers since the 1960s.

AR-10: The 7.62mm NATO predecessor of the M16 rifle, designed by Eugene Stoner. Early AR-10s (mainly Portuguese, Sudanese, and Cuban contract, from the late 1950s and early 1960s) are not to be confused with the present-day semiauto-only “AR-10” rifles that are more closely interchangeable with parts from the smaller-caliber AR-15. See also AR, AR-15, and LAR-8.

AR-15: The semiauto civilian variants of the U.S. Army M16 rifle.

ASA: Army Security Agency.

ASAP: As Soon As Possible.

ATC: Air Traffic Control.

ATF:See BATFE.

AUG:See Steyr AUG.

AUS-Steyr:See Steyr AUG.

Authorized Personnel: Those holders of active security clearances who are fully cleared and indoctrinated for SCI, have a valid need to know, and have been granted access to a SCIF. See also SAP and SCIF.

AVGAS or avgas: Aviation Gasoline. The most commonly used aviation gasoline is hundred-octane, low-lead (100LL).

AWOL: Absent Without Official Leave.

BAH: Basic Allowance for Housing.

BATFE: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (a U.S. federal government taxing agency).

BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation.

BC: British Columbia.

BCD: Bad Conduct Discharge. Also sometimes jokingly called a Big Chicken Dinner.

BDU: Battle Dress Uniform. Also called “camouflage utilities” by the USMC. Most BDUs were made in the woodland camouflage pattern.

Big Chicken Dinner:See BCD.

Black: Depending on context: either a classified program or a designation applied to information systems, and to associated areas, circuits, components, and equipment, in which national security information is encrypted or is not processed. See also Red and Red/Black.

Black Rifle/Black Gun: Generic terms for a modern battle rifle—typically equipped with a black plastic stock and forend, giving these guns an “all-black” appearance. Functionally, however, they are little different from earlier semiauto designs.

BLM: Bureau of Land Management (a U.S. federal government agency that administers public lands).

BMG: Browning Machine Gun. Usually refers to .50 BMG, the U.S. military’s standard heavy machine-gun cartridge since the early twentieth century. The .50 BMG cartridge is now often used for long-range precision countersniper rifles.

Body-Cam: A body-mounted camera, typically worn by law enforcement officers.

BUD/S: Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (school). See also SEAL.

BX: Base Exchange.

C1: The Canadian Army’s version of the L1A1 FAL variant.

C2: The Canadian Army’s version of the L2A1 heavy-barrel FAL variant.

C4: Composition 4. A plastic explosive.

C7: The Canadian Army’s version of the M16A4 rifle. Produced by Diemaco, and later by Colt Canada. Also issued by Denmark, Holland, and Sweden.

C8: The Canadian Army’s version of the M4 Carbine.

CAR-15:See M4.

CARB: California Air Resources Board.

Cat: Slang contraction for Caterpillar (tracked tractor).

CAT: Combat Application Tourniquet.

CB: Citizens Band radio. A VHF broadcasting band. No license is required for operation in the United States. Some desirable CB transceivers are capable of SSB operation. Originally twenty-three channels, the Citizens Band was later expanded to forty channels during the golden age of CB, in the 1970s.

CBC: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

CBLTV: Canadian Border Logistics and Training Volunteers network. Spoken “Cable TV.”

CBP: Customs & Border Protection.

CENTCOM: Central Command. Nicknamed SADCOM by its detractors.

CG: Center of Gravity.

CGF Gallet: The French manufacturer of SPECTRA ballistic helmets. See also SPECTRA.

CHU: Containerized Housing Unit.

CI: Counterintelligence. See also HUMINT.

CIA: Central Intelligence Agency.

CLEP: College-Level Examination Program.

Closed Storage: The storage of SCI material in properly secured GSA-approved security containers within an accredited SCIF. See also Open Storage and SCIF.

CLP: Cleaner, Lubricant, Protectant. A Mil-Spec lubricant, sold under the trade name “Break Free CLP.”

CM: Chinese Mandarin.

CMCS: COMSEC Material Control System.

CN: Canadian National (railroad).

CO: Commanding Officer.

CO₂: Carbon dioxide.

Collateral SCI:See SCI and SAP.

COMINT: Communications Intelligence.

COMSEC: Communications Security. The measures used to protect both classified and unclassified traffic on military communications and computing networks.

CONEX: CONtinental EXpress. The ubiquitous twenty-, thirty-, and forty-foot-long steel cargo containers used in multiple transportation modes.

CONFIDENTIAL: The security classification applied to information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause damage to national security.

Continuous Operation: This condition exists when a SCIF is staffed twenty-four hours every day.

Controlled Area/Compound: Any area to which entry is subject to restrictions or control for security reasons.

Controlled Building: A building to which entry is subject to restrictions or control for security reasons.

CONUS: Continental United States.

COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Co-Utilization: Two or more organizations sharing the same SCIF.

CP: Command Post.

CPR: Depending on context, Canadian Pacific Railway or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

CR1M: Combat Ration, One Man. (Spoken “Crim.”) The Australian equivalent of the U.S. MRE field ration. See also MRE and IMP.

CR5M: Combat Ration, Five Man.

CRKT: Columbia River Knife & Tool.

CRYPTO: The marking or designator identifying COMSEC keying material used to secure or authenticate telecommunications carrying classified or sensitive U.S. government or U.S. government–derived information.

CSA: Cognizant Security Authority. The single principal designated to serve as the responsible official for all aspects of security program management with respect to the protection of intelligence sources and methods.

CSIS: Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

CSS: Cyber Security Service.

CTS: Computerized Telephone System. Also referred to as a hybrid key system, business communication system, or office communications system.

CTTA: Certified TEMPEST Technical Authority.

CUT: Coordinated Universal Time.

Db.: Decibel. A measurement unit of sound intensity.

DC: Depending on context, Direct Current or District of Columbia (D.C.).

DCI: Director of Central Intelligence.

DCIPS: Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System.

DCS: Defense Clandestine Service.

DCS Task Group Tall Oak: Previously called DIA Project Tall Oak.

DD: Department of Defense (typically used as a prefix for form numbers). See also DOD.

Det Cord: Short for detonating cord—a plastic tube filled with PETN. It is typically used for connecting multiple explosive charges, so that they detonate almost simultaneously.

DF: Direction Finding.

DHS: Department of Homeland Security.

DIA: Defense Intelligence Agency. See also JBAB.

DIAC: Defense Intelligence Analysis Center.

DIAM: Defense Intelligence Agency Manual.

DIOCC: Defense Intelligence Operations Coordination Center. (Part of the DIAC.)

DJ: Disc Jockey.

DLI: Defense Language Institute.

DMV: Department of Motor Vehicles.

DMZ: Demilitarized Zone. In the context of a SCIF, the perimeter network segment that is logically between internal and external networks. Its purpose is to enforce the internal network’s IA policy for external information exchange and to provide external, untrusted sources with restricted access to releasable information while shielding the internal networks from outside attacks. A DMZ is also called a “screened subnet.” See also IA and SCIF.

Document: Any recorded information regardless of its physical form or characteristics, including, without limitation, written or printed matter, data-processing cards and tapes, maps, charts, paintings, drawings, photos, engravings, sketches, working notes and papers, reproductions of such things by any means or process; and sound, voice, magnetic, or electronic recordings in any form.

DOD or DoD: Department of Defense. See also DD.

DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material. A British military camouflage pattern, with colors similar to the U.S. Army’s defunct woodland BDU pattern.

DRM:Direction du Reseignement Militaire. The French Directorate of Military Intelligence.

DRSN: Defense Red Switch Network.

DSArms: An American gunmaking company, founded by Dave Selvaggio.

DShK:Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, or “Degtyaryov-Shpagin Large-Caliber”—a 12.7mm Russian machine gun, later produced in several other communist nations. Informally called a “Dashika” by some users.

DSS: Diplomatic Security Service.

E Division: The RCMP division that polices all of British Columbia except Vancouver.

E&E: Escape and Evasion.

ELINT: Electronic Intelligence.

ELT: Emergency Locator Transmitter.

EMSEC: Emissions Security. Protection resulting from measures taken to deny unauthorized individuals information derived from intercept and analysis of compromising emanations from crypto-equipment or an information system. See also TEMPEST.

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency.

EQ2050: A Chinese Humvee equivalent vehicle.

E-Tool: Entrenching tool. (A small folding shovel.)

ETS: Expiration of Term of Service.

FAA: Federal Aviation Administration.

FAL:See FN/FAL.

FAMAS:Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de Saint-Étienne. The French army’s standard-issue bullpup carbine, chambered in 5.56mm NATO. See also FÉLIN.

FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FBO: Fixed Base Operator. Typically used to describe a small private airport’s refueling facility.

FÉLIN:Fantassin à Équipement et Liaisons Intégrés (Integrated Infantryman Equipment and Communications). The French infantry combat system of the 2000s. See also FAMAS.

FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency (a U.S. federal government agency). The acronym is also jokingly defined as: “Foolishly Expecting Meaningful Aid.”

FFL: Federal Firearms License.

FHJ: 84A twin-barrel 62mm incendiary rocket launcher used by the Chinese PLA.

Field SCIF:See Tactical SCIF.

FIST: Fire Support Team.

FLB: Forward Logistics Base.

FLIR: Forward-Looking Infrared. A camera that can detect body heat as well as the heat vehicle engines.

FNC: a 5.56mm NATO battle rifle originally made by the Belgian company Fabrique Nationale (FN). See also Pindad SS2.

FN/FAL: A 7.62mm NATO battle rifle originally made by the Belgian Company Fabrique Nationale (FN), issued to more than fifty countries in the 1960s and 1970s. Now made as semiauto-only “clones” by a variety of makers including DSArms. See also L1A1.

FN-MAG: A 7.62mm NATO belt-fed light machine gun developed by FN of Belgium. It has been issued by more than eighty countries. The U.S. military uses several variants of the gun, under the designation M240. See also M240.

FOB: Forward Operating Base.

FOUO: For Official Use Only.

FRS: Family Radio Service.

FS: Field Station.

FSB:Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti. The main successor to the KGB.

FSMA: Food Safety and Modernization Act.

Galil: The Israeli battle rifle, based on Kalashnikov action. Most were made in 5.56mm NATO, but a variant was also made in 7.62mm NATO, in smaller numbers.

GAZ:Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod. A Russian car and truck maker.

GB: Gigabyte.

GCA: The Gun Control Act of 1968. The law that first created FFLs and banned interstate transfers of post-1898 firearms, except “to or through” FFL holders.

GDP: Gross Domestic Product.

GG: The “Excepted Service” pay-grade category for intelligence and national security positions. (GG pay-grade numbers are roughly equivalent to General Schedule [GS] civil servant pay grades.)

Glock: The popular polymer-framed pistol design by Gaston Glock of Austria.

GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service. A licensed UHF-FM two-way radio service. See also FRS and MURS.

GMT: Greenwich Mean Time. Also known as Coordinated Universal Time (CUT).

GPS: Global Positioning System.

Green Door: Slang used in the intelligence community for restricted access to information and/or locations.

GS: General Schedule.

GTK:Gepanzertes Transport Kraftfahrzeug. A variant of the German eight-wheeled Boxer APC.

Ham: Slang for amateur radio operator.

HAROPA: The functionally combined ports of Le Havre, Rouen, and Paris.

H-E or HE: High Explosive.

HEI: High Energy Ignition.

Hesco: A military contractor best known for its prefabricated wire and fabric ballistic protection bastions.

HF: High Frequency. A radio band used by amateur radio operators.

High Side: A network for classified traffic. High-side networks are always physically disconnected (“air gapped”) from unclassified “low-side” networks. This prevents inadvertent or intentional “copy/paste” of classified information into low-side messages. See also Low Side.

HK or H&K: Heckler und Koch, the German gun maker.

HK91: Heckler und Koch Model 91. The civilian (semiautomatic-only) variant of the 7.62mm NATO G3 rifle.

HMMWV: High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, also commonly called a Humvee, or in civilian trim, a “Hummer.”

HQ: Headquarters.

HUMINT: Human Intelligence. See also CI.

Humvee: High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle spoken “Humvee.”

Hydro: Canadian slang for grid power or a power company, or a power bill. In Canada, all grid power is generically called “hydro” power, regardless of its actual origin.

IA: Depending on context, Information Architecture, Information Assurance, or Internal Affairs.

IBA: Interceptor Body Armor.

ICE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ID: Identification.

IDS: Intrusion Detection System. A security alarm system to detect unauthorized entry to a secure facility.

IED: Improvised Explosive Device.

IFV: Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

IH: International Harvester.

IMP: Individual Meal Pack. Canada’s standard field ration containing precooked entree packed in heavy-duty plastic-foil retort pouch. The equivalent of a U.S. Military Meal Ready to Eat (MRE).

INFOSEC: Information Security.

Intel: Slang shorthand for intelligence.

IR: Depending on context, Infrared or Intelligence Requirement.

Isolator: A device or assembly of devices that isolates or disconnects a telephone or CTS from all wires that exit the SCIF and that has been accepted as effective for security purposes. See also KSU.

IV: Intravenous.

JAG: Judge Advocate General corps. (Military attorneys.)

JBAB: Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB), the headquarters of the DIA, in Washington, D.C.

JBLM: Joint Base Lewis-McChord. (Formerly, Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base, Washington.)

JP4: Jet Propellant 4, an aviation fuel.

JP5: Jet Propellant 5, an aviation fuel.

JWICS: Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System.

Kel-Tec: A Florida gun manufacturer specializing in polymer frame guns.

Kevlar: The material used in most body army and ballistic helmets. “Kevlar” is also the nickname for the standard U.S. Army helmet.

KIA: Killed in Action.

KJV: King James Version of the Bible.

KSU: Key Service Unit. An electromechanical switching device that controls routing and operation of an analog telephone system. See also Isolator and Red/Black.

KTM: An Austrian manufacturer of motorcycles. The K and T are for the surnames of the business founders, Kronreif and Trunkenpolz. The M is for Mattighofen, Austria, the name of the town where the motorcycles are built.

L1A1: The British army version of the FN/FAL, made to inch measurements.

LAR-8: A variant of the AR-10 rifle that accepts FN/FAL or L1A1 magazines.

LAW: Light Antitank Weapon.

LC-1: Load Carrying, Type 1. (U.S. Army Load Bearing Equipment, circa 1970s to 1990s.)

LDS: The Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormons. (Flawed doctrine, great preparedness.)

LDSH: Lord Strathcona’s Horse. A regular armored regiment of the Canadian army, headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Members of the regiment are commonly called Strathconas or Strats, for short.

LGP:Le Gouvernement du Peuple (The People’s Government).

Line Conditioning: Elimination of unintentional signals or noise induced or conducted on a telecommunications or information system signal, power, control, indicator, or other external interface line.

LLDR: Lightweight Laser Designator Rangefinder.

LNO: Liaison Officer.

Low Side: An unclassified network. High-side (classified) networks are always physically disconnected (“air gapped”) from low-side networks. This prevents unintentional or intentional copying and pasting of classified information into low-side messages. See also High Side.

LP: Liquid Propane.

LPCs: Leather Personnel Carriers.

LP/OP: Listening Post/Observation Post.

LRRP: Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol.

LZ: Landing Zone.

M1 Abrams: The United States’ current main battle tank, with a 120mm cannon (“main gun”).

M1 Carbine: The U.S. Army semiauto carbine issued during World War II. Mainly issued to officers and second-echelon troops such as artillerymen, for self-defense. It fires .30 U.S. carbine, an intermediate (pistol-class) .30 caliber cartridge. More than six million were manufactured. The folding-stock version designed for use by paratroopers was designated M1A1. See also M2 Carbine.

M1 Garand: The U.S. Army’s primary battle rifle of World War II and the Korean conflict. It is semiautomatic, chambered in .30-06, and uses a top-loading, eight-round en bloc clip that ejects after the last round is fired. This rifle is commonly called the Garand (after the surname of its inventor, John Garand). Not to be confused with the U.S. M1 Carbine, another semiauto of the same era, which shoots a far less powerful pistol-class cartridge.

M1A: The civilian (semiauto only) version of the U.S. Army M14 7.62mm NATO rifle.

M1911: The Model 1911 Colt semiauto pistol (and clones thereof), usually chambered in .45 ACP.

M2 Carbine: The selective-fire (fully automatic) version of the U.S. Army semiauto carbine issued during World War II and the Korean conflict.

M4: The U.S. Army–issue 5.56mm NATO selective-fire carbine. (A shorter version of the M16, with a 14.5-inch barrel and collapsing stock.) Earlier issue M16 carbine variants had designations such as XM177E2 and CAR-15. Civilian semiauto-only variants often have these same designations, or are called “M4geries.”

M4gery: A civilian semiauto-only version of an M4 Carbine, with a sixteen-inch barrel instead of a 14.5-inch barrel.

M9: The U.S. Army–issue version of the Beretta M92 semiauto 9mm pistol.

M14: The U.S. Army–issue 7.62mm NATO selective-fire battle rifle. These rifles are still issued in small numbers, primarily to designated marksmen. The civilian semiauto-only equivalent of the M14 is called the M1A.

M16: The U.S. Army–issue 5.56mm NATO selective-fire battle rifle. The current standard variant is the M16A2, which has improved sight and three-shot burst control. See also M4.

M60: The obsolete U.S. Army–issue 7.62mm NATO belt-fed light machine gun that utilized some design elements of the German MG-42.

M240: The U.S. military variant of the 7.62mm NATO FN-MAG light machine gun. See also FN-MAG.

M249: The U.S. military variant of the 5.56mm NATO FN Minimi light machine gun.

MAG:See FN-MAG.

MAG-58:See FN-MAG.

Maglite: A popular American brand of sturdy flashlights with a machined aluminum casing.

MAPEX: Map Exercise.

MC: Master of Ceremonies.

MCRU: Mobile Control and Reporting Unit.

MG3: A German belt-fed light machine gun, chambered in 7.62mm NATO.

MG4: A German belt-fed light machine gun, chambered in 5.56mm NATO.

MI: Military Intelligence. See also CI, HUMINT, and SIGINT.

Mini-14: A 5.56mm NATO semiauto carbine made by Ruger.

Minimi:See M249.

MOIS: Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Iranian spy agency. See also VEVAK.

MOLLE: Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment.

Molotov cocktail: A hand-thrown firebomb made from a glass container filled with gasoline or thickened gasoline (napalm).

MOS: Military Occupational Specialty.

MP: Military Police.

MRAP: Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (vehicle).

MRE: Meal Ready to Eat. See also IMP and CR1M.

MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

MSS: Depending on context, Ministry of State Security or Modular Sleep System.

MTBE: Methyl tert-butyl ether. An oxygenating additive for gasoline.

MultiCam:See OCP.